Everest and K2 Summiter Piotr Pustelnik Broad Peak 2006

First dispatch: "A warm welcome to everyone from Piotr Pustelnik - mBank Lotto Himalayan Triptych 2006 – in Karakorum. It’s the beginning of the third stage of our project, i.e. the expedition to Broad Peak. At the moment all of us, as well as our porters, are in Askole the final village before the start of the five-day trek to Base Camp. So far everything has been going according to plan: no delays of any sort and keeping our fingers crossed there won’t be any. Unfortunately, Don Bowie hasn’t joined us yet and I’m slightly concerned that he may never do. Still, we have a multilingual group of 13 here: apart from the five of us, there’s also a group from Spain and two Italians, who have joined our climbing permit. Tomorrow (27th of June) we will have the usual colourful procedure of sharing the loads among the porters. I’ve seen it umpteen times yet every time I find it just as moving; hence I’m looking forward to it this time
as well! The weather is fine, no particular problems so far. Apparently there isn’t much snow in the mountains so I reckon we will get to Base Camp without getting wet, which will definitely be a big bonus. Anyway, keep your fingers crossed and we will do our best to move quickly towards the highest mountains in Karakorum. Till my next dispatch then! From a PlusGSM satellite phone, Piotr Pustelnik" Best regards, Wojtek Jemiolo

mBank Lotto Himalayan Triptych 2006: In the last stage of the adventure, Piotr Pustelnik bids farewell to the eight-thousanders. No Crown, but...

On June 20th a team led by Piotr Pustelnik (HiMountain Team) left Okęcie airport for Pakistan. The goal of the expedition was to climb the twelfth highest mountain in the world - Broad Peak (8047m above sea level). This is the third stage of the climbing adventure known as the mBank Lotto Himalayan Triptych 2006. Earlier, in April, the mountaineers climbed Cho Oyu, and attacked Annapurna in May.

The triple expedition was organised with the intention of enabling Piotr Pustelnik to win the Himalayan Crown (14 eight-thousanders); only Annapurna and Broad Peak were left to be climbed. Generally known as the “easy eight-thousander”, Cho Oyu was to be a place for acclimatising;  to minimize the time spent on dangerous Annapurna, and to climb it with one shot in a bold, Alpine style. However, only Peter Hamor from Slovakia managed to reach the main peak, and Piotr Pustelnik with Piotr Morawski (Marmot Team), having trekked the eastern peak (8010 m), instead of continuing with the climb decided to save the life of their Tibetan guide Lotse, who had lost his sight in the process.

After the dramatic expedition, and during his brief stay in Poland, Piotr Pustelnik (HiMountain Team) declared his career was over: “There will be no Crown” – he stated in an interview with the local supplement of “Gazeta Wyborcza” in Łódź.

mBank Lotto Himalayan Triptych 2006 is not over yet. Piotr Pustelnik wants to climb Broad Peak: “.... I want to bid farewell to the eight-thousanders and Karakorum, where I started my adventure with climbing 16 years ago” – he remarked just before leaving. What is more important is the fact that we are not talking about collecting eight-thousanders. It’s not a matter of conquering another peak. The mountaineers want to pave the way in Alpine style on a new and difficult route running over the southern ridge. Just as throughout the whole Triptych, the backbone of the team consists of Piotr Pustelnik, Piotr Morawski, Peter Hamor and Don Bowie. In order to refresh their acclimatisation, the climbers will first trek along the traditional route (supposedly up to a level of around 7000m above sea level). At this stage they will be accompanied by Kinga Baranowska (HiMountain Team) and Andrzej Rusowicz, who are determined to climb the mountain using the traditional route.

In the end, Piotr Pustelnik has raised the bar high and he is ending his adventure with the eight-thousanders in a grand style. He proved this during his attack on Annapurna. The summit resisted Piotr three times, just like Broad Peak.

Piotr is persistent....

Background: Piotr Pustelnik is ending his career among the highest peaks of the world. Today he leaves for his last expedition to Broad Peak (8047 m). - I’m done with eight-thousand-meter-high mountains. It’s the end. It’s over - says Piotr Pustelnik.

