To commemorate the 80th anniversary of Polish Himalayan mountaineering, associated with the summit of Nanda Devi East summit climbed by Poles on 2 July 1939, the 30. anniversary of the tragic death of Jerzy Kukuczka on the south face of Lhotse, and the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Poland and Nepal, a Memorial to Polish Himalayans, commonly referred to as the 'Polish Chorten', was unveiled on 20 October 2019 in the Himalayas (above the village of Namche Bazar and the Everest Viewpoint in Sagarmatha National Park).

To reach this place, one must take the path leading down the valley before the gate to the Park, which, although not trodden, is comfortable and not overgrown enough to lead, after about a hundred metres, to a vast mountain glade with a view of the surrounding snow-capped peaks. In this fantastic scenery, at an altitude of 3,500 metres, a stone obelisk has been erected - the Memorial to the Polish Himalayists in red and white, with plaques bearing the names of all Poles who died in the Himalayas and Karakorum and remained in the mountains forever. It is their symbolic grave.

The ceremonial unveiling of this peculiar memorial was attended by several dozen people from Poland, who lit candles at the memorial. There were thirty-three in total. Because that is how many Polish Himalayan climbers died in the highest mountains in the world.

Representatives of the Sagarmatha National Park were also present. A traditional puja - a prayer ritual that begins almost all high-mountain expeditions to the Himalayas - was also performed by a monk from the Namche monastery.

"Poland was the first country, after completing the necessary formalities and a long legislative process, to receive permission to erect this chorten," said Marcin Mentel, who, on behalf of the Polish Himalayas Sports Club, coordinated all activities related to the construction of the memorial.

As he pointed out, great help in dealing with the various formalities was provided by the Honorary Consul General of the Republic of Poland in Kathmandu Lokmanya Golchha.

"I am very pleased that the months-long efforts to obtain permission to erect the Memorial of Polish Himalayists have been crowned with success. I must admit that it was not easy as it is a unique place. In 1979, the Sagarmatha National Park was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. It has three eight-thousand-metre peaks: Mount Everest, Lhotse and Cho Oju," stressed the honorary consul.

Fixing the plaques with the names of 33 people proved to be quite a logistical and technical challenge.

"It's almost like climbing Everest. We sent screws, bolts, drills from Kathmandu and a local porter carried all this and the plaques from Lukla to Namche. When drilling the holes for the screws, we found that the drill could not cope with the material. The only way was with a much stronger tool. Such was only found in Lukla," added Marcin Mentel.

The chorten was built thanks to companies such as Polskie Himalaje, Backpakers Club, Kukuczka Foundation, Wolsztyn Running Club and Tryumf. "The construction of the memorial was supported by mountain lovers. In particular, their help was shown by: Sagarmatha National Park Directorate, Lokmanya Golchha and Janusz Adamski, Janusz Kalinowski, Dariusz Maliszewski and Marcin Mentel."

Here are the names of those whose names are immortalised on the plaques, who paid the highest price for their love of the mountains - their lives:

Stanisław Latałło (17 December 1974), Lhotse (Himalayas)
Marek Kęsicki (28 July 1975), Broad Peak middle (Karakorum)
Bogdan Nowaczyk (28 July 1975), Broad Peak middle (Karakorum)
Andrzej Sikorski (29 July 1975), Broad Peak middle (Karakorum)
Andrzej Młynarczyk (6 October 1978), Makalu (Himalayas)
Halina Krueger-Syrokomska (30 July 1982), K2 (Karakorum)
Tadeusz Szulc (26 September 1982), Makalu (Himalayas)
Stanisław Jaworski (11 December 1983), Manaslu (Himalayas)
Piotr Kalmus (10 July 1985), Nanga Parbat (Himalayas)
Barbara Kozłowska (18 August 1985), Broad Peak (Karakorum)
Rafał Chołda (25 October 1985), Lhotse (Himalayas)
Andrzej Czok (11 January 1986), Kanchendzonga (Himalayas)
Tadeusz Piotrowski (10 July 1986), K2 (Karakorum)
Wojciech Wróż (3 August 1986), K2 (Karakorum)
Dobrosława Miodowicz-Wolf (10 August 1986), K2 (Karakorum)
Czesław Jakiel (14 September 1987), Lhotse (Himalayas)
Ryszard Kołakowski (6 October 1988), Makalu (Himalayas)
Mirosław Dąsal (27 May 1989), Mount Everest (Himalayas)
Mirosław Gardzielewski (27 May 1989), Mount Everest (Himalayas)
Zygmunt Andrzej Heