Jurek (2014) - full transcript

Do not occupy yourself with idle matters.

Foolishness and pettiness pull you down.
Do not give up.

Hold on tight to the peak with your claws.
Climb the mountains. Do the great things.

Lapidarium VI, Ryszard Kapuściński

-Achtelik.
-Present.

-Bacia.
-Present.

-Badura.
-Present.

-Cedzik.
-Present.

-Cholewa.
-Present.

-Chromik.
-Present.

-Drewniok.
-Present.



-Fonfara.
-Present.

-Frajcher.
-Present.

-Gomoluch.
-Present.

-Gzik.
-Present.

-Hachuła.
-Present.

-Kamola.
-Present.

-Kasztalski.
-Present.

Kukuczka.

Jurek Kukuczka.

Jerzy Kukuczka, an outstanding Polish
alpinist, by many considered the best

in the history of high-altitude climbing
died in the attempt of ascending

the southern face of the Lhotse
peak in Himalayas.

He was one of the two people who climbed
14 highest world mountain peaks,

and the first to ever achieve that
in a record time of 8 years.



During the 1988 Winter Olympics
Jerzy Kukuczka was awarded

an honorary Olympic medal.

It's a rare thing to find a boy
from a working-class family

who becomes the best
in the world alpinism.

Mountains for us
were a way of life.

Our own choice.

It wasn't that we had a whim
to travel to these places.

No.

Mountains completely took control
of our bodies and minds.

Sometimes we need
to face difficulties,

to be on the edge.

The edge of life and death.

Maybe this would make our everyday,
city lives more colourful.

We were raised in a working-class
neighbourhood.

Our family of five shared
one room with a kitchen.

When we grew a bit older our parents
divided the room to get more space,

but it was a tiny place.

He was always allowed
to get away with more,

because he was the family's favourite.

Jurek was a highlander,
but he lived in Katowice Bogucice,

where people spoke in Silesian dialect.

Here children would end up
as labour force in the industry.

Only richer people could afford
sending their children to a high school.

Less fortunate children would
go to trade schools.

He wouldn't join us for a breakfast.
He was studying hard.

And he attained his end.
He graduated.

He met a beautiful girl, Mariola.

As he was walking her home, one day,
he was attacked by three men

in the train station tunnel.

Jurek was fighting fair-play,

but when they ripped off his sleeve
Jurek taught them the lesson.

One of the attackers ended up
with a broken arm,

and the other two said
that they took Jurek for somebody else.

I didn't start climbing the mountains
to become a professional,

or to openly share
experiences with others.

No. I never planned it that way.

I did it all only for myself.
I wanted it to be a personal thing.

It was the first Sunday of September,
1965.

I recall this moment very well. It was
the first time I saw others climbing.

And it was first time
that I ever climbed.

The trainees were allowed
to choose their own route.

We all stood by a crag that could be
walked around by the left side.

This is how we normally did it.

The trainees chose to climb the edge.
Two of them failed,

but Kukuczka managed to reach the top
using almost only his hands.

He appeared to be a speedy,
hearty man with a strong handhold,

but it was too soon to tell if he'd be
a good high mountain climber.

People said Jurek wasn't cut for it.

He was tough climber
but would fail in heights.

These were the opinions about him.

In 1974 we went on an expedition
to Alaska,

where he suffered severe frostbite.

My first encounter with a relatively high
altitude was a 6100m Mount McKinley.

It was horrible.

It was the first time I ever suffered
an altitude sickness

and barely reached the peak.

It was only with my willpower
that I managed to reach the top.

When they asked us why we felt
so good up there we'd say

there's so little oxygen in our polluted
Silesia that we were well adjusted

to breathe the diluted oxygen
in the mountains.

Towards the end of the 70's
we had the best team ever.

There were many high elevation jobs.

There were plenty
industrial chimneys here.

We would find a rusty chimney
and tell the plant's manager

that if he wouldn't have it painted
it would collapse in three years.

We offered him a new,
cheaper method

which didn't require
putting up a scaffold.

The manager pretended that he needed
some time to think it over,

but he was already rubbing his
hands with satisfaction.

The money we earned fed
into the club's budget.

With the money we bought provision,
tents, sleeping bags, and down jackets.

That's how it all started.

Normally, there was a proposal
before a marriage,

but Jurek was very shy and he didn't know
how to go about it.

There was a doorbell ring
and my sister opened the door.

