Krzysztof Wielicki is the fifth man in the world to climb all fourteen eight-thousanders, five of which alone (Broad Peak, Lhotse, Dhaulagiri, Shishapangma, Nanga Parbat). It would seem that his climbing career has no more secrets for the readers. And yet. “Solo”, published by Agora Publishing House on January 12, is a record of Wielicki’s lonely ascents to the highest mountains in the world, embellished with subtly presented reflections of the author – the protagonist about the human condition, mountains, partnership and loneliness. On the pages of the book we can find, among others a story related to the rescue operation of Elisabeth Revol and Tomasz Mackiewicz, coordinated by Wielicki. You can read an excerpt from this story below.
Krzysztof Wielicki, “Solo. My lonely climbs” – excerpt from the book
On January 26, 2018, seven o’clock in the morning. The base of the winter expedition to K2. Usually, Piotr Tomala and I are the first in the wardroom. I open the computer, there is an e-mail from Janusz Majer: Revol and Mackiewicz are stuck at an altitude of 7,400 meters below the summit dome of Nanga Parbat. The French embassy organized money for a helicopter and a rescue operation. (It turned out not to be true).
Robert Szymczak, a doctor and specialist in mountain medicine, joined the coordination group of the rescue operation. Daniele Nardi and a few other people are also there. At. 8.20 their agent will be at Askari Aviation. Robert will send you a photo with the exact position of the place where they are. You have to decide whether anyone from our squad will take part in the rescue operation. Call me. Regards, Janusz
I’m calling for more information. Robert contacts Ludovik Giambiassi, a friend of Elisabeth Revol, who is in contact with her via SMS. We know that they are coming down from the top, that Tomek is in a difficult condition. They go very slowly. They do not come back via the entry route, but straight downhill along the Kinshofer road. There is also a message from the agent organizing the expedition, Elisabeth and Tomek, that they do not have an insurance policy covering a rescue operation with the use of helicopters.
Who can help them? There is no expedition in the Nanga Parbat area, none of the high-altitude porters have acclimatization. Trying to organize an action with the help of an agent is useless. Only our expedition works in Karakoram, only we can help. You have to take matters into your own hands.
I do not have the courage to designate anyone.
Michał Pyka sends me weather forecasts for Nanga Parbat. They don’t look the best: at an altitude of 7,500 meters, the wind gusts speed of 70-80 km / h.
I am in touch with Mr. Zbyszek Wyszomirski, attaché of the Polish embassy in Pakistan. The fight for helicopters begins. Askari Aviation, which has helicopters, demands a guarantee to cover the costs of the shares, which may amount to tens of thousands of dollars.
The French are slow to make decisions, and time is pressing. Our embassy is fighting for guarantees at the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Without the use of helicopters, no rescue operation will be possible.
Zbyszek Wyszomirski spends the next hours at the Askari Aviation office. He urges Pakistanis to launch helicopters, but some sort of stalemate persists. We are ready to go for the action, but … how?
“Hot” winter day, dozens of phone calls, e-mails and uncertainty: will someone and who will finally pay for saving the climbers. I have no influence on it. Virtually none. Hope remains, I start preparations.
I think about how to choose a potential rescue team. I do not have the courage, and perhaps no law, to appoint anyone. I got out of this difficult situation. I got the whole team together and asked who was going.
– Everyone ready! They replied. However, I can only choose four guys, two for the helicopter, so:
Jarek Botor, because he is a paramedic.
Piotrek Tomala, because he knows this region.
Two more of the best acclimatized and strong: Denis Urubko and Adam Bielecki.
Regardless of what happens, the boys prepare emergency equipment and oxygen cylinders. We are ready.
Our struggles with K2 so far are relegated to the background. Eli and Tomek are now the most important.
Late in the evening, a call from the Polish embassy and good news: there is money, two MC5 helicopters will arrive tomorrow. Relief. Mobilization.
We are talking in the base about Elisabeth and Tomek’s expedition. We followed their action on Nanga Parbat on the internet, they climbed the Messner road. The path that Reinhold Messner marked alone in 1978 is probably the easiest one on the Diamir wall, but also quite long. For years, Tomek has been fighting for Nanga Parbat, for the first winter ascent. He had already had six or seven tries, several times with Elisabeth as well. They knew each other well, they were friends, and this is very important when taking on challenges in small teams.
