Klimek Bachleda | |
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| Born | 13 November 1851 |
| Died | 6 August 1910 (aged 58) |
| Cause of death | Rockfall, while attempting a mountain rescue |
| Burial place | Nowy Cmentarz w Zakopanem , Zakopane |
| Nationality | Polish |
| Occupation(s) | Mountain guide Mountain rescuer |
Klemens "Klimek" Bachleda (13 November 1851 - 6 August 1910) was a pioneering Polish mountain guide and mountain rescuer in Austria-Hungary. He died during an unsuccessful mountain rescue attempt in the High Tatras. [1] [2] [3] [4]
The name of Bachleda's father is unknown. His mother was Zofia Bachleda Galian. He was a Goral, an ethnographic group which inhabits the Tatra Mountains on both sides of the modern border between Poland and Slovakia. She died when he was twelve, leaving him an orphan.
He earned a living as a shepherd-boy in the high mountains. He later went to Upper Hungary to find work, where he was called up for military service. [a] In 1873, he was discharged, and returned to Zakopane. It was in the grip of a cholera epidemic, and he tended the sick and buried the dead. Thereafter, he supported himself by working as a carpenter, and also by hunting. [b]
He married Agnieszka Styrczula from Dzianisz, and they had three children. She died, and he remarried.
During the late 19th century, mountaineering became a popular pastime for young people from the middle and upper classes across Europe. Men with local knowledge were in demand as guides, and could be well paid. Bachleda took up that profession, initially as assistant to experienced guides such as Maciej Sieczka (1824-1897), Szymon Tatar (1828 or 1832 - 1913) and the two Jędrzej Walas, father (1820-1896) and son (1841-1900).
In 1886, he was recognised as a Class I guide. In 1898, Jędrzej Wala the younger retired. From then on, Bachleda was called Królem Przewodników Tatrzańskich ('King of the Tatra Guides') and Orzeł Tatr ('Eagle of the Tatras'). He is said to have had outstanding qualities of character: tact, minimisation of risk, courage, consideration, self-sacrifice, helpfulness, diligence and honesty.
His clients included: Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński (1874-1941, writer, poet, critic and translator), Janusz Chmielowski (1878-1968, mechanical engineer and mathematician), Edmund Cięglewicz (1862-1928, journalist and translator), Stanisław Eljasz-Radzikowski (1869-1935, physician, painter and folklorist), Jan Fischer (1873-1942, merchant), Walenty Gadowski (1861-1956, priest), Ferdynand Hoesick (1867-1941, writer and publisher), Mieczysław Karłowicz (1876-1909, composer and conductor), Franciszek Nowicki (1864-1935, poet and political activist), Karol Potkański (1861-1907, historian), Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer (1865-1940, poet and novelist) and Henryk Sienkiewicz (1846-1916, journalist, novelist and Nobel laureate).
He had a talent for orienting himself in difficult, rocky areas, and for mountaineering. He pioneered several routes in the Tatras. These included the descent of the northern wall of Lomnický štít (1888), and the first ascents of, among others, Staroleśny Szczyt (1892), Ganek (1895), Rumanowy Szczyt (1902), Kaczy Szczyt (1904), Zadni Mnich (1904) and Kozie Czuby (1904). He made the second ascents of Mnich and Żabi Koń . He took part in the first winter ascents of Żleb Karczmarza (1905) (below Gerlachovský štít, the highest peak in the High Tatras), and of Bystrá (the highest peak in the Western Tatras). He climbed in groups roped together from as early as 1900. He was the first Tatra highlander to learn to ski (no later than 1902). [1]
In 1901, Károly Jordan (1871-1959, mathematician and statistician) named Klimkowa Przełęcz (Slovak : Bachledova štrbina), one of the passes between Durny Szczyt and Lomnický štít, in Bachleda's honour. He has more than ten (one source says fifteen) [1] features in the Tatras named after him, including Klimkowa Turnia , the easternmost peak of Staroleśny Szczyt . [c] In 1903, the recently founded Sekcja Turystyczna Towarzystwa Tatrzańskiego ('Tourist Section of the Tatra Society') rewarded him for discovering a new pass through the main ridge of the Tatras, namely Wschodnia Batyżowiecka Przełęcz .
In 1909, Mariusz Zaruski (1867–1941, Polish soldier and sportsman) founded Tatrzańskie Ochotnicze Pogotowie Ratunkowe (TOPR, 'Tatra Volunteer Search and Rescue'). Bachleda became his deputy, and one of its most active and dedicated members.
