Makalu | 2000 W Pillar (to 5800m)

A Poland expedition to Makalu in 2000 via W Pillar (to 5800m), led by Krysztof Wielicki. Summit reached on 7th January 2001. 11 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 3733
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID MAKA00401
Peak ID MAKA
Year 2000
Season 4
Host Country 1
Route 1 W Pillar (to 5800m)
Route 2 S Pillar-S Col (to 6400m)
Route 3 NW side (to 7100m)
Route 4 -
Nationality Poland
Leaders Krysztof Wielicki
Sponsor Polish Winter Makalu Expedition
Success 1 False
Success 2 False
Success 3 False
Success 4 False
Ascent 1 -
Ascent 2 -
Ascent 3 -
Ascent 4 -
Claimed False
Disputed False
Countries Georgia
Approach KTM-Lukla-Tashigaon by helicopter; 2 flights to BC with gear
Basecamp Date 2000-12-04
Summit Date 2001-01-07
Summit Time -
Summit Days 34
Total Days 42
Termination Date 2001-01-15
Termination Reason 4
Termination Notes Abandoned at 7100m due to terrible wind
High Point (m) 7100
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 2
Fixed Rope (m) 200
Total Members 11
Summit Members 0
Member Deaths 0
Total Hired 0
Summit Hired 0
Hired Deaths 0
No Hired True
O2 Used False
O2 None True
O2 Climb False
O2 Descent False
O2 Sleep False
O2 Medical False
O2 Taken True
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits -
Campsites WPillar-BC(04/12,4800m),ABC(06/12,5250m),C1.1(09/12,5800m); SPillar-SCol-C1.2(13/12,5400m),C2.2(15/12,6400m); NWside.ABC(22/12,5300m),C1(26/12,6300m),C2(28/12,6700m),xxx(07/01,7100m)
Route Notes West Pillar route BC at below south of Barun Pokhari ABC first on just below junction of Barun and Chago Glacier C1 first start of West Pillar South Pillar-South Col route C1 on 13 at South Ridge (Czechoslovakia route) C2 just below South Col Northwest side route 2nd ABC 3rd C1 at Chago Glacier 2nd C2 at Chago Glacier moved on 5th Jan to 6900m just below La High point at very near Makalu La First C1 at 5800m at start of West Pillar's approach, then Wielicki felt team not strong enough to continue on to pillar and decided to change route and go to SE Ridge via South Col and climb along SE Ridge. Made 2nd C1 at 5400m and a C2 at 6400m but then on 20 Dec C2 blown away like flying carpets over the ridge into Tibet so abandoned this attempt. Made a new ABC at 5300m at junction of Cuzo and Barun Glacier on 22nd for normal route. Fixed 200m towards Makalu La. Tried to go to Makalu La but after 3 attempts to do so, abandoned climb altogether because too windy. Lost C1 and C2 to winds and nearly 40 days on mountain and this really practical maximum. Decided 12 Jan to stop because would take at least a week to rebuild camps. Impossible to sleep at end because of constant noise (like jet engines) of wind. Otherwise weather was "beautiful" with sunshine and very few slight snowfalls, but after dust in air (just like KTM). Wielicki wants to do all 5 highest 8000ers in winter (has done Everest, Kangchenjunga and Lhotse).
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency Asian Trekking
Commercial Route False
Standard Route False
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2454817
Year 2000
Summit Success False
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) w pillar (to 5800m)

Members

11 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Jan Krysztof Liszewski M 1948 Poland Climber Lodz, Poland Engineer Details Other expeditions
Roman Mazik M 1955 Poland Climber Zakopane, Poland Physician and surgeon Details Other expeditions
Jerzy Natkanski M 1954 Poland Climber Warsaw, Poland Owner of import company Details Other expeditions
Maciej Jozef Pawlikowski M 1951 Poland Climber Zakopane, Poland Alpine rescuer Details Other expeditions
Monika Marta Rogozinska F 1954 Poland Climber Warsaw, Poland Journalist Details Other expeditions
Andrzej Samolewicz M 1949 Poland Climber Krakow, Poland Mechanical engineer Details Other expeditions
Piotr Snopczynski M 1950 Poland Climber Swidnica, Poland Rescuer instructor Details Other expeditions
Gia Tortladze M 1960 Georgia Climber Tbilisi, Georgia Archeologist Details Other expeditions
Krzysztof Wielicki M 1950 Poland Leader Tychy, Poland Electronics engineer Details Other expeditions
Dariusz Jerzy Zaluski M 1959 Poland Climber Warsaw, Poland Owner of import company Details Other expeditions
Jaroslaw Zurawski M 1965 Poland Climber Poznan, Poland Employee of company providing security guards and himself a guard. Details Other expeditions

References

1 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
MAKA00401 HIGH - - - 232:74 (Mar 2002) -