For Ela and Tomek Nang, Parbat was the Holy Grail in winter! And yet they were overtaken in February 2016 by Simone Moro, Alex Txikon and Ali Sadpara, making their first winter ascent to Nanga Parbat. It did not discourage Ela or Tom. They wanted to make their dream come true to stand on this mountain in winter.
When we heard that on January 24th they were moving towards the summit with the intention of climbing the next day, I thought it was not a good idea. They only had acclimatization to 6,000 meters. Why were they in such a hurry? It’s only January. I was anxiously waiting for the news from the summit attack, remembering Tom’s obsession with the winter conquest of Nanga Parbat. In a small team it is easy to lose vigilance, there are no brakes who could advise something, raise doubts, assess the condition, preparation, health …
Has become! Our rescue team is waiting in the starting holes. Piotrek Snopczyński painstakingly aligns the platform so that the helicopter can land. From the morning, there are phone calls on the lines with the Polish embassy and the Askari Aviation agency, which is to send helicopters.
Military personnel stationed on the Baltoro Glacier inform the agency that the cloud ceiling is too low. We say that the base is OK. It takes a long time to convince pilots to fire the machines. Finally, Zbyszek Wyszomirski is calling – we have become friends – with the information that they have started. But it’s late now. At around three in the afternoon, two helicopters land near the base. The four of us jump into the cabins and go. In Skardu, they equip one helicopter with a cable winch. They hope for a flight at an altitude of 7,200 meters and a possible evacuation of Elisabeth and Tomek.
Now they are fighting to land at Nanga Parbat before dark. I know this area and I know that when they land in a place where climbers usually set up a base, i.e. at 4000 meters, there will be one more day’s walk to the wall.
I am asking Zbyszek Wyszomirski to put pressure on Askari and the pilots to land at the height of the first camp, which is approximately 4,850 meters. We will then save one day. I don’t know what arguments he used, but the pilots did a great job and landed right before dark where we suggested. However, there was not enough time to fly through the wall.
Piotrek and Jarek stay in reserve in case it is necessary to transport the climbers down the valley. Equipped with a small tent, cooking equipment and medicine, Denis and Adam immediately set off on the sidelines of Kinshofer. We knew they would not be climbing the Messner road. Rather, they would not find any ropes there that they could use, because it is a very rarely chosen route.
It’s dark and they have to climb 1,300 meters to the Eagles’ Eagles’ Eagles’ nest, in a very challenging terrain. The last 300 meters lead along vertical walls.
Denis and Adam are lucky. In the lobbies and the wall leading to the Eagles’ Nest, they find ropes that were left after the autumn expedition, probably from Koreans. This definitely speeds up the action.
Upon reaching the camping site, Denis calls Eli, hoping he will hear her voice, but the wind drowns out everything.
Suddenly, late in the evening, he hears a woman’s voice. Fast up! After a while, he meets an exhausted, frostbitten Elisabeth.
I’m alone. Boiling water, warm tea, some medications. She is safe, says little, thanks the boys. How much did she have to endure, descending at night in a strong wind, without water, without belaying?
The boys ask about Tom what condition he was in when Eli decided to leave him in the crack. She replies that it was not an easy decision for her. Tom was blind, he was greatly weakened, he did not have the strength to move from the tent. Revol hoped that a rescue team would come for him, that they would be able to evacuate him.
At dawn, Eli, Denis and Adam set off downhill. They leave the Revol on the rope, they secure it. They repeat the same actions dozens of times, descending by 40, 50 meters each time. Closer to the valley, where Jarek and Piotrek are waiting for them.
How a girl of such a small stature managed to break out of the embrace of a killer like Nanga Parbat will remain a mystery to Elisabeth.
In the afternoon, the whole team is taken by helicopters. Tomek stayed at 7,200 meters.
After landing in Skardu, our pilots put pressure on the pilots to try to make a flight around Nanga Parbat. The pilots refused. They cite the deteriorating weather and regulations (they can fly up to the limit of 6,000 meters).
I consult doctors based on information provided by Elisabeth Revol about Tomek’s condition. In their opinion, it is not possible for him to survive overnight. He had a swollen brain, he was exhausted, he could see nothing. No, he didn’t have the slightest chance.
Elisabeth is flying to Islamabad, and our boys are returning by helicopters to the base under K2 after two days.
Tom was forever on the mountain he wanted so much to conquer.
Source: Gazeta
Tristin is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