On 6 August 1910, Stanisław Szulakiewicz and Jan Jarzyna (1892-1960, competition skier and ski jumper), both students, attempted the northern wall of Mały Jaworowy Szczyt . They fell, and Szulakiewicz suffered serious injuries. Jarzyna managed to descend and to seek help. Zaruski organised a rescue party. Conditions were atrocious: a violent thunderstorm, and heavy rain mixed with snow and hail. After hours of climbing, the party, nearly exhausted, had reached to about 50–70 m (160–230 ft) from where Szulakiewicz lay, and could hear him calling out. Zaruski ordered a halt because of the risk to life. Bachleda unroped himself, and continued on alone. He did not return.
On 7 August, a second unsuccessful attempt was made to rescue Szulakiewicz.
On 8 August, a third attempt reached Szulakiewicz. He had died, probably on the night of 6–7 August, from injuries and exposure. The weather worsened, and the five-strong rescue party was trapped on the mountain overnight. They brought the body down on 9 August.
Bachleda's comrades hoped that he had found another way down. Rain, wind and fog hampered their searches. On 13 August, their worst fears were confirmed: they found his body. He had been caught in a rockfall, and lay in Wyżnia Rówienkowa Przełęcz , a high mountain pass. On 15 August, they began to bring him down. On 17 August, he was buried in the New Cemetery in Zakopane. His gravestone bears the Polish-language inscription, Poświęcił się i zginął ('He sacrificed himself and died'). He was the first member of TOPR to die during a rescue attempt.
There is a detailed account of the double tragedy on the TOPR website. [5]
A commemorative plaque was placed at Dolina Jaworowa , a valley below the place where he died. It has since been moved to Tatrzański Cmentarz Symboliczny ('Tatra Symbolic Cemetery') on the western slopes of Osterwa . [d] There is a memorial plaque at Dworzec Tatrzański , Zakopane. Ulica Klimka Bachledy ('Klimek Bachleda Street') in Zakopane is named after him.
He is mentioned in the memoirs of Janusz Chmielowski (1878-1968, mechanical engineer and mathematician; who called Bachleda 'one of the most important figures in the history of Zakopane in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century') [1] and of Mieczysław Karłowicz, and in poems by Stanisław Gąsienica-Byrcyn (1911-1991, poet and writer, son of a Tatra guide and mountain rescuer), [6] Jan Kasprowicz (1860-1926, poet, playwright, critic and translator), Zygmunt Lubertowicz (1883-1958, teacher, poet, writer, publicist, and social, cultural and tourist activist), Stanisław Nędza-Kubiniec (1897-1976, poet and writer), and Mieczysław Opałek (1881-1964, historian, poet, bibliophile, cultural researcher, journalist and educator). Księga Tatr ('The Book of the Tatra', 1955) by Jalu Kurek (1904-1983, poet and writer) is a novelised account of Bachleda's life. In 1959, the play Klimek Bachleda (Orzeł Tatr) ('Klimek Bachleda (Eagle of the Tatras)') by Julian Reimschüssel (1908-1984, teacher and writer) [7] was performed in Zakopane. The part of Bachleda was played by Józef Gąsienica Wawrytko (1889-1971, Tatra guide and mountain rescuer).
Zakopane is a town in the south of Poland, in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998, it was part of Nowy Sącz Voivodeship; since 1999, it has been part of Lesser Poland Voivodeship. As of 2017 its population was 27,266. Zakopane is a centre of Goral culture and is often referred to as "the winter capital of Poland". It is a popular destination for mountaineering, skiing, and tourism.
The Tatra Mountains, Tatras, are a series of mountains within the Western Carpathians that form a natural border between Slovakia and Poland. They are the highest mountains in the Carpathians. The Tatras are distinct from the Low Tatras, a separate Slovak mountain range further south.
Rysy is a mountain in the crest of the High Tatras, eastern part of the Tatra Mountains, lying on the border between Poland and Slovakia. Rysy has three summits: the middle at 2,501 m (8,205 ft); the north-western at 2,500 m (8,202 ft); and the south-eastern at 2,473 m (8,114 ft). The north-western summit is the highest point of Poland and belongs to the Crown of Polish Mountains; the other two summits are on the Slovak side of the border.
