Mountaineer Waldemar Kowalewski, who was injured on Friday following an avalanche on Broad Peak (8,051 m) in the Karakoram, has been brought down to base camp by a team of Sherpas. A helicopter evacuation to a hospital has been scheduled.
Traveler Łukasz Supergan, currently at the base camp below Broad Peak, reported the successful completion of the challenging rescue operation on Sunday evening. On Friday, he had shared news of the avalanche, which followed heavy snowfall and injured Kowalewski — a climber who has summited 12 of the world’s 14 eight-thousanders.
Earlier, Bogusław Magrel, president of the Polish Alpine Club, also confirmed the Sherpas’ rescue efforts. He had been in contact with the injured climber earlier that day.
“Waldek is in decent condition. The Sherpas reached him very quickly. It’s fortunate that they acted decisively and efficiently, especially given that they’ve only recently started operating in this region of the Karakoram — until now, they had mostly worked and climbed in the Himalayas. Waldek told me he tried to descend on his own to Camp II, but his head wasn’t cooperating with his leg, which he believes may be broken,” said Magrel, who feared that transporting the injured climber through such difficult terrain all the way to base camp could be extremely challenging.
Sherpas Once Again Prove Indispensable
Despite the difficulties, the Sherpas — who had been brought in from a nearby base camp at K2 — managed to complete the rescue quickly and efficiently, both ascending and descending the mountain.
The avalanche, triggered by heavy snowfall, is believed to have occurred at around 6,600–6,800 meters, between Camps III and II, as Kowalewski was descending from approximately 7,000 meters.
Originally from Szczecin, Kowalewski has been pursuing the Crown of the Himalayas and Karakoram — summiting all 14 of the world’s highest peaks — for the past 13 years. He had previously attempted Broad Peak in 2017. The only summits still missing from his list are Shishapangma (8,013 m) and Cho Oyu (8,201 m), both located in China. If successful, he would become the fourth Pole to complete this feat.
His distinguished predecessors took even longer to collect all 14 peaks: Jerzy Kukuczka — 18 years (1979–1987), Krzysztof Wielicki — 17 years (1980–1996), and Piotr Pustelnik — 21 years (1990–2010).
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