This is the famous disappearance of a Polish legend. It was her last expedition

She was born in February 1943 in Plun, Lithuania, the daughter of Zbigniew Błaszkiewicz and Maria née Pietkun. In 1946, she came with her parents to Poland, to Łańcut (Rzeszów Province), and then to Wrocław. It was there that she studied at primary school, high school, and finally ended up at the Wrocław University of Technology. She graduated with a master's degree in electronics engineering.

The Disappearance of Wanda Rutkiewicz. 33rd Anniversary of the Tragic Expedition to Kanchenjunga

In her student days she played volleyball, being a player of the best Gwardia in the city at that time. Although she started in AZS Wrocław, taking part, among others, in the Universiade in Budapest (1965). Her passion for sports was great. Wanda, then still Błaszkiewicz, had a talent for sports. She ran, jumped long, threw the discus, she was even... the Polish champion of university clubs in shot put. She also trained in athletics in the Parasol Wrocław club.

But it was in the mountains that she found everything she loved.

She was incredibly tough. She set off on her famous, life-long expedition, the conquest of Mount Everest, with anemia. She decided to take a set of iron injections, which were supposed to increase her hemoglobin level, which also depended on the altitude she would be climbing. Once again, she did not give up. She conquered the highest peak on Earth, an eight-thousander located in the Himalayas, on the border of Nepal and the People's Republic of China. As the first Polish climber and the third woman in the world. She cheated fate again.

She was the first European woman and the first person from Poland to climb Mount Everest. In June 1986, she was the first woman in the world and the first person from Poland to climb K2, the second highest peak on Earth (after Mount Everest).

Wanda – now a married woman – Rutkiewicz, was an outstanding female mountaineer. One of the best, and for many the best in history.

She disappeared on the night of May 12-13, 1992. During the summit attack on Kanchenjunga.

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Her history with this peak began before 1992.

In the winter of 1988, Wanda Rutkiewicz and Ewa Panejko-Pankiewicz, as an independent team, took part in a Polish-German expedition. Their goal was to make the first female ascent of Yalung Kang, the western peak of Kangchenjunga. However, the Polish women ended the expedition. The reason: unfavorable weather conditions that made it impossible to take action. This was the beginning for Wanda. She felt that sooner or later she would return there.

It happened. 3 years later, in 1991, Wanda Rutkiewicz and Ewa Panejko-Pankiewicz joined the Slovenian expedition "Kanch'91". This time, the goal was to reach the summit of Kanchenjunga. The expedition was ended due to the tragic death of two mountaineers.

Wanda didn't give up. She tried again. And so in 1992, Kanchenjunga became her goal for the third time. She returned to realize her project "Caravans to Dreams". On the night of May 11, Wanda Rutkiewicz reached camp IV, where Carlos Carsolio was waiting for her. Despite her fatigue, Wanda didn't think about giving up the summit attack. After a few hours of sleep, the duo of climbers set off towards the summit. Unfortunately for Wanda, this was the last expedition...

Information about the Polish woman's disappearance reached Poland after almost two weeks, on May 25, 1992. Her body was never found.

- What irritates people the most is that we risk our lives for something that seems completely useless, unnecessary to anyone. But maybe it is necessary for those who do it! Maybe they simply need it to live - admitted Wanda Rutkiewicz.

Over the years since the events of May 1992, several legends have grown up about what happened to Rutkiewicz. It was not until the autumn of 1996 that the court declared Rutkiewicz dead, at the request of her brother Michał. Although Wanda's mother, Mrs. Maria Rutkiewicz, did not believe until the end of her life that her daughter had passed away.

She just stayed in her beloved mountains.

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