Jerzy Kukuczka was born on March 24 1948 in Katowice, Poland. He died on October 24, 1989 while climbing the South Face of Lhotse.

On September 18 1987 Jerzy Kukuczka (pron. yeh-zhee koo-kootch-kah), known to his friends as Jurek (pron. yoo-rĕk), became only the second man to climb all fourteen eight-thousanders. Reinhold Messner who completed the same task only a year before, upon learning the news, wrote to him "you are not second, you are great". And while Messner took 16 years to complete this feat, Kukuczka needed only 8. In the process, Kukuczka established nine new routes and climbed four summits during winter.

• 1979 - Lhotse
• 1980 - Mount Everest - new route
• 1981 - Makalu - solo, alpine style
• 1982 - Broad Peak - alpine style
• 1983 - Gasherbrum II - new route, alpine style
• 1983 - Gasherbrum I - new route, alpine style
• 1984 - Broad Peak - new route, alpine style
• 1985 - Dhaulagiri - first winter ascent
• 1985 - Cho Oyu - first winter ascent, new route
• 1985 - Nanga Parbat - new route
• 1986 - Kanchenjunga - first winter ascent
• 1986 - K-2 - new route, alpine style
• 1986 - Manaslu - new route, alpine style
• 1987 - Annapurna I - first winter ascent
• 1987 - Shisha Pangma - new route, alpine style

Bibliography

• My Vertical World: Climbing the 8000-Metre Peaks ISBN 0898863449

External Links

• Everest History: Jerzy "Jurek" Kukuczka