Kacper Tekieli was a Polish mountaineer. Tekieli was born on 23 November 1984. He was not only a mountaineer but also a sports and climbing instructor. He was given this title by the Polish Alpinism Association. Kacper has been able to climb several mountains throughout his life, like the Tatra Mountains, Mount Elbrus, Makalu, Broad Peak, and the Alps. The mountaineer had his life cut short when he was caught in a Jungfrau avalanche in a Stechelberg village in 2023.
Though his career was not long-lived, Kacper Tekieli has been one to set impressive records in his short journey as a mountaineer and a climbing instructor. Make sure to read till the end of this article to know more about Kacper Tekieli!
Who was Kacper Tekieli?
Kacper Tekieli was a Polish mountaineer and climbing instructor born in Stechelberg, Poland, on 23 November 1984. He passed away in an avalanche in Stechelberg village in 2023. He was only 38 years old at the time of his death. Tekieli was in love with the mountains and found his passion when he went to the Bieszczady Mountains. At that time, he was pursuing a master’s degree in philosophy.
He was also an active member of a sports club called Otryt Lutowiska and Bacówka near Mała Rawka. After getting done with his master’s degree, he joined Refuge Murowaniec and worked there for a year. This was also a time when he spent months in the mountains of Alaska. After having worked for a whole year there, he decided to start mountaineering as a career option. He then moved to Kraków and started doing what he loved the most: mountaineering.
On an auspicious day of 24 September 2020, Kacper got married to a five-time Olympic champion in cross-country skiing, Justyna Kowalczyk. Likewise, his former wife was writer Małgorzata Lebda. He and his second wife welcomed their son Hugo in Krakow in 2021.
How did Polish Alpinist Kacper Tekieli die?
Tekieli was an excellent alpinist, to say the least. Throughout his career, he has been able to climb around 300 climbing routes in the Tatra Mountains. Though he was alone in most of his climbs, he was able to succeed despite there being snowy and deadly snow walls through his trails. In his career, he had been successful in coming to the conclusion that “the essence of mountaineering is to climb a difficult wall in the most favorable conditions.”
Kacper was not one to move away from dangers as he had, in his initial mountaineering years, been able to summit and climb the toughest mountains in Poland. Almost half of his lifetime had been spent in the mountains. Sadly, the mountains are never too kind to humans, and an avalanche in Switzerland’s 4,158m Jungfrau caused the mountaineer on May 17, 2023. The alpinist was on his way to descent from the mountain by snowboarding.
From 6-17 May 2023, he was dedicated to climbing eight four thousanders. Though he died on 17 May, his body disappeared for a whole day and was found only the next morning. He had a vision of completing his climb to the 82 of the “four thousanders” in the Alps. This was, sadly, made impossible after his tragic ending. Though he had not been able to snowboard down the mountain of Jungfrau, he was able to summit it after all. Jungfrau was also one among the four thousanders. It was only a day before the accident that he had been up the top of the peak. Tekieli also got nominated for Piolet d’Or as a result of his excellent climbing career.
Though his life had been dedicated his life to the Alps, it was the Alps that took his life. However, his life will always be cherished by all that he has achieved. Kacper is already a renowned name among those in the mountaineering community in Poland and worldwide.
After his passing, wspinanie wrote a tribute for the alpinist, “Smiling, attentive, emanating peace and positive energy, a titan of training. He accepted the risk — he didn’t like saying ‘be careful”. The article also added, “fascinated by the great figures of mountaineering,” like Ueli Steck, to describe his career in mountain climbing.
Kacper Tekieli Career
Kacper has had several impressive achievements that the Polish mountaineering community still acknowledges, and these will forever remain his legacy. In less than 5 hours, he ran to Mount Elbrus during the 6th International Elbrus Race in 2010. He was also part of the Polish Winter Himalaism 2010–2015 program, in which he climbed mountains like Makalu and Broad Peak Central. He has walked through the Alps, like the north face of the Eiger, Matterhorn, Grandes Jorasses, and the north-west face of Monte Civetta in the Dolomites. Similarly, his other climbs include mountains in Colorado, Nevada, and Alaska. Further, he has set the record for the fastest Diretissima of the northern face of the Mięguszowiecki Szczyt Wielki.
He was almost always on a solo climb. And, even the most difficult climbs and journeys had been fulfilled all alone during his career. Łukasz Mirowski and Kacper beat the Expander by Krzysztof Pankiewicz, a Tatra chain, combining ascent routes with grade 6–7, on the divisions of Mały Młynarz, Kotła Kazalnica Mięguszowiecka, Mnich and Kościelec in a record time of 15 hours and 52 minutes only. Though having not climbed all the mountains in the Himalayas, the Polish mountaineer was very involved in mountaineering through the Himalayas. He has also been successful in climbing several mountains in Europe. A double traverse of the Matterhorn and the northeast face of the Eiger by the Lauper route were two of his most notable successes. In the latter journey, he succeeded without the help of a rope.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How did Kacper Tekieli die?
Kacper Tekieli died from an avalanche in the Alps of Switzerland.
Who was Kacper Tekieli?
Kacper Tekieli was a Polish alpinist.
Who was the wife of Kacper Tekieli?
Kacper was married to Justyna Kowalczyk.
Did Kacper Tekieli climb Jungfrau?
Yes, Kacper summited Jungfrau.
Was Kacper Tekieli’s body found?
Tekieli’s body was found the next morning after his death.
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