Adam Radosław Bielecki (born 12 May 1983) is a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

alpine and high-altitude climber, known for the first

winter Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultures ...

ascents of the

eight-thousander The International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) recognises eight-thousanders as the 14 mountains that are more than in height above sea level, and are considered to be sufficiently independent of neighbouring peaks. There is no ...

Gasherbrum I Gasherbrum I ( ur, ; ), surveyed as K5 and also known as Hidden Peak, is the 11th highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It is located in Shigar District in the Gilgit–Baltistan region of Pakistan. Gasherbrum I is part of the Ga ...

and

Broad Peak Broad Peak ( ur, ) is a mountain in the Karakoram on the border of Pakistan and China, the twelfth-highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It was first ascended in June 1957 by Fritz Wintersteller, Marcus Schmuck, Kurt Diemberger, an ...

. In his book ''Spod zamarzniętych powiek'' written with co-author Dominik Szczepański, Bielecki tells the story of his climbings, memories from Himalayan expeditions, and the effort the highest mountains demand.

Early life and education

Adam Bielecki was born in 1983 in

Tychy Tychy (Polish pronunciation: ; german: Tichau; szl, Tychy) is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, approximately south of Katowice. Situated on the southern edge of the Upper Silesian industrial district, the city boders Katowice to the north, ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. He graduated from the Leon Kruczkowski High School No. 1 in Tychy. He studied

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

at the

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (Polish: ''Uniwersytet Jagielloński'', UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and the 13th oldest university in ...

in Kraków. At the age of 17, he was the youngest person to climb

Khan Tengri Khan Tengri is a mountain of the Tian Shan mountain range. It is on the China—Kyrgyzstan—Kazakhstan tripoint, east of lake Issyk-Kul, Issyk Kul. Its geologic elevation is , but its glacial icecap rises to . For this reason, in mounta ...

in alpine-style.

Career

Bielecki climbs in the sport style, without oxygen support from the bottle.

Eight-thousanders

On September 30, 2011, together with

Artur Hajzer Artur Henryk Hajzer (28 June 1962 – 7 July 2013) was a Polish mountaineer. Hajzer climbed seven eight-thousanders, several via new routes (Manaslu’s NE face in 1986, Shishapangma’s east ridge in 1987) and made the first winter climb of Ann ...

and Tomasz Wolfart he summited

Makalu Makalu ( ne, मकालु हिमाल, Makālu himāl; zh, t=馬卡魯峰, p=Mǎkǎlǔ fēng) is the fifth highest mountain in the world at . It is located in the Mahalangur Himalayas southeast of Mount Everest, in Nepal. One of th ...

(8463m), They climbed the mountain without supplementary oxygen. On March 9, 2012, Adam Bielecki with

Janusz Gołąb Janusz () is a masculine Polish given name. It is also the shortened form of January and Januarius. People *Janusz Akermann (born 1957), Polish painter * Janusz Bardach, Polish gulag survivor and physician * Janusz Bielański, Roman Catholic pri ...

made the first successful winter ascent of

(8080m), thereby also achieving the highest elevation reached by man in winter in the

Karakorum Karakorum (Khalkha Mongolian: Хархорум, ''Kharkhorum''; Mongolian Script:, ''Qaraqorum''; ) was the capital of the Mongol Empire between 1235 and 1260 and of the Northern Yuan dynasty in the 14–15th centuries. Its ruins lie in the ...

. They climbed the mountain without supplementary oxygen. On July 31, 2012, he summited K2 (8611m) without use of supplemental oxygen. On March 5, 2013, he climbed

(8051m) together with

Maciej Berbeka Maciej Berbeka (17 October 1954 – 6 March 2013) was a Polish mountaineer and mountain guide. He and Tomasz Kowalski went missing on 6 March 2013 as they were descending from Broad Peak. They were declared dead two days later. Berbeka's a ...