Jurek was so frightened that he gave
her the flowers, instead of me.

Before every trip I'd ask him
if he really had to go.

I wanted him to stay home.

There were so many things
that needed taking care of together.

Once he set his mind on going
there was no way back for him.

If you really want to climb a mountain
you will do everything to achieve that.

When your motivation is low you start
to find excuses and back out.

For me it's just justifying
one's weaknesses.

-Is that so interesting?
-Yes, it is.

You're right.

It's a proof for everybody back home
that daddy does take a bath sometime.

Our first adventure began in 1977.

It was the Nanga Parbat expedition.

It was his first eight-thousander,
and the first Himalayan trip for Jurek.

We were ascending the Rupal Face,
the greatest alpine wall in the world,

which stretches up to 5,5 km.

Things turned bad for us. We were in bad
physical condition, and we got frostbite.

But it was him who led the whole team
and he didn't give up,

working himself to death.

There was a special thing about Jurek,

that Wojtek Kurtyka described
as pain endurance.

He endured low temperatures,

exhaustion and altitudes.

He could withstand it all.

Jurek climbed Lhotse
without bottled oxygen.

He hadn't been sure about it at first,

because none of us had ever been
at this altitude before.

In the morning Jurek and Andrzej Czok

unexpectedly left the oxygen
behind and gave it a try.

Ignoring bottled oxygen at these altitudes
is a stupid and senseless idea,

and it's putting one's health
and life at risk.

Are you showing off or making
things more difficult for you?

Isn't the mountain itself
difficult enough?

When you can ascend the mountain
without oxygen,

then using supplemental oxygen
is a redundant convenience.

It's also unfair towards the mountain.

The harder the better was a rule
that was around for decades,

before becoming obsolete
by the end of the 80's.

Now the rule is:
the easier the better.

The stereotype of a romantic Pole
capable only of romantic upsurges

is fading away now.

A new image of a Pole is emerging.

He's now a builder of huge steelworks,
factories and harbours,

and is now among the best shock
workers of the world.

In 1979 Jurek's performance was very high,

and Jurek found himself

in Andrzej Zawada's
national Everest expedition.

As he couldn't go in the winter time
he went during the summer.

We made a first winter
ascent on Mount Everest,

and this summer we established
a new Polish route.

We're talking with Andrzej Czok
and Jerzy Kukuczka.

I was really amazed
that during this expedition

the whole team worked well together.

All 10 climbers reached the 5th camp.

When he returned from the Everest trip
his company had decided to fire him,

because he spent too much time away
from his workplace.

In Warsaw they were welcomed
with celebration by many press agencies.

Katowice TV station decided to
do a special coverage titled:

"The return of the champion
to his workplace."

As Jurek arrived at the company
the TV crew was waiting for him.

The minute the company's director saw them
he approached Jurek

and told him that he
wouldn't be fired after all.

Accept my congratulations and wishes
of success in the future.

Thank you very much.

-My congratulations again.
-Thank you.

I would like to thank you
for providing the conditions

in which I can cultivate
my passion for climbing.

My pleasure.

Mr. Jurek, I hope that future decorations
and diplomas would also be handed

-to you at this company.
-Thank you.

I'm in good spirits since the morning

I'm smiling to the people in the street

It's nice when the shop assistant
recognises me.

She sells you a good quality meat
from under-the-counter.

Yes, that's true.

He was going on an expedition
and needed food provisions.

If you knew anyone from the staff,
preferably the manager,

you'd be able get large amounts
of Swiss cheese and sausages.

One day someone noticed I was illegally
expediting the food for the boys.

The line of people rushed
to steal the food

for which they waited in long queues.

I'm not worried by no petty thing

I got a feeling
it will be a wonderful day

To get the food from under-the-counter
was a privilege.

Damn it.

Get him away from there.

This crystal just cost me a week stay
at the Kathmandu hotel.

The best way was to play a smuggler.

You'd bring the stuff as gifts
across the border

and then sell it in Kathmandu.

The money would be then paid to porters

who carried our equipment
up the mountains.

Everybody smuggled,
for a long time back.

All sportsmen did.

Himalayan mountaineers had
the best smuggling opportunities,

because back then their whole
equipment was shipped in lorries.

Smuggling is practically unlimited
with a 5-ton lorry.

Everything was well organised.

The expedition equipment could
go to scrap in 90% of its volume.

We written in a scrap
report that the equipment had

fallen in a crevasse or was
buried by an avalanche.

