'Wanda Rutkiewicz' was born on
February 4,
1943 in
Plungiany,
Poland (today
Lithuania). She died either on
May 12 or
May 13,
1992, while climbing
Kangchenjunga.
After World War II the
Soviet Union annexed the eastern parts of Poland so her family moved to
Wrocław in western Poland where she graduated as electrical engineer.
Wanda Rutkiewicz (pron. ''van''-dah root-''kie''-vitch) is regarded as one of the greatest woman mountaineers ever. She was the third woman and the first
European woman to reach the summit of
Mount Everest on
October 16,
1978. She was the first of Polish climbers, too (it took 2 more years for others). In
1986 she became the first woman to successfully climb
K2 as part of a small expedition led by
Lilliane and Maurice Barrard.
★ 1978 -
Mount Everest
★ 1985 -
Nanga Parbat
★ 1986 -
K2
★ 1987 -
Shisha Pangma
★ 1989 -
Gasherbrum II
★ 1990 -
Gasherbrum I
★ 1991 -
Cho Oyu
★ 1991 -
Annapurna I
Bibliography
★ ''A Caravan of Dreams'' ISBN 0-9538631-0-7
External links
★
Everest History: Wanda Rutkiewicz