The world-famous mountaineer from Łódź has climbed 12 eight-thousand-meter high peaks. Only two mountains remain to be conquered in order to win him the Himalayan Crown, i.e. all 14 peaks over 8 thousand meters high. These are Annapurna and Broad Peak. But there will be no Crown. He disclosed to us first that after 16 years he is finally ending his career with the highest peaks in the world.

The decision was made during the attack on Annapurna (8091 m), which ended three weeks ago. This was Pustelnik’s third attempt at conquering the mountain, and the third time to no avail, though the peak was not far. - I don’t want to force myself into the 14-mountain magic, as this mountain, which I tried to conquer for the third time, sucked up all my climbing skills, my humanity - says Piotr Pustelnik.

The Annapurna expedition was very dramatic. The weather was against them. Piotr Pustelnik, together with Piotr Morawski, Peter Hamor from Slovakia and the Tibetan climber Lotse spent a long time in their tents waiting for the weather to improve. If this wasn’t enough, their rations ran low, and when the weather finally did improve, all they were left with was soup in packets. Next, they had one teabag per day, and in the end they drank only pure water. - Luckily we had enough gas and we were able to boil it, but we had become too weak to climb to the peak. We had to eat something, but there was nothing to be eaten - says the mountaineer.

The real drama lay ahead. When they started climbing the eastern peak of Annapurna (8010 m), the Tibetan guide began to lose his sight. The experienced mountaineers knew this was the beginning of snow conjunctivitis and which lasts about five days, provided that the climber is brought down. Peter Hamor went towards the peak (and conquered it), whereas the Tibetan Lotse together with Piotr Pustelnik and Piotr Morawski started the descent. This time they took the difficult route and secured themselves with ropes. During the descent Lotse lost his sight completely.

The decision to retreat and give up the quest was not an easy one. - Piotr and I told ourselves: there are two solutions: we behave humanely and stay with Lotse until he regains his sight, or we turn away from him. The latter solution would never allow us to look in the mirror again. We have to decide who we wanted to be. Today, I can speak calmly of it, but those conversations were not calm in the least - reveals Piotr Pustelnik.

Extremely exhausted, they continued the descent. Lotse regained his sight after three days. Piotr Pustelnik entered the base camp with his mind fixed on finishing with eight-thousand-meter high mountains.

I don’t want to trek along the eight-thousanders

"Gazeta": Are you sad?

Piotr Pustelnik: - I’m very happy to have made the decision. My capacity with the high mountains is coming to an end. Sportsmen also come to the end of their careers, it’s better to end it on a nice expedition rather than to get a kick in the butt and return in shame with your tail curled up.

Why Broad Peak, then?

- I need to finish my “Himalayan Triptych” [Cho Oyu, Annapurna, Broad Peak - ed.], that’s for sure. I want to bid the mountains farewell in Karakorum, where I started my adventure with climbing.

What will you do now?

- I will climb smaller mountains; I will carry out other projects. I don’t want to keep trekking the eight-thousanders, because I will lose my life to it.

You once received the Fair Play award for saving an Italian climber on K2. You gave him intravenous injections while both of you were dangling on a line. You brought him down with the help of Rysiek Pawłowski and you managed to get back up to climb to the K2 peak. Now you deserve the Fair Play award again.

- Normal, humane behaviour should not be the subject of awards.

Interview by: Wioletta Gnacikowska

The career of Piotr Pustelnik

Piotr has climbed 12 eight-thousand-meter-high peaks and has been on them 13 times (climbing Gasherbrum II twice). Only Annapurna, which denied him success for the third time now and Broad Peak remain for him to win the Himalayan Crown. He has attempted to climb Broad Peak twice already. Now he is trying for a third time.

1. Gasherbrum II - July 19th, 1990
2. Nanga Parbat - July 12th, 1992
3. Cho-Oyu - September 24th, 1993
4. Shisha Pangma - October 6th, 1993
5. Dhaulagiri - September 26th, 1994
6. Mount Everest - May 12th, 1995
7. K2 - August 14th, 1996
8. Gasherbrum I - July 15th, 1997
9. Gasherbrum II - July 21st, 1997
10. Lhotse May 15th, 2000
11. Kanczendzonga - May 15th, 2001
12. Makalu - May 16th, 2002
13. Manaslu - May 17th, 2003

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