A new article about Wawrzyniec Żuławski recently appeared in a French magazine. The author Piotr Paćkowski lives in France but is originally from Poland, and he posted a Polish version of the piece on his personal blog in two parts: here and here. It’s rich, long and detailed, and Paćkowski, a climber himself, is clearly an expert on the sport and its history. I’ve edited it down to create an English version which I’ve published below. Enjoy.
From Polish Soil to Chamonix
You never abandon your companion, even if they’ve just become a block of ice.
Wawrzyniec Żuławski
Legends of the Tatra Volunteer Search & Rescue (TOPR)
Initially called the Rescue Guard, TOPR was founded in 1909.
The first rescuer to die during one of their rescue operations (in August 1910 on the north face of Little Sycamore Peak) was its deputy chief Klemens “Klimek” Bachleda. He lost his life looking for the injured mountaineer Stanisław Szulakiewicz. Klimek did not listen to his superior, Mariusz Zaruski, who shouted “Klimek, come back!”
The legend of Klimek Bachleda is deeply rooted into the consciousness of Polish mountaineers, without which the recent action on Nanga Parbat with Mackiewicz and Revol would never have taken place.
There is another legend of Polish rescue who lives in the thoughts of Polish climbers and mountaineers – the myth of Wawrzyniec Żuławski. He died in August 1957 on Mont Blanc du Tacul in an ice ridge avalanche while out on a mission to search for his friend and former climbing partner Stanisław Groński. Żuławski was one of the most experienced rescuers in Poland, despite never being a member of TOPR.
Klimek and Żuławski: two mythical figures. Remembrance of them is justified even amongst climbers who’ve never attempted rescue missions. The reason is simple: in the past, Polish rescue services did not have the light Alouette-style helicopters we see today. Rescue operations were conducted “on foot,” often with the participation of mountaineers who might help in the transport of equipment and victims.
Youth & family
Jerzy Wawrzyniec Żuławski was born on February 14th, 1916, in Zakopane. He practically never used his first name, which he inherited from his father [who died while Warwrzyniec was still in the womb – ed.]. His father Jerzy Żuławski was a writer and poet, as well as an excellent alpinist and TOPR rescuer, just like his brother Janusz. Wawrzyniec’s mother, Kazimiera, née Hanicka, also climbed in the Tatras. Wawrzyniec had two older brothers: Juliusz and Marek.
Janusz – Wawrzyniec’s uncle – initiated his nephews Marek, Juliusz (Julek), Jacek and Wawrzyniec into climbing the Tatras. They often climbed together.
Żuławski debuted in the Tatras in 1932. He was quickly noticed by the best climbers of the era, often becoming their indispensable partner.
Just two weeks after his Tatra baptism, Wawrzyniec and his brother Marek conquered the Gankowa Gallery. It was their first serious route in the Tatras.
1935 was Wawrzyniec’s first great season. With Zbigniew Korosadowicz, he recorded the first ascents of the northeast wall of Mięguszowiecki Peak, the north face of Mały Młynarz, the east wall of Łomnica, and the first winter ascent of the northeast wall of Cubryna. Additionally, with Stefan Bernardzikiewicz, he made the first winter ascent of Lodowy Szczyt.
As stated in one reportage, Żuławski loved mountaineering, women and jazz. The Slovakian High Tatras were his main area of exploration: vast, wild and less frequented. Żuławski’s list of ascents in Slovakia is impressive. And we cannot forget about his numerous rescue missions with TOPR.
Final Days
Mountains can be terribly unforgiving, and yet I still have a very personal relationship with Mont Blanc, with those vast, empty snowy plains, with its endless wide ridges dotted with greenish ice. I do not even – despite everything – resent the cruelty with which it engulfs people lost in these spaces during storms, for the dozens of victims whose bodies have never been found, just how Groński and his companions’ bodies may never be found.
Wawrzyniec Żuławski, letter to ZAIKS dated August 16, 1957
In the summer of 1957, a large group of Polish climbers appeared in Chamonix, practically all of the community’s elite, that is to say the cream of Polish mountaineering.
That summer, Wawrzyniec Żuławski also appeared in Chamonix, but a range of reasons, as Ryszard W. Schramm wrote in Taternik, he did not think about personal achievements. This time, his role was as a guardian and advisor to the Polish climbers.
