Death
Rutkiewicz's goal was to become the first woman to summit all fourteen of the eight-thousanders. During her climbing life she successfully summitted the following mountains:
- 1978 - Mount Everest
- 1985 - Nanga Parbat
- 1986 - K2
- 1987 - Shisha Pangma
- 1989 - Gasherbrum II
- 1990 - Gasherbrum I
- 1991 - Cho Oyu
- 1991 - Annapurna I
- 1992 - Kangchenjunga ?
She was last seen alive by Mexican climber Carlos Carsolio (29 at that time), sheltering at high altitude on the north-west face of Kangchenjunga, during her attempted ascent of what would have been her ninth eight-thousander. At that moment Rutkiewicz was physically weakened and not able to make a rational decision that could have saved her life. Carsolio said that he didn't have the mental strength left to convince her to descend because he was weakened as well.
A body thought to be hers was found on the south-west face of the mountain in 1995 by Fausto de Stefani, Marco Galezzi and Silvio Mondinelli, suggesting that she had climbed up the north-west ridge to a point very close to the summit before falling down the south-west side. However, more detailed analysis of findings of the Italian climbers, such as colour of clothing and presence of Bulgarian-made tablets with the body, indicate that most likely it was the body of Bulgarian climber Yordanka Dimitrova, who was killed by an avalanche on the south-west face of Kangchenjunga in October 1994. It is not known if Wanda Rutkiewicz summitted Kangchenjunga. If she did so, she would have been the first woman to reach the top of the world's three highest mountains.
Read more about this topic: Wanda Rutkiewicz
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—Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822)