The expedition of Tomek and Elisabeth Revol began at the end of December last year. Its goal was the winter climbing on Nanga Parbat. On January 20, after the acclimatization, the team attempted to reach the summit. After the 5-day action on January 25 they reached the summit, but later came information about team problems...
Tomek had to suffer snow blindness and reveal symptoms of altitude sickness. Elisabeth brought him from 7,400 to 7,200, and then she descended on her own. On January 27, a rescue operation was conducted by the Polish team from the National Winter Expedition to K2.
On January 28, Elizabeth Revol was safely brought down. Unfortunately, the rescue team decided not continue rescue operation due to Tomek's position and his condition ("agonizing") and the extreme weather conditions.
Tomek "Czapkins" Mackiewicz will stay forever on Nanga Parbat (8126 m) - the mountain with he sacrificed eight years and ultimately his own life.
Tomek "Czapkins" Mackiewicz was born on January 13, 1975 in Działoszyn. His path to the mountains was complicated and led through addiction to heroin. Thanks to therapy at the Monar center, he broke away from addiction and after a few years he discovered the mountains and climbing.
In 2008, together with Marek Klonowski, he performed extreme expedition of Mount Logan, the highest peak in Canada. For a 40-day journey through the largest Alaska and Yukon glaciers, carried out in pioneer style (without proffesional equipment) He won KOLOS in the category of the Feat of the Year.
expedition of Mount Logan 2008
In 2009, he traversed alone Khan Tengri (7010 m), the northernmost mountain with a height of over 7,000. meters, located in Tienshan.
Nanga Parbat has become in the past 8 years a kind of addiction, from which, despite temporary declarations, he failed to free himself. He started his adventure with the mountain in 2011, when for the first time together with Marek Klonowski tried to get it as part of an expedition named Justice for All. This trip could be called a reconnaissance, but with time his attempts were more and more advanced.
In 2013, Tomek made a lonely expedition to the top of Nanga Parbat, reaching the altitude of 7400 m. A year later, together with Elisabeth Revol, in an ambitious mountain action, by the test of the band Messnerowie-Eisendle-Tomaseth from 2000, he reached a height of around 7,800 meters. In total, he tried to get the top 7 times. Just before this year's tragic expedition, he wrote:
This mountain is not giving me peace, that's why I have to go back there.
He gained funds for his expeditions thanks to the wealth of fans, faithfully supporting his dream of winter climbing up on Nanga Parbat and identifying with his approach to mountains and climbing.
Rest in peace...
He orphaned three kids.
You can help his family in this hard time supporting them on https://www.gofundme.com/rescue-on-nanga-parbat