This way we kept 4 extra tents,
8 sleeping bags, 6 tape recorders,

and 15 crystal vases which were
supposed to be gifts.

"The equipment fell in a deep crevasse
without chances of recovery."

I well remember this phrase.

Some say that on one of the expeditions
5 fridges were smuggled to Nepal.

Military Council acting
in accordance with the Constitution

introduced martial law on the whole
territory of the country at midnight.

He continued mountaineering
during the martial law.

Martial law or not
it didn't matter.

Where there's a will there's a way.

Female climbing expeditions set off
during the martial law.

When the guys had passport problems
they simply joined the women.

Jurek had this typical Silesian
patriarchal approach.

His wife would stay home, while
he was away climbing mountains.

Sometimes I asked him
to take me with him.

I just wanted to see the mountains,
the eight-thousanders.

He'd never take me there.

He'd say that women distract
him in the mountains.

We wanted to climb Gasherbrum I and II,

but we only had a permit
to climb the first one.

We had planned ahead to make ascents
on both of them.

When we reached the camp we had to
convince the liaison officer

to let us climb Gasherbrum II.

The Pakistanis were very strict about
illegal ascents on their mountains.

We figured out the way
to trick the officer.

We created a feeling of a deadly
avalanche danger on Gasherbrum I.

The officer Pirsa Dikszach,
grew so overwhelmed

that he decided to help us
in our difficult situation.

Listen Pirsa, how about climbing
Gasherbrum II instead?

Look, there's a ridge and rocks.
We will be safe there.

Of course, you should try Gasherbrum II.
No problem.

-We're going get into trouble.
-What trouble? I'm your host here.

I'm your lord and master here. You have
the permission to go on Gasherbrum II.

We welcomed his hospitality and made
the ascent on Gasherbrum II.

And afterwards, we climbed
the Gasherbrum I via new route.

Diplomatic conflict was close,
but it finally blew over.

This is their bathroom.

Their next bath is in two months.

Expeditions periods were the most
peaceful time of my life.

I had no contact with my family.

I didn't care what went on
out there in the world.

It was a chill out time for me.

Jurek almost never touched hashish.

We gave it a little try,
but stuck with vodka,

which we preferred way more,
especially Jurek.

He could hold his liquor
and often saved me from trouble.

You shouldn't get too high
You shouldn't get to high

We all wanted to meet new people.

After dinner we'd talk
and laugh for hours.

We came from a long isolated country
and we looked for meeting other people.

Wojtek.

This way.

Come here, Wojtek.

Come on, let's go home.

Be careful, hold on tight.
There's an abyss before you.

Watch out for an avalanche!

Luckily it missed us.

-We're not scared of avalanches.
-No, we're not.

We're coming to
the southern mountain pass.

You see this beautiful buttress, there?

We're going to climb it.
It will be the Polish route.

He took his son's favourite ladybird
toy on Makalu expedition.

After his lone climb
Jurek reported it,

but no one believed that he did it on his
own in this weather and by that route.

So his climb was not recorded.

When I reached the Makalu's summit,
in 1982, I found a strange turtle toy.

It had a red back with black spots
and it had an envelope attached to it.

It contained a letter
from a Polish climber, Jerzy Kukuczka.

It said that he reached Makalu's
summit before me. A year ago.

I wrote him a letter of congratulations.

Kukuczka had a problem
with registering his Makalu ascent.

My letter proved that he
indeed reached this peak.

It turned out that the weird Polish
creature I found wasn't a turtle,

but some ladybird.

We don't have those in Korea.

Some say that climbing comes
from one's complexes,

and that's seeking
substitute achievements.

-There are people who believe that.
-Yes and they're right.

And it's beautiful.

A man is a restless soul, always
seeking new experiences.

Our complexes lower
our self-esteem,

so we sail out onto the world's
open waters to redefine ourselves.

It was Carlo's and mine
first eight-thousander,

so the team didn't count on us much.

Once there was this spot on our way.

We had to sit like on a horse,
and move up foot by foot.

There were 3 km
of empty space around us

and there wasn't anything we could
secure ourselves to with a rope.

Jurek would take decisions like that.

Once in order to cross between two seracs
we had to make a swing.

The swing was 50 metres wide.

Jurek wasn't scared at all.

It took us 3 or 4 times before we
fixed a rope to the serac.

We used it to create a bridge.

