Il mio mondo verticale e altri scritti

Jerzy Kukuczka was the second man in the world, after Reinhold Messner, to have climbed all 14 of the earth's eight-thousanders. He accomplished this extraordinary feat in the short span of eight years, from 1979 to 1987, struggling not only with the mountains, but above all with precarious economic conditions. In doing so he created ten new routes and four first winter routes on Dhaulagiri, Cho Oyu, Kanchenjunga and Annapurna. This book written in a simple and direct way, gives us the sensations and emotions of a passionate, impulsive mountaineer capable of putting the great Himalayan mountains before any other interest. Kukuczka was the symbol of loyal, clean and respectful mountaineering of the rules of the game. When asked why he continued to climb, he said simply: “I think Mallory gave the best answer. When asked why he wanted to conquer Everest, he replied: because it exists." In 1989 he fell while he was 200 meters from the summit of Lothse while climbing the unclimbed South Face. His body was found at the base of the face, 3000 meters below the site of the accident, buried in a crevasse.