Giewont is a mountain massif in the Tatra Mountains of Poland. Its highest peak, Great Giewont, is 1,894 metres (6,214 ft)1,894 metres (6,217 ft) above sea level and the highest peak of the Western Tatras located entirely within Poland's borders. The mountain is regarded as the symbol of Zakopane, the Polish Tatras and Podhale, which throughout history has been the subject of many legends, poems and works of art.
Morskie Oko, or Eye of the Sea in English, is the largest and fourth-deepest lake in the Tatra Mountains, in southern Poland. It is located deep within the Tatra National Park in the Rybi Potok Valley, of the High Tatras mountain range at the base of the Mięguszowiecki Summits, in Lesser Poland Voivodeship. In 2014, The Wall Street Journal recognized the lake as one of the five most beautiful lakes in the world.
Kościelisko is a village in Tatra County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland, close to the border with Slovakia. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Kościelisko. It lies approximately 5 kilometres (3 mi) west of Zakopane and 86 km (53 mi) south of the regional capital Kraków.
Mariusz Zaruski was a brigadier-general in the Polish Army, a pioneer of Polish sports yachting, an outstanding climber of the winter and caves of Tatra Mountains. He was a photographer, painter, poet and writer, a seamen and traveler, a conspirator, legionnaire and lancer in Polish cavalry.
Mieczysław Szczuka was a Polish avant-garde artist and mountaineer.
Tatra Volunteer Search and Rescue is a non-profit mountain rescue organization in Poland, rescuing stranded mountain climbers, tourists, and others in need of rescue in the Polish Tatra mountains. It is one of the oldest mountain rescue associations in the world.
Jerzy Roman Porębski is a Polish documentary film producer, scriptwriter, screenwriter, writer and co-writer, director and agent for mountaineering books. Mountain culture consultant. His films mainly concern mountaineering and mountain rescue themes. He is interested in explorers, challenges, mountaineering, mountain culture and history.
Tadeusz Popek was a Polish partisan and underground activist during World War II. During the German occupation of Podhale, Popek became the co-founder of the Polish resistance organization called the Tatra Confederation, a.k.a. Confederation of the Tatra Mountains, operating in the Nowy Targ area. He was in charge of clandestine publications including Der Freie Deutsche meant for the Wehrmacht. Popek died in Zakopane, executed by a firing squad in the courtyard of the infamous Palace Hotel.
Ludwik Chałubiński was a Polish alpinist and chemical engineer.
Wielki Staw Polski - is a tarn located in the High Tatras, at an elevation of 1,665 metres in the Valley of the Five Polish Lakes, by the slope of the Miedziane. It's the second-largest lake by area in the Tatra Mountains, just after Morskie Oko. The lake is located in Poland in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship.
Sabała or Sablik was a Goral amateur musician, storyteller and folk singer active in or around the Tatra Mountains. A friend to many renowned Polish artists of the late 19th century, he is featured in numerous Polish works of art of the epoch.
Sub-Tatra Trench (514.14) - a mesoregion located below the Tatra Mountains, part of the Orava-Podhale Depression. The trench divides the Choč and Tatra Mountains from the Spisko-Gubałowski Plateau.
Antoni Kocyan was a Polish-Hungarian naturalist, specimen collector, and forester. He was a collector of birds and small mammals particularly from the Tatra mountains. A Silurian fossil coral Avicenia kocyani is named in his honour.
Siklawica Falls is a waterfall located in the Western Tatras, south of Zakopane, Poland, dropping a total of 24 m (79 ft) making it the second highest waterfall in the Polish Tatra Mountains.
Mickiewicz Falls is a waterfall in the Tatra National Park, Lesser Poland, consisting of three main cascades dropping a total of 10 metres (33 ft).
Men of the Blue Cross is a Polish war narrative-documentary film from 1955 directed by Andrzej Munk, based on Adam Liberak's short story Journey for Life. The film reconstructs the authentic action of the Tatra Volunteer Search and Rescue, which in February 1945 evacuated a partisan mountain hospital through the German-Soviet front line during World War II. In the Men of the Blue Cross, narrated by Gustaw Holoubek, some of the participants of that action appeared, including Stanisław Gąsienica Byrcyn and Stanisław Marusarz.
The Tatra lakes comprise approximately 200 bodies of water, excluding smaller and seasonal lakes, located within the Tatra Mountains. Of these, around 40 lakes are situated in the Polish Tatras, while the remainder are found on the Slovak side of the range. They are known for their clear waters and scenic surroundings, making them popular destinations for outdoor activities such as hiking and photography.
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