We learned through the portable radio
that Piotrek Kalmus had an accident.

He had been found dead
on the glacier.

Cancelling the expedition
would've been pointless,

because Piotrek
couldn't be helped anyway.

Failed expedition with a fatality
would've been a total disaster.

We couldn't keep track of time,
because our brain didn't work

properly at that altitude.
We were physically exhausted.

I even took photos of myself
for others to remember

my face before my death.

When I reached the top Carlos was lying
down and Kukuczka sitting.

We weren't euphoric at all,
because we were dead tired.

We were happy it was all over.

Each alpinist ascent has a limit

of rational decisions
to be taken around it.

This expedition exceeded
all boundaries of any alpinist experience.

It was like a Russian roulette.

I can't lead a secure, family life
and relax all the time.

After a while I need to leave again,

take that risk, work and only
afterwards come home tired.

Jurek couldn't find an equally strong
partner for him.

His last equal was Wojtek Kurtyka.

They both made an impact on
the Himalayan mountaineering,

especially in Karakorum where
their achievements were great.

Our worldview on the mountains,

opinions on alpinist's diet, film, music
or aesthetics were different.

There was nothing we shared in common.

If it was a team of two Kukuczkas
they'd kill each other after one season.

If there were two Kurtykas they'd never
be able to climb any mountain peak.

Jurek had this saying:

"Once the mountain's been paid for
you must climb it."

All expeditions would leave
except for Jurek.

"I paid the climbing permition
and I'm supposed to leave?"

He didn't care about avalanche danger
or bad weather.

"Once the mountain's been paid for,
you must climb it."

On the third day due to serious technical
problems we didn't progress

in the summit cone and we were forced
to descend to the nearest camp.

While rappelling down one of my crampons
detached and fell down.

I was shocked that Jurek wanted
to continue the climb.

He said: "We were going
to make it, someway dude".

That's how he was.

He made it clear that if I gave up
he'd go on his own.

In these hopeless circumstances
I agreed and went on with him.

It was a foolish decision.

It was completely irrational.

After covering about 50-100 metres Jurek
shouted: "Look, it's unbelievable!"

Jurek has found my crampon.

A lot depends on your luck
in the mountains,

so you have to be lucky.

If you're not lucky
you shouldn't be going.

It's a basic thing - to be lucky.

I tried to convince Jurek
to climb Gasherbrum IV.

He didn't like the idea at first.

It’s a huge, steep wall.
I was terrified.

Finally, I convinced myself
to give it a try.

Once he set his mind on this idea
he was determined beyond any limits.

It was madness. He wanted to go
despite bad weather conditions...

which posed a deadly threat for us.

He was getting detached from reality.

When I was convinced about the idea
Wojtek said: "Fuck it, I'm not going."

With the regular afternoon snow fall
climbing this wall was just pure madness.

At some point I felt we reached
a wall with Wojtek.

Jurek expected from
everybody exactly

the same toughness
he did from himself.

You have to know what hunger feels like,
experience it.

You need to suffer hunger for 5 days
to appreciate the taste of stale bread.

And this is how you search for
that taste in your grey life.

All the best with your current
and future plans, and have a good holiday.

I guess we've just interrupted
your holidays?

I just returned with my family
from my cabin, in Istebna.

Sadly, the holidays were planned short
and they were even shorter.

I terribly missed Jurek, because he'd go
away very often and for very long periods.

I was very young at that time
and needed him very much.

I had to take care
of my sons on my own.

I looked after our two houses.
I had very little private time for myself.

I always thought of him as a tough person,
so I tried to be the same,

and never give up.

He rarely told me about the mountains,
or his team partners.

He never talked about the accidents.
Perhaps he didn't want to upset us.

Maybe he knew I would've fought
even more against him leaving.

You rarely talk about fatalities
during the expeditions,

or recall someone's death.

You try to suppress these
most tragic moments,

especially in the mountains,
where you avoid talking about danger.

Andrzej Czok and Jurek
had a lot in common.

Andrzej was very strong
and vigorous.

There was nothing
that would break him.

We weren't aware that Andrzej
was developing an altitude sickness.

We agreed the previous night that Jurek
and I would set off for the top first,

and Andrzej and Przemek
would wait for us.

We'd take turns once we returned.

Jurek and Krzysztof didn't even ask
how bad it was with Andrzej.

In fear of being forced to stay
due to Andrzej's critical situation.