Artur Małek Artur is a cognate to the common male given name Arthur, meaning "bear-like," which is believed to possibly be descended from the Roman surname Artorius or the Celtic bear-goddess Artio or more probably from the Celtic word ''artos'' ("bear"). Ot ...

and Tomasz Kowalski. They climbed the mountain without supplementary oxygen. The climbers separated before the summit, and while Bielecki and Małek reached the camp on descent, Berbeka and Kowalski went missing and were pronounced dead three days later. On January 27, 2018, Bielecki, along with

Denis Urubko Denis Urubko (russian: Дени́с Ви́кторович Уру́бко; 29 July 1973) is a Russian-Polish mountaineer. In 2009, as a citizen of Kazakhstan he became the 15th person to climb all 14 eight-thousanders and the 8th person to achie ...

, Jaroslaw Botor and Piotr Tomala led a rescue operation on

Nanga Parbat Nanga Parbat ( ur, ) (; ), known locally as Diamer () which means “king of the mountains”, is the ninth-highest mountain on Earth, its summit at above sea level. Lying immediately southeast of the northernmost bend of the Indus River in ...

to save climbers

Élisabeth Revol Élisabeth Revol (born 29 April 1979) is a French high-altitude climber. In January 2018, Revol became the first woman to have climbed Nanga Parbat in Pakistan in winter; on the descent she was rescued, while her teammate Tomasz Mackiewicz die ...

and

Tomasz Mackiewicz Tomasz Mackiewicz (13 January 1975 – c. 26 January 2018) was a Polish high-altitude climber. He died on an eight-thousander Nanga Parbat, known as the "Killer Mountain", in Pakistan. Early life and expeditions Born in Działoszyn, Poland. At ...

, who were stuck on the mountain. All 4 of them had been attempting a winter summit of K2, were brought to the mountain by helicopter. Bielecki and Urubko climbed over 1000m through the night to reach Revol. They succeeded in bringing Revol to safety, but, due to the severe weather conditions, were unable to save Mackiewicz. The K2 expedition ended with no success. Bielecki and his colleagues were awarded

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

, France's highest distinction for military and civil merits, for this rescue mission. On July 16 2018, Adam Bielecki with

Felix Berg Felix may refer to: * Felix (name), people and fictional characters with the name Places * Arabia Felix is the ancient Latin name of Yemen * Felix, Spain, a municipality of the province Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, ...

, climbed

Gasherbrum II Gasherbrum II ( ur, ; ); surveyed as K4, is the 13th highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It is the third-highest peak of the Gasherbrum massif, and is located in the Karakoram, on the border between Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan a ...

by the west face (probably the second ascent of this face) without supplementary oxygen.

Other Mountains

Bielecki was a leader of multiple expeditions on 5 continents, among other peaks he climbed also: Tilicho Peak,

Pik Lenin Lenin Peak or Ibn Sina (Avicenna) Peak ( ky, Ленин Чокусу, ''Lenin Choqusu'', لەنىن چوقۇسۇ; russian: Пик Ленина, ''Pik Lenina''; tg, қуллаи Ленин , ''qulla‘i Lenin/qullaji Lenin'', renamed қулла� ...

Jengish Chokusu Jengish Chokusu ( ky, Жеңиш чокусу, , ; en, Tomur Peak, zh, s=托木尔峰, t=托木爾峰; russian: Пик Победы, ''Pik Pobedy'', ) is the highest mountain in the Tian Shan mountain system at . It lies on the Kyrgyzstan–Ch ...

(western summit),

Damavand Mount Damavand ( fa, دماوند ) is a dormant stratovolcano, the highest peak in Iran and Western Asia and the highest volcano in Asia and the 2nd highest volcano in the Eastern Hemisphere (after Mount Kilimanjaro), at an elevation of . ...

, Ararat,

Kilimanjaro Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and ab ...

, Ruwenzori,

Mount Kenya Mount Kenya (Kikuyu: ''Kĩrĩnyaga'', Kamba, ''Ki Nyaa'') is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second-highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro. The highest peaks of the mountain are Batian (), Nelion () and Point Lenana (). Mount Kenya is locat ...

Chimborazo Chimborazo () is a currently inactive stratovolcano in the Cordillera Occidental range of the Andes. Its last known eruption is believed to have occurred around 550 A.D. Chimborazo's summit is the farthest point on the Earth's surface from t ...

