Wojciech Kurtyka

Wojciech Kurtyka (also Voytek Kurtyka, born 20 September 1947, in Skrzynka near Kłodzko) is a Polish mountaineer and rock climber, one of the pioneers of the alpine style of climbing the biggest walls in the Greater Ranges. He lived in Wrocław up to 1974 when he moved to Kraków. He graduated as engineer in electronics (in 1973 at Wrocław University of Technology). In 1985 he beat "Shining Wall" Gasherbrum IV, which the magazine "Climbing" declared beat the wall to get the greatest achievement of mountaineering in the twentieth century. In 2016, he received the Piolet d'Or for lifetime achievement mountain.

His climbs in Poland consist of many difficult climbs – in crags, the hardest free climbs and free solo climbs of the time. In the Tatra Mountains he did a lot of first free ascents, first ascents in winter and established new winter routes.

Kurtyka became well known abroad in early 1973 after achieving the first winter ascent of Trollveggen (Troll Wall) in Norway, the highest vertical cliff on the continent (4 men Polish team, see the list of climbs below). He started in Greater Ranges in 1972, completing a little-known – but important according to him – first ascent of the wall of Akher Chogh in Hindu Kush, in lightweight, alpine style. He started climbing in the Himalayas in 1974. After participating in two big Polish national expeditions in 1974 and 1976, he gradually turned to lightweight expeditions.

...
Wikipedia