They put their individual interest over
their concern for their teammate.

Near the peak Kukuczka decided
to radio the base,

but he couldn't find the batteries.

They dematerialised.

Back at the camp he put his hand
in the backpack and found the batteries.

They somehow materialised there.

He had broken communication with
the base just in case.

If Andrzej's state had gone worse they
would've been ordered to stop the climb

and bring the sick friend
down to the camp.

When we returned to the tent
they were gone.

We knew something bad happened.

In the morning, returning to the camp
was the only viable option.

Time worked against him,
as he got weaker and weaker.

The last hundreds of metres we had
to bring him down in his sleeping bag,

because he was so weak.

I dozed off for a moment
and when I woke up

Andrzej was dead.

He passed away very quietly,

unnoticeably.

Is ethics code different up there,
in the mountains?

No. It is the same
as here on the ground.

Do we have the right to
wilfully endanger our lives,

and put ourselves in situations
where we lose our compassion?

For instance, when we're unable
to help other climbers,

because we're physically exhausted?

A passage from a letter,
written by Tadeusz

from the K2 camp on June 29th 1986:

"Majority of the teams gave up
their original, ambitious plans

and followed their footsteps onto
the familiar paths.

Me and Jurek decided to
stick to the primary idea,

and climb the south-eastern wall.
If the weather is favourable,

we will steadily make it
to the summit and back."

On this day we only drank a cup of water
from the snow we melted over a candle fire.

This was our whole breakfast.

Visibility is closing down.
We're hurrying up.

I only knew we've reached the peak,
because there's no further way up.

A few minutes later Tadeusz joined me.
There was no time for celebration,

because there was a long
way back.

It was the only expedition I was
sure he was coming back from.

I was pregnant then and my child
didn't deserve to be an orphan,

before she was even born.

I was going down first,
with Tadeusz behind me.

It was an easy passage, before
we reached a steep fault.

There were 15-20 metres between us.

I saw one of his crampons fell off.

As Tadeusz moved the second
crampon fell off, too.

In my whole life I never saw
that both crampons

which solely held him on this ice block
would simply detach.

He screamed:
"Jurek, I don't know what to do."

I saw him sliding down directly on me.

I grabbed my ice-axes and plunged
them deep in the snow.

Then he fell on me with all his weight.

After a while,

I don't know how long it was,
I looked around

and noticed Tadeusz limply sliding down
and vanishing beyond the edge,

hundreds of metres down.

Did I do everything
to prevent this tragedy?

Was it my error or his?

Could this tragedy have been anticipated?

I always ask myself these questions.
And hardly find the answers.

I often find faults in my actions.

Is it a burden for you?

Yes, It is.

Why do you keep going back?

Let's have a break.

When Jurek returned he was very jittery.
He saw the condition I was in.

This must've been
difficult for him.

I could only wish him luck with
his next expeditions.

I didn't want anything bad to happen
to him as it did to Tadeusz.

I wished him to return from his voyages
to his wife and his children, safely.

The high number of casualties
in heights proves my theory

that climbing is a senseless thing.

From an ordinary man's perspective
climbing must be absurd. And it is.

A man is the only creature on Earth
who does excessive things.

We need to have higher values
which guide us in life,

although sometimes they may
appear unreasonable.

Is mounting-climbing a higher value?

Yes it is,

because it is a contrast to
our ordinary lives.

It's an added value, but something
we could all do without.

And still many of us do it.

With prices constantly rising all
of you are forced to find

sponsorship to finance
your another expeditions.

Your sponsors now own the pictures
of you posing on the summit,

and they rob you of your souls.

That's absolutely right.

-I'm not rich enough.
-None of you are.

None of us is rich enough to finance
our own expeditions.

We're forced to partially sell ourselves.

I'd like to benefit from this fact.

In the second half of the 80's
I was a Minister of Sport.

We were all thrilled by the race
between Kukuczka and Messner.

We were a poorer country and our
resources were humbler too.

There was already a whole financial machine
of companies, along with the media.

Who were supporting Messner.
He was a real celebrity.

Jurek Kukuczka was this humble
and stubborn Pole who wanted

to outclass Messner in this race
and even beat him in time.

Kukuczka was dead serious
about the competition with Messner.

He wanted to be the first to climb
all eight-thousanders.

We were never opponents.

We never competed. I wouldn't
call it a rivalry.

They both denied they
competed with each other.

The media initiated the race
and they both picked up this play.

