From the 1980s to the early 2000s, winter 8,000m expeditions were the ultimate proving ground of Himalayan climbing. It was almost popular during that era. Hard men, often Polish, deliberately sought out extreme cold, high winds, and short days — the harshest conditions the Nepalese Himalaya can present. Let’s explore what the Himalayan Database (HDB) has to say about some of them.
The HDB generally accepts as winter climbs those that occur either within meteorological or calendar winter. The meteorological version runs from December 1 till the end of February; calendar winter goes from December 21-22 to March 20-21.
At the HDB, it’s acceptable if expeditions arrive in base camp in November, as long as they summit during one of those official winter ranges. The crucial factor is when the summit occurs, not when the expedition reaches the mountain.
The view from 8,500m on Everest. Photo: Kenton Cool
Most-visited winter peaks
Until the end of 2024, there have been a total of 104 winter expeditions on the eight 8,000m peaks in Nepal (Everest, Kangchenjunga, Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu, Dhaulagiri I, Manaslu, and Annapurna I).
The most visited winter 8,000’er is Everest. Leszek Cichy and Krzysztof Wielicki of Poland first climbed it on February 17, 1980.
In all, 35 teams have attempted Everest in winter. Of those, only five summited — a meager 15 climbers in all. Only one topped out without supplemental oxygen: Ang Rita Sherpa, on December 22, 1987, at the age of 39.
The Polish Everest winter team. Photo: Andrzej Zawada
The second most popular 8,000m winter peak in Nepal is Manaslu. Its first winter ascent took place on January 12, 1984. Again, it was two Polish climbers, Maciej Berbeka and Ryszard Gajewski, who made it. They used no bottled oxygen.
A total of 25 teams targeted Manaslu. As on Everest, only five teams — 22 people, including 16 without extra oxygen — succeeded.
Maciej Berbeka, Maciej Jozef Pawlikowski, Zyga Heinrich, and Jerzy Kukuczka of Poland first summited Cho Oyu in winter on February 12, 1985. These Polish strongmen did not use bottled oxygen. Fifteen teams tried, six succeeded, totaling 18 winter summiters. All of them went without bottled oxygen.
Makalu. Photo: Shutterstock
Dhaulagiri I
Dhaulagiri I had an early winter ascent by Akio Kuizumi of Japan and Wangchu Sherpa of Nepal, on December 13, 1982, using bottled oxygen. But the widely accepted first winter ascent was on January 21, 1985, by Andrzej Czok and Jerzy Kukuczka. They used no supplemental oxygen.
Fourteen parties tried Dhaulagiri I in winter; five succeeded, putting a total of 11 climbers on the top, including nine without oxygen.
Rarely summited
Kangchenjunga was first summited in winter on January 11, 1986, again by two Poles. Krzysztof Wielicki and Jerzy Kukuczka used no bottled oxygen.
Only three teams have attempted Kangchenjunga in winter; two out of the three reached the top. Apart from Wielicki and Kukuczka, only Jeong-chel Lee of South Korea successfully summited Kangchenjunga in winter. He did so on January 2, 1988, using supplemental oxygen.
Artur Hajzer and Jerzy Kukuczka first ascended Annapurna I in winter on February 3, 1987, without oxygen. Although 24 parties have tried this mountain, only two teams — six climbers — did so in winter, all without bottled oxygen.
Denis Urubko and Simone Moro made the first winter climb of Makalu on February 9, 2009, without supplemental oxygen. Since then, although 14 other parties have attempted it, none have succeeded.
Eight teams have tried to climb Lhotse in winter, but Krzysztof Wielicki was the only climber to summit. That took place on December 31, 1988, without bottled oxygen.
From the Polish winter Annapurna I expedition. Photo: Jerzy Kukuczka
Fatalities
Out of 104 winter expeditions to these eight 8,000’ers in Nepal, 27 climbers have died, including seven on Everest, four on Kangchenjunga, one on Makalu, four on Cho Oyu, four on Dhaulagiri I, two on Manaslu, and five on Annapurna I. No winter fatality has occurred on Lhotse.
Out of those deceased climbers, 22 did not use bottled oxygen, including all of those on Kangchenjunga, Cho Oyu, Dhaulagiri I, Makalu, and Annapurna I.
The most common cause of death was falling. Fourteen fatalities occurred this way. Two others died in a crevasse, and six perished in an avalanche. The rest perished of Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) or some other illness.
Among the deceased were some of the best climbers of their era, including Yasuo Kato and Toshiaki Kobayashi of Japan, who died on Everest in December 1982. Read more about them here.
Andrzej Czok at Everest’s Western Cwm in the spring of 1980. Photo: Jerzykukuczka.com
Other fallen giants included Andrzej Czok, who died on Kangchenjunga of Acute Mountain Sickness in January 1986. Jean-Christophe Lafaille died in a crevasse fall at 7,700m on Makalu in January 2006. Anatoli Boukreev and Dmitry Sobolev’s deaths on winter Annapurna I were also a great loss. Boukreev, Sobolev, and Simone Moro were caught in an avalanche on December 25, 1997. Only Moro survived.
Today, winter expeditions to 8,000’ers are rare. Jost Kobusch of Germany has made three attempts to climb Everest in winter via the West Ridge solo. He’s sitting this year out, however. At the moment, the only two climbers to attempt a winter climb will be Simone Moro and Nima Rinji Sherpa. The pair will attempt Manaslu alpine style. This is Moro’s seventh winter attempt on this peak.
Manaslu’s summit area. Photo: Frame from a video by 8K Expeditions
