Jaan Künnap (born 9 February 1948, in

Kõue Kõue (german: Kau) is a village in Kose Parish, Harju County in northern Estonia. (retrieved 27 July 2021) Explorer Otto von Kotzebue Otto von Kotzebue (russian: О́тто Евста́фьевич Коцебу́, tr. ; – ) was a R ...

) is an Estonian

mountaineer Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...

, photographer, and sports coach.

Biography

Künnap went to school in

Kose Kose is a small borough ( et, alevik) in Harju County, 39 kilometers (24 miles) southeast of Tallinn, Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Kose Parish and lies next to Pirita River. At the 2011 Census, the settlement's population wa ...

, as well as in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

, where he has lived since 1969. In 1971–1994 he worked as a deep-sea diver on a rescue ship. During this time he logged over 3,000 hours of diving time and recorded depths of up to 80 m.

Mountaineering

He has climbed to the peak of over 150 mountains.Künnap, Jaan
ESBL. Retrieved February 8, 2015. Künnap received the

Snow Leopard award The Snow Leopard award () was a Soviet mountaineering award, given to highly skilled mountain climbers. It is still recognized in the Commonwealth of Independent States. To receive this award, a climber was required to summit all five peaks withi ...

in 1987. In 1999, a film was made about him with the same name (''Lumeleopard''; 1999). He was the president of the Tallinn Alpinism Club between 1983 and 1988 and since 1999 he has led the mountaineering club that bears his name.

First Ascent of 6,000 meters

In 1982, he took part in an expedition to the Tanõmas mountain range in central Pamiri to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the University of Tartu. In the course of this, the highest unconquered mountain of the Soviet Union at that time was first conquered (the name of the University of Tartu was 350 and the height of the peak was thought to be 6350 m). The expedition was led by Kalev Muru and six climbers reached the top, including Jaan Künnap (ascension leader). In 1984,the Estonians again visited the Pamiri to conquer the peaks. At an altitude of 6047 meters, the top was climbed by three groups on different routes. The ascension group, led by Jaan Künnap, reached its peak on August 18 (the day before, the group led by Ilmar Priimetsa reached the top). The peak was called the Tallinn Peak. He has climbed to the top of several seven-thousanders (and in the case of some of them, like

Ismoil Somoni Peak Ismoil Somoni Peak ( Tajik: Қуллаи Исмоили Сомонӣ, ''Qulla-i Ismō‘il-i Sōmōnî/Qullaji Ismojili Somonī''; fa, قلّهٔ اسماعیل سامانی; russian: Пик Исмои́ла Сомони́, r=Pik Ismoíla Somon ...

, he has successfully summited several times). He has technically climbed over 8,000 m; however, he has not successfully reached the summit of an

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 ...

. During his climb of

Cho Oyu __NOTOC__ Cho Oyu (Nepali: चोयु; ; ) is the sixth-highest mountain in the world at above sea level. Cho Oyu means "Turquoise Goddess" in Tibetan. The mountain is the westernmost major peak of the ''Khumbu'' sub-section of the Mahalangur ...

, the eight-thousander he has climbed, he went above 8,000 m, but started coming down before reaching the top. Künnap has participated in over 50 photography exhibitions and has reached the podium in numerous photography competitions. He has written two books and served as a camera operator for several documentaries. Since 1998, he has worked as a photographer for the Tallinn City Museum. He has also added thousands of photos to Wikimedia Commons and was selected as the best Wikiphotograper of the Year 2019 & 2020 in Estonia.

Awards

In 1987, he received the

together with Kalev Muru and Alfred Lõhmus. In 2001, he was honored with the 3rd class of the

Order of the Estonian Red Cross The Order of the Estonian Red Cross ( et, Eesti Punase Risti teenetemärk; french: Ordre de la Croix-Rouge Estonienne) was instituted in 1920 by the Estonian Red Cross Society. The Order of the Estonian Red Cross is bestowed in order to give rec ...

.Riiklike autasude andmine
Riigi Teataja, RTL 2001, 18, 252

Works

Photos

Päästetööd merel 73 (08).jpg, Marine salvage in Estonia in 1973 Paljassaare sadam Tallinna reidilt 74.jpg,

Paljassaare Harbour Paljassaare Harbour ( et, Paljassaare sadam) is a seaport situated in Paljassaare, Tallinn, Estonia. Vessels enter and leave the harbour through a canal (length of canal 800 m, width 90-150m, depth 9.0m) Overview It is a cargo port, which prim ...

(1974) Käiaja (foto - J. Künnap).jpg, "Käiaja" (''Grinder''; 1977) Tormide, tungide aastad (J. Künnap).jpg, "Tormide, tungide aastad" (''Years of storms and urges''; 1981) 1982 expedition to Tartu Ülikool 350 (18).jpg, Expedition to

Tartu Ülikool 350 Tartu Ülikool 350 ( en, University of Tartu 350; russian: пик имени Тартуского университета) is a mountain peak in Central Pamir. It was first reached in 1982 to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the founding of the ...

in 1982 Tõus (J. Künnap).jpg, "Tõus" (''Ascent''; 1983) Kommunism järvega.jpg,

Ismail Samani Peak Ismoil Somoni Peak ( Tajik: Қуллаи Исмоили Сомонӣ, ''Qulla-i Ismō‘il-i Sōmōnî/Qullaji Ismojili Somonī''; fa, قلّهٔ اسماعیل سامانی; russian: Пик Исмои́ла Сомони́, r=Pik Ismoíla Somon ...

in 1986 Tallinn (laev) dokis 1986.jpg, Tallinn (ship) in 1986 Aktikompositsioon 19 (J. Künnap).jpg, "Aktikompositsioon 19" (''Nude composition 19''; 1988) Balti kett 39.jpg,

Baltic Way The Baltic Way ( lt, Baltijos kelias, lv, Baltijas ceļš, et, Balti kett) or Baltic Chain (also "Chain of Freedom") was a peaceful political demonstration that occurred on 23 August 1989. Approximately two million people joined their hands to ...

in Estonia (1989) Korzenevskaja nõlv, Künnap.jpg, Descent from Korzhenevskaya (1990) Kalju Suur, päevapiltnik 1992.jpg, Kalju Suur in 1992 Keila-Juga öös.jpg,

Keila Waterfall Keila Waterfall ( et, Keila juga) is a waterfall in Northern Estonia on Keila River. It is the third most powerful waterfall in Estonia after Narva Narva, russian: Нарва is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in Ida- ...

in 2007 Tuhala Nõiakaev öös. 2011.jpg,

Tuhala Witch's Well Tuhala Witch's Well ( et, Tuhala nõiakaev) is a karst spring in Kose Parish, Harju County, Estonia that overflows after heavy rains. In Estonian folklore, it is said to be caused by witches lashing each other underground. In 2012 the Tuhala Wit ...

(2011) Gravüür valgusega XXX.jpg, "Engraving with light XXX" (2015) Rehvisõlm.jpg,

Reef knot The reef knot, or square knot, is an ancient and simple binding knot used to secure a rope or line around an object. It is sometimes also referred to as a Hercules knot. The knot is formed by tying a left-handed overhand knot between two ends, ...

(2015)

Books

* ''Matkaspordi käsiraamat'', Jaan Künnapi Alpinismiklubi, 2004. * ''Fotograafia minu elus = Photography in my life'', Jaan Künnapi Alpinismiklubi, 2013. * ''Sõlmed ja pleisid'', 2016.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kunnap, Jaan Estonian mountain climbers Estonian photographers 1948 births People from Kose Parish Living people