The competition did exist.

It's a big party at which Reinhold
Messner is celebrating climbing

all 14 eight-thousanders.

He had to rush in this pursue,

as Jurek was treading on his
heels for two years.

The man from Tyrol has made it,
and will always be the titleholder.

Messner won the race, but Kukuczka
was no doubt better.

In order to distinguish himself
from Messner

Kukuczka intentionally chose
to climb the eight-thousanders

either in winter
or by alternative routes.

I sent him a short telegram
after his final 14th ascent.

"My congratulations on
winning the grand slam".

-Did he respond?
-He sent me a short telegram, too.

What was the telegram?

"You are not second.
You are great".

son

I'm not thinking about my father
all the time

when I'm walking the streets in Nepal.

He's for sure a small part of my life,
but I never knew him personally.

I learnt about him a little from the books
and other sources.

I figured him out good, but I don't
know who he really was.

Shishapangma is located in Tibet
and for many years was unreachable

for the Western climbers.

The key to the successful expedition
lay in huge money.

Jurek was looking hard to get a permit
to climb Shishapangma.

The English expedition who went before us
paid the Chinese 69 thousand pounds.

There was a visit of the Chinese Sports
Minister in Katowice.

With the help of the local government
Jurek invited himself to the party.

There he was introduced to the minister.

We had an idea to invite
the Chinese delegation to Poland.

And ask them
if their visit expenses would

partially cover the costs
of our expedition.

We hosted the delegation of the Chinese
Ministry of Sports for 14 days.

We evaluated the cost of their stay
respectively to the costs

of the alpinist expeditions to Tibet.

That'd be 500 dollars for a hotel per day
or 10 dollars per kilometre in taxi.

The visit totalled 100 thousand dollars

and it equated the cost
of our expedition to Tibet.

The trip cost us no money at all.

The expedition medic Lech Korniszewski
and the girls surprised him with

14 traditional regional dumplings
with 14 paper flags with the names

of all the mountain peaks he climbed.

It was their welcome present.

I don't know if he can do it...

If he's allowed to do it.

Now I can do anything I want.

Zip up.

Tasty dumplings.

I always rejected the thought that some
day he might not be coming back.

I had these thoughts,
but I tried to reject them.

He always promised:
"Don't worry. I am coming back."

Soviets go home!
Soviets go home!

Following several months
of difficult preparations,

which can be understood
as breaking the ice,

we finally meet by the round table.

There is only one winner, the people.

Our country.

Soviets go home!
Soviets go home!

You made 14 ascents on eight-thousanders.
Only you and Messner achieved that.

This could be your career ending
accomplishment.

Why are you going to climb so difficult,
southern face of Lhotse?

"What the hell
are you going there again for?"

"I can't sit still any longer."

I told him to stay home and enjoy
his pork knuckle with horseradish

and take care of his kids and wife.

"This is the last time I'm going,"
he said.

All right, get down.

Hello, mom.

I'm a bit late.

-Where do I write that?
-Just write x equates and copy that.

Do I write the result or calculate it
in a column?

If you don't know the result you
have to do it in a column.

We were all egoists.
Jurek was also an egoist.

-How were you egoists?
-We were chasing our dreams, our passion.

-Is that bad?
-It's a good question.

I can't answer this question, because
I was taking part in that, as well.

-Do you have any regrets?
-No, I don't.

I think Jurek never regretted
following his path of life.

Yes, we are egoists.
Everybody is.

Sailors are.

The great navigators from the medieval
times were also egoists.

They dedicated their whole lives
to accomplishing of their goals.

In a way I abandoned Jurek
for half a year,

because I had accepted an invitation
from Rheinhold Messner

to the expedition
on the southern face of Lhotse.

Messner wanted to climb Lhotse -
the biggest challenge of the 20th century.

He failed.

It was sickening. The media exploited
the success of Kukuczka,

because they needed new successes.

We're going to follow the expedition
of Kukuczka and his friends,

who are armed with
foreign climbing equipment,

and who will sleep in Polish tents on
pillows made from Polish geese.

Will you be the first one on the top,

or will you let your
teammates do it?

Are you going to bring a rock chip
as gift for your sponsors?

What is your team
management strategy?

Are you going to seek positive
predictions about your trip

with astrologers
and horoscope writers?

There are 13 members of your team.

I hope it will be your lucky 13 and that
you're not superstitious.

Aren't you afraid that someone
from your team might die?

