EverestHistory.com: Piotr Pustelnik

Piotr Pustelnik, with his Summit of Kangchenjunga has joined an elite group in the goal to reach the True Summits of the 14 8000 meter peaks.  Below is a short biography of Piotr Pustelnik.

Piotr Pustelnik was born on July 12, 1951 in Lodz (Poland). Nothing had prefigured his great climbing career until he turned 18 in 1969. Then he went of his first mountain hike and soon understood mountains were the best kind of landscape for him. Later, during one of his stays in the Tatras, he saw some climbers descending a mountain, accompanied by the clanging of their gear. He immediately felt a desire to be like them.

The beginnings were not easy, although the first steps were taken almost at once. Together with his cousin, he decided to enroll in a climbing course with the Mountaineering Club in Lodz. After numerous theoretical classes, practical assessment followed in the rocks of Podlesice. He failed and was kicked out of the course. He was only 22 then. It did not impair his determination though and he started to practice on his own with a couple of friends. He had done quite a lot of climbing in the Tatras before he finally decided to "legalize" his activity, and passed the climbing exam (on the second attempt). Several months later he became an instructor of alpinism.

In 1980 he first went abroad, to the Alps. The trip organized by the Academic Mountain Club in Lodz turned out successful, enabling Piotr to do a few major routes, including the eastern face of Mt Blanc. 

After that, a period of family life and writing a doctoral thesis followed, marking a break in his active climbing until 1985. Then he went to Cashmere, and a year later he attempted to climb Pinnacle (6950 m), which he did not summit due to altitude problems. In 1989 he climbed Korzhenevskoy Peak in the Pamir. Then he could go only higher.

His debut in the Karakoram came in 1990, on an expedition with Wanda Rutkiewicz, and brought immediate success - he summited Gasherbrum II (8035 m) in a solo climb. The next 8000-ers followed smoothly in the next decade: 

Piotr Pustelnik is a researcher at the Faculty of Processing Engineering and Environment Protection, Technical University of Lodz.  He does a lot of climbing in the mountains all over the world. Currently, he is involved in a project of 'Three Crowns", aiming to reach the 14 highest peaks of the Himalayas, next to the highest and the second highest peaks of all the Continents. Written by Waldek Brygier

Daily News and Expedition Coverage

Altitech2: Digital Altimeter, Barometer, Compass and Thermometer. Time/Date/Alarms. Chronograph with 24 hour working range. Timer with stop, repeat and up function. Rotating Bezel. Leveling bubble. Carabiner latch. E.L. 3 second backlight. Water resistant. 4" x 2-1/4" x 3/4" 2 oz. Requires 1 CR2032 battery. See more here.

  Altitude pre-
   acclimatization

   Ascenders

   Atlas snowshoes

   Black Diamond

   Botas

   Brunton

   Carabiners

   CaVa Climbing Shoes
   Clearance

   CMI

   Crampons

   Edelweiss ropes
   Eureka Tents

   Featured

   Garmin

   Granite Gear

   Harnesses
   Headlamps
   Helmets

   HighGear
   Ice Axes

   Kavu Eyewear

   Katadyn

   Kong

   Lekisport

   Motorola

   Nalgene

   New England Ropes

   Nikwax

   Omega

   Outdoor Designs

   Pelican

   Princeton Tec

   Prescription Glacier

   Glasses

   Primus

   Rope Bags
   Sleeping Bags

   Stubai

   Suunto

   Tents

   Trekking Poles
   Ushba
   and more here