Jaan Künnap (born 9 February 1948, in Kõue) is an Estonian

mountaineer Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports ...

, photographer, and sports coach.

Biography

Künnap went to school in

Kose Kose () is a small borough () 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 was 2,097. ...

, as well as in

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

, 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 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 −

Tartu Ülikool 350 Tartu Ülikool 350 (; ) is a mountain peak in Central Pamir. It was first reached in 1982 to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the founding of the University of Tartu. It is located in the Tanimas mountain range in Tajikistan. At the time of fir ...

(the name of the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country.

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 (; ) is the highest mountain in Tajikistan, as well as the former Russian Empire and Soviet Union before Tajikistan's independence. The mountain is named after Ismail Samani, a ruler of the Samanid dynasty. It is located in ...

, 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 eight-thousanders are the 14 mountains recognized by the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) as being more than in height above sea level, and sufficiently independent of neighbouring peaks. There is no precise defin ...

. During his climb of

Cho Oyu 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 Him ...

, the eight-thousander he has climbed, he went above 8,000 m, but started coming down before reaching the top.

Photography

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 & 2023 in Estonia.

Awards

In 1987, he received the Snow Leopard award 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 (; ) was instituted in 1920 by the Estonian Red Cross Society. The Order of the Estonian Red Cross is bestowed in order to give recognition for humanitarian services rendered in the interests of the Estonians, ...

.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 () is a seaport situated in Paljassaare, Tallinn, Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by ...

(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

in 1982 Tõus (J. Künnap).jpg, "Tõus" (''Ascent''; 1983) Kommunism järvega.jpg, Ismail Samani Peak 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 (; ; ) 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 form a human chain spanning across the three Baltic ...

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 Falls in 2007 Tuhala Nõiakaev öös. 2011.jpg, Tuhala Witch's Well (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 or Heracles knot. The knot is formed by tying a left-handed overhand knot ...

(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