-Are you terrified much about going?
-Every expedition is spiked with anxieties.

I have a lot of them.

It was the first time our team was made
of accidental members.

It wasn't a well-knit team,
we didn't know each other well.

We didn't have financial problems,
it was the human factor thing.

There are TV crews everywhere.

They're everywhere.

I'm going climbing tomorrow
and I hope the TV people won't follow.

It's a great adventure for us.

We're finally setting off
and we'll have some time to relax.

There were Polish and Italian
TV crews on the spot,

along with accompanying staff.

There was a small
number of climbers.

Why are you going there?
What are you looking for there?

What do you feel
when you've reached the peak?

What do you do when your teammate dies?

You're selling yourself.

What do you do
when you friend dies?

In fact, I'm selling myself,
my feelings.

I'm forced to say all these things.

I don't want to do this.

If this is a professional climber life
then I'm quitting.

I said to him:

Remember about us, come back,
We're all waiting for you.

He said:

Don't worry. Take care of the kids.

We hugged, he rushed to the train

and I never saw him again.

I wonder how's my family doing,

how's my wife, my sons.

I've left them with so many problems.

Everybody followed the tv
and radio news about

the Himalayan expedition.

We hoped to learn anything.

If God allows it, the weather's good
and if we have a stroke of luck

then maybe we're going to make it.

Kukuczka told us his plan

which was much more ambitious
then originally planned.

He decided to go in an alpine style,
by a new route,

and without setting camps.

The old way wasn't enough for him.
The problem was he didn't find a partner.

I told him I liked his idea,
but found it a bit too risky,

and offered the traditional way,
which guaranteed our way back.

It would be a success, anyway.

It's two teams of 5 people in total
to go up this route.

Try to reach the 3rd station
and we're going for the 4th.

The weather was beautiful and chances
of reaching the top

and returning safely were great.

I woke up from a bad dream
in the middle of the night.

I dreamt I was collecting Jurek's
personal belongings.

I had a feeling that something
bad has happened.

I looked toward the wall and
noticed a person descending.

Then I knew I was right
about my dream.

There were no lengthy reports
on the accident. Maybe a few lines.

We cut through the traverse
up to 8 thousand metres

and Jurek was in the lead.

Right before the accident
he'd been setting placements

in the slab covered with snow.

I noticed him sliding down.

It appeared to be nothing dangerous.

With the placements set below you
you can slide down,

or even fall off the wall and nothing
bad should happen to you.

Jurek ripped off the first placement,

and then gained falling speed.

The situation became critical.

At some point he fell past me
hitting against the rock.

The only thing I could do was to nestle
to block the rope.

Then came a severe jolt of the rope
on the stance.

The rope snapped just above the stance,
against the sharp granite edge.

He was lucky the rope snapped,
because they would've both fallen down.

It all looked like in a movie.

I see him falling off the
rock and falling down,

and there's his glove tumbling down,
hitting against the rock.

I knew he was going to die.

I was still tied to
the remaining piece of rope.

Normally, you dispose of it, afterwards.

At that time I didn't think whether to
keep the snapped piece or not.

It's a different thing to be down there
on the safe ground.

When you're up there and your life
is in danger you have to save yourself.

Ryszard Pawłowski, Kukuczka's partner:
I'm holding it against you.

How could you have let
him fall off that wall?

We reported that Jurek's body
had been found and buried

so that Jurek's family could
claim compensation.

Otherwise, his status would be missing
and his family

wouldn't get any social benefits.

We couldn't allow this to happen.

At the mountain film
festival in Katowice, in 1991,

they organised a table at which
sat all the climber's widows.

I could see the wives of Piotrowski,
Heinrich and Kukuczka.

I was more shocked by the sight
of all those widows,

than by all these deaths
in the mountains.

Why did all these women have to go
through so much suffering?

The deaths of five of the Mount Everest
climbers in the spring of 1989,

Jurek and Wanda Rutkiewicz,

coincided with the social and political
changes in Poland.

It all led to formation
of the generation gap.

I've noticed that people began climbing
for pleasure

to take a picture on the top
against a beautiful landscape.

The Polish people don't bring the
national flag with themselves, anymore.

Why did you decide to climb such
difficult southern face of Lhotse?

Why should I quit
when I'm doing so well?

Screenplay and director

Editors

Photography

Music

Sound editor

Production manager

Design

Translation: Wojciech Muś