Tomasz Kowalski, 27, died with expedition partner Maciej Berbeka, 58, after a group of four Poles on March 5, 2013 became the first ever climbers to make a winter ascent of the world's 12th-highest summit, which rises to 8,051 metres above sea level in the Karakoram mountain range of the Himalayas.
Broad Peak is the world's 12th-highest summit. It rises to 8,051 metres above sea level in the Karakoram mountain range of the Himalayas. Photo: Sallahuddin shah, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Months later, Kowalski's body was found hanging vertically on a narrow ridge at a height of around 8,000 metres, according to reports at the time.
It was then carried 100 metres lower, where the 27-year-old was "buried beneath some rocks," according to Jacek Berbeka, brother of one of the deceased and himself a professional climber, who led a recovery effort to the Karakoram range in search of the missing pair in mid-2013.
Tomasz Kowalski. Photo: PAP/Bartłomiej Zborowski
This summer a new expedition by Polish climbers, supported by the Polish Olympic Committee (PKOl), recovered Kowalski's body from where it was placed provisionally more than a decade ago and gave him a proper burial, according to officials.
“We buried him in a beautiful ice cave," said Rafał Fronia, who led the latest expedition, as quoted on the explorersweb.com website.
Rafał Fronia. Photo courtesy of the Polish Olympic Committee (PKOl)
Radosław Piesiewicz, head of the Polish Olympic Committee, said at a ceremony in Warsaw this week that he was grateful to the climbers "for dedicating over a month of their lives to make this trip" and give their friend the final farewell he deserved.
Radosław Piesiewicz. Photo courtesy of the Polish Olympic Committee (PKOl)
Maciej Berbeka's body, meanwhile, has never been found, Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza reported.
Maciej Berbeka. Photo: PAP/Adam Bielecki
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Source: olimpijski.pl, wyborcza.pl, alpinist.com, explorersweb.com