The summer that year was exceptionally unlucky.
On August 11th, concern grows in the Polish community as there is no news about Stanisław Groński, who set off with the Yugoslavs Dragan Tekič and Dragan Stanicevič for Mont Blanc via Mont Blanc du Tacul and Mont Maudit. The climbers had set off on the night of August 8th from the old shelter under the south face of Aiguille du Midi near the Cosmiques mountain hostel.
In the Polish camps, the situation is clear: only Żuławski is capable of leading the rescue mission due to his extensive climbing and rescue experience. Furthermore, he speaks French, which is important during discussions with the French.
On August 16th, the weather is still hopeless. The French are seriously considering ending the search as after eight days, there is no chance of finding the climbers alive.
On August 17th, the weather improves. The Franco-Polish rescue team leaves Cosmiques at 2:45am. They only tie in once they are at the wall. The French set a sharp tempo. The climbers ascend diagonally on the right side of the wall. The Minster-Vacher team leads, followed by Germain-Novel. Utracki-Warteresiewicz and Biel-Żuławski close the caravan. There’s a slight delay between them – about ten minutes. According to Schramm, that day Żuławski was not in his best shape. At 4:30am, the French stop, exhausted by the fast pace of the climb. Utracki and Warteresiewicz take the lead.
At 4:50am, an avalanche comes down the southern rib to the right of the Germain-Minster team, straight onto Biel and Żuławski, who are caught by the merciless force of nature. After flying ten metres, they reach the final point, an ice crevasse. Biel was pulled off, dragged by Żuławski, and literally flew over the crevasse (3-4 meters wide), landing on its left edge. Ice boulders quickly filled the place where Żuławski was buried.
Biel, due to the flight of his companion, was practically cut by the rope at hip level, suffering serious internal injuries to his intestines and liver. Germain and Minster immediately rush over to him. Żuławski had died instantly, buried by ice and snow fifteen metres deep. Due to the disturbed seracs and snow, there was no chance of recovering the climber.
Biel was quickly evacuated to Col du Midi. Help flew in from Chamonix. The injured Biel was transported to the hospital in Chamonix at 8:30am. He needed numerous transfusions and a serious operation.
Aftermath
Wawrzyniec Żuławski was a respected figure in Chamonix, being a friend of the mayor of the city, Paul Payot, and of Lucien Devies, the former president of GHM, as well as of other personalities.
The first tribute to the climber was when an airplane dropped of a bouquet of carnations in Polish colours as well as some Polish soil into the ice crevasse. Firmin Guiron (president of Aéro-club du Mont Blanc) carried this out on 2nd November 1957.
A year after the tragedy, ZAIKS funded a memorial plaque with a French inscription for the composer. It featured the name Laurent, a linguistic rendering of the Latin word for “laurel” [In English, Warwzyniec is translated as Laurence – ed.].
On that day, the cemetery in Chamonix was filled to the brim, according to Jerzy Jurandot (president of Zaiks) in Taternik. Many friends of the climber, municipal officials and residents of Chamonix and nearby villages were in attendance. Jurandot unveiled the plaque.
After the tragedy, numerous controversies arose, also in Poland. Some even accused the rescuers of causing the accident.
The controversies are unnecessary. Żuławski went on a mission just like Klimek Bachleda, according to his beliefs. Just like the Polish climbers from K2, whom I recommended for the Legion of Honor for their action on Nanga Parbat.
The rescuer Wawrzyniec Żuławski was not a member of TOPR, but he almost certainly knew the oath that still applies today:
[…] regardless of the season, day and weather conditions – I will show up at the designated place and time, adequately equipped for the expedition, and go to the mountains according to the route and instructions of the Chief or his Deputy in order to search for the missing person and help him.
From the TOPR statute, translated by Adam Zulawski
Again, this translation is an edited down version of Piotr Paćkowski’s original, which is available in Polish in two parts: here and here. If you can read it, I highly recommend you do, as it adds lots more context about this period in mountaineering and its legacy as well as more about Wawrzyniec’s life, such as his activities during WWII. Even if you can’t read Polish, there are dozens of photos accompanying the article worth seeing.
If you’d like to know what Wawrzyniec’s brother Marek had to say about him, read this.