Cotopaxi Cotopaxi () is an active stratovolcano in the Andes Mountains, located in Latacunga city of Cotopaxi Province, about south of Quito, and northeast of the city of Latacunga, Ecuador. It is the second highest summit in Ecuador, reaching a h ...

Aconcagua Aconcagua () is a mountain in the Principal Cordillera of the Andes mountain range, in Mendoza Province, Argentina. It is the List of highest mountains on Earth, highest mountain in the Americas, the highest outside Asia, and the highest in the ...

Denali Denali (; also known as Mount McKinley, its former official name) is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of above sea level. With a topographic prominence of and a topographic isolation of , Denali is the thir ...

(Mc Kinley) Dhampus Peak, El Cuerno,

Artesonraju Artesonraju is a pyramidal mountain peak located near the city of Caraz in the Cordillera Blanca mountain range in the Peruvian Andes. It is located at the Peruvian province of Huaylas and its slopes are within two cities: Santa Cruz and Caraz ...

Churup Churup or Tsurup (possibly from Ancash Quechua) is a mountain in the Cordillera Blanca in the Andes of Peru, about high. It is situated in the Ancash Region, Huaraz Province, Independencia District, north-east of Huaraz Huaraz () (from ...

and in the Alps in total 17 four-thousanders, including

Mont Blanc Mont Blanc (french: Mont Blanc ; it, Monte Bianco , both meaning "white mountain") is the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe, rising above sea level. It is the second-most prominent mountain in Europe, after Mount Elbrus, and i ...

Dufourspitze , it, Punta Dufour, rm, Piz da Dufour , translation = Peak Dufour, Highest Peak, Large Horn , photo = Monte Rosa summit.jpg , photo_size = , photo_caption = From the peak to the southeast towards Italy, the Dunantspi ...

Matterhorn The (, ; it, Cervino, ; french: Cervin, ; rm, Matterhorn) is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the ...

. On August 20, 2017, Bielecki together with Paweł Migas and Jacek Czech climbed in the Cajon del Mapo region of the Andes opening 3 new routes: "Ruta Polaca", "Diedro Polaco" and "La Perdida".

Selected Ascents

Ascents on eight-thousanders

* 2011 –

* 2012 –

(first winter ascent) * 2012 – K2 * 2013 –

(first winter ascent) * 2018 –

(by the west face)

Ascents on other mountains

* "Colton-MacIntyre". Grandess Jorasses ED+, 1200m. * "Shmid route". Matterhorn, TD+, 1100m. * "Transylvania" Monte Cassale, VII, 1100m. * "Via Luna 85", PlaccheZebratta, 6c, 400m. * "Shangri-La" Osterva, VIII. * "Szewska Pasja", Młynarczyk VII+. * "Ruta Polaca", Cerro Arenas. TD+, 1000m. First ascent * "La Perdida", Cerro Arenas. ED-,900m. First Ascent * "Rubenzahl" Kandersteg. WI6. * "Juvsola" Rjukan. WI6. * "Original route" La Esfinge. 6c+/7a, 800m.

Selected awards

* Best of ExplorersWeb 2012 Awards Winner: Gasherbrum I First Winter Ascent *Feat of the year 2012 award by the Polish edition of National Geographic *"The Spirit of Mountaineering Commendation" awarded by British Alpine Club to: Krzysztof Wielicki, Adam Bielecki, Denis Urubko, Jarosław Botor and Piotr Tomala for the rescue action on Nanga Parbat in winter 2018 *

David A. Sowles Memorial Award The David A. Sowles Memorial Award is the American Alpine Club's highest award for valour, bestowed at irregular intervals on mountaineers who have "distinguished themselves, with unselfish devotion at personal risk or sacrifice of a major objectiv ...

2019 by American Alpine Club for the Nanga Parbat rescue action for Adam Bielecki, Denis Urubko, Jarosław Botor and Piotr Tomala * 2019 National Geographic Adventurers of the Year, for Adam Bielecki and Denis Urubko * French

, for his part in the rescue mission on Nanga Parbat in 2019

References

External links

list of ascent on winterclimb.com
, with detailed list of ascents of 1999–2013 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bielecki, Adam 1983 births Living people Polish mountain climbers People from Tychy Sportspeople from Silesian Voivodeship Mount Ararat