Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
enough to be an effective haggler. But he never really understood British sarcasm,
taking many of our jokes and comments literally.
Despite the freezing conditions, Voytek took us to climb at the local limestone
crags. His strength of character and ability as a climber were immediately obvious.
We threw ourselves into discussions about climbing and politics as we followed
him up polished faces and cracks in the sub-zero temperatures. He was one of the
few Polish climbers with an extensive record of hard new routes both in the Tatra
and beyond. He was the first to establish grade VII rock routes in Poland, and had
some formidable winter firsts. In 1972 he climbed two new routes on 7,000-metre
peaks in the Hindu Kush, including Akher Chogh's north-west face with Jacek
Rusiecki, Marek Kowalczyk and Piotr Jasinski. Marek and Piotr had taken part in
the Polish trip to Wales the summer before. Jacek Rusiecki and I would soon get to
know each other in the weeks that followed.
[3]
Perhaps the most revealing conversation with Voytek was about the winter ex-
pedition that Zawada led to Lhotse in late 1974. He stated frankly that he did not
very much enjoy large autocratic expeditions. His last would take place that same
year on an unsuccessful attempt on the east ridge of K2 that failed just two hun-
dred metres below the summit.
Voytek could not spare any time from work so I did a few routes with the Bur-
gesses while Pete climbed with Mick. Then the five of us decided to attempt a
winter traverse of the main peaks of the Polish Tatra. Conditions on the faces were
unstable. It snowed continuously for a week after we arrived in Morskie Oko. Six
young Poles were killed in avalanches while we were there, but the ridge itself was
relatively safe, if very exposed. Once the snow stopped, we waited two days. It
seemed to me much like a hard winter in New England with lots of deep unconsol-
idated snow and very different from Scotland where regular thaws leads to better
ice conditions.
The five of us set out at two in the morning and had reached the main ridge by
dawn up steep and unstable snow. For the first hour or two, we all climbed un-
roped with Pete leading much of the way. As we entered more complex and tech-
nical ground, the Burgesses roped up. I set off after Pete, half thinking I would
soon catch him and get a rope on as well. Mick carried on soloing after me.
After another hour, I stopped at the bottom of a tower with a big drop down both
sides. There was no sign of Pete, but small hand and footholds had been cleared of
snow on a wall that led across the right side of the tower. Peter clearly had contin-
ued on alone. I attempted to follow but gravity immediately tried to suck me off
the tiny edges where my twelve-point crampons barely found any purchase. A
thousand-foot fall seemed a likely outcome if I continued so I heaved myself back
