One of Poland’s great alpinists of the 1970s and 80s, Krystyna Palmowska, died yesterday in a climbing fall in Slovakia’s High Tatras, according to Polish sources.
The accident occurred on June 15, and her body was found today, June 16, by the Slovak Mountain Rescue Service after ground and helicopter searches.
Palmowska, 76, was one of the best female alpinists of her generation — a generation when the Poles, both men and women, dominated high-altitude mountaineering. Her remarkable climbs included:
- 1977: Matterhorn North Face – 2nd all-female ascent
- 1978: Matterhorn North Face – 1st all-female winter climb
- 1979: Rakaposhi (7,788m) – New route
- 1982: Member of the K2 Women’s Expedition
- 1983: Broad Peak (8,047m) – 1st woman summiter
- 1985: Nanga Parbat (8,126m) – 1st all-female ascent
- 1986: K2 Magic Line – Reached 8,200m with Anna Czerwinska
Krystyna Palmowska in 1982, during a women’s expedition led by Wanda Rutkiewicz in the Karakoram. Photo: CAF Zbigniew Staszyszyn/RAP via rmf24.pl
