I never seek death, but I don’t mind the idea of dying on the mountains. It would be an easy death for me. After all that I’ve experienced, I’m familiar with it. And most of my friends are there in the mountains, waiting for me.
As the quote above shows, Wanda had developed a rather fatalistic climbing philosophy during her career. She seemed to know that death in the mountains was inevitable. Despite this belief, her addiction to climbing never faded. If anything, it grew.
In 1990, she formulated her most ambitious plan yet, a plan she called the Caravan of Dreams. She would attempt to climb eight eight-thousanders in little more than one year and, if she succeeded, she would be first woman to accomplish this monumental feat. Furthermore, these were the last eight peaks she needed to complete her eight-thousander collection.
The Caravan of Dreams seemed like a perfect challenge for her. It was an ambitious plan, but it was one that Wanda was completely capable of accomplishing.
But after climbing two peaks on her list successfully, Cho Oyu and Annapurna, tragedy struck on Kangchenjunga.
The person with whom she was climbing, Carlos Carsolio, last saw her huddled in a snow cave, where she was preparing for the last leg of the ascent. He tried to convince her to return to base camp with him, but she refused. She was determined to make it to the summit.
Carsolio waited several days at base camp for her, but she never returned. Upon completing the descent of Kangchenjunga, he informed the other climbers of Wanda’s disappearance. Though they hoped that she was still alive, as time passed, it became more and more unlikely. After a few days, she was declared dead. She was 49 years old.
News of her death devastated the mountain climbing community, both in Poland and abroad. Even though she had often isolated herself from this community, especially later in her life, most Poles recognised her excellence and contribution to mountaineering. They particularly admired her lifelong ambition, even though it had been her final downfall.
Shortly after she died, there was a lot of discussion about whether she had reached the summit of Kangchenjunga. Some argued that this was impossible, especially considering the state she was in. Others who knew her well found it hard to believe that she simply gave up.
We’ll never know if Wanda did in fact reached the summit, but given her character and relentless determination, it is entirely possible that she made it to the top before her death.
The end of an era