Jerzy Kukuczka

Who was Jerzy Kukuczka?

Jerzy Kukuczka, born in Katowice, Poland, was a Polish alpine and high-altitude climber. On 18 September 1987, he became the second man, after Reinhold Messner, to climb all fourteen eight-thousanders in the world. He was also the first man to climb three of the fourteen in winter: Dhaulagiri with Andrzej Czok in 1985, Kangchenjunga with Krzysztof Wielicki in 1986 and Annapurna I with Artur Hajzer in 1987. He is also the only climber to have ascended four of the eight-thousanders during winter.