Adam Bielecki (climber)


Adam Radosław Bielecki is a Polish alpine and high-altitude climber, known for the first winter ascents of the eight-thousanders: Gasherbrum I and Broad Peak. In his book Spod zamarzniętych powiek written with co-author Dominik Szczepański, Bielecki tells the story of his climbings, memories from Himalayan expeditions, and the effort the highest mountains demand.

Early life and education

Adam Bielecki was born in Tychy, Poland. At the age of 17, he was the youngest person to climb Khan Tengri in alpine-style.

Career

Bielecki climbs in the sport style, without oxygen support from the bottle.

Eight-thousanders

On September 30, 2011, together with Artur Hajzer and Tomasz Wolfart he summited Makalu, They climbed the mountain without supplementary oxygen.
On March 9, 2012, Adam Bielecki with Janusz Gołąb made the first successful winter ascent of Gasherbrum I, thereby also achieving the highest elevation reached by man in winter in the Karakorum. They climbed the mountain without supplementary oxygen.
On July 31, 2012, he summited K2 without use of supplemental oxygen.
On March 5, 2013, he climbed Broad Peak together with Maciej Berbeka, Artur Małek and Tomasz Kowalski. They climbed the mountain without supplementary oxygen. The climbers separated before the summit, and while Bielecki and Małek reached the camp on descent, Berbeka and Kowalski went missing and were pronounced dead three days later.
On January 27, 2018, Bielecki, along with Denis Urubko, Jaroslaw Botor and Piotr Tomala led a rescue operation on Nanga Parbat to save climbers Élisabeth Revol and Tomasz Mackiewicz, who were stuck on the mountain. All 4 of them had been attempting a winter summit of K2, were brought to the mountain by helicopter. Bielecki and Urubko climbed over 1000m through the night to reach Revol. They succeeded in bringing Revol to safety, but, due to the severe weather conditions, were unable to save Mackiewicz. The K2 expedition ended with no success. Bielecki and his colleagues were awarded Legion of Honour, France's highest distinction for military and civil merits, for this rescue mission.
On July 16 2018, Adam Bielecki with Felix Berg, climbed Gasherbrum II by the west face without supplementary oxygen.

Other Mountains

Bielecki was a leader of multiple expeditions on 5 continents, among other peaks he climbed also: Tilicho Peak, Pik Lenin, Jengish Chokusu, Damavand, Ararat, Kilimanjaro, Ruwenzori, Mount Kenya, Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, Aconcagua, Denali Dhampus Peak, El Cuerno, Artesonraju, Churup and in the Alps in total 17 four-thousanders, including Mont Blanc, Dufourspitze, Matterhorn.
On August 20, 2017, Bielecki together with Paweł Migas and Jacek Czech climbed in the Cajon del Mapo region of the Andes opening 3 new routes: "Ruta Polaca", "Diedro Polaco" and "La Perdida".

Selected Ascents

Ascents on eight-thousanders