Adams Morgan in Northwest Washington in Washington, District of Columbia — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Wanda Rutkiewicz
Outstanding Polish Women
— #IamPolka —
Photographed By Devry Becker Jones (CC0), June 20, 2022
The first woman to reach the summit of the most dangerous mountain in the world - K2. The first European woman to conquer Mount Everest. One of the greatest climbers in history.
At the top of Mount Everest she left a small stone brought from Poland. The day she stood on the roof of the world - October 16, 1978 - was exactly the same date cardinal Karol Wojtyła was elected Pope John Paul II. 'The good Lord wanted us to ascend so high on the same day. Both of us as the first Poles', the new pope said when he heard about his compatriot's achievement.
After returning from the expedition, Rutkowska said: 'As I approached the summit, I had to cover the last 50 meters without oxygen, because my intake valve had frozen shut. So I took the mask off and walked the last few meters breathing the outside air. I was in such as a state of euphoria over these final meters that I went to the top at the same space as with oxygen'.
She loved challenges. She was confident and feisty. But also stubborn.
She was born in 1943 to a Polish family in Pługiany, a small town near Kłajpeda, Lithuania. After World War II, she moved with her parents to Wrocław. Her love for the mountains grew slowly. After graduating from high school, she went with her friends to Morskie Oko in the Tatra Mountains. While sitting on the shore of Poland's loveliest alpine lake, she was struck by the thought that the landscape was so beautiful she would like to stay forever. She was truly bitten by the mountain bug a little later, however, when she went rock climbing in the Sokole Mountains near Jelenia Góra.
She graduated from Wrocław University of Technology and became an electronics engineer. Her first job was at the Automated Power Systems Institute in Wrocław; then, after moving to Warsaw, she was employed at the Institute of Mathematical Machines. Every holiday she devoted entirely to climbing. Sunbathing on a beach, she claimed, would be too tiring.
At the beginning of her alpine career, Himalayan specialists claimed that women were not suited to high-altitude climbing. Rutkiewicz broke this stereotype. In 1986, she became the first woman in the world to climb K2, one of the most dangerous mountains in the world.
She wanted to conquer all 14 of the world's 8,000-meter peaks („eight-thousanders”), following in the footsteps of Reinhold Messner and Jerzy Kukuczka. She called the project her 'caravan to dreams'. In the end, she climbed eight of them. Apart from Mount Everest and K2, she summited Nanga Parbat, Shishapangma, Gasherbrum II, Gasherbrum I, Cho Oyu and Annapurna I. She often climbed alone, taking difficult routes and eschewing oxygen.
She
Photographed By Devry Becker Jones (CC0), June 20, 2022
She perished on the way to the summit of Kangchenjunga (8586 m) on May 13, 1992, at the age of 49.
She became a legend of Polish and world Himalayism.
Erected by Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Washington, D.C.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Exploration • Natural Features • Sports • Women. A significant historical date for this entry is May 13, 1992.
Location. 38° 55.476′ N, 77° 2.199′ W. Marker is in Northwest Washington in Washington, District of Columbia. It is in Adams Morgan. Marker is on 16th Street Northwest just south of Fuller Street Northwest, on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2640 16th St NW, Washington DC 20009, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Wisława Szymborska (here, next to this marker); Olga Tokarczuk (here, next to this marker); Mikołaj Kopernik (here, next to this marker); Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz (here, next to this marker); Maria Skłodowska Curie (here, next to this marker); Ignacy Łukasiewicz
Photographed By Devry Becker Jones (CC0), June 20, 2022
Credits. This page was last revised on January 30, 2023. It was originally submitted on June 21, 2022, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 84 times since then and 14 times this year. Photos: 1. submitted on June 21, 2022, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. 2. submitted on June 20, 2022, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. 3. submitted on June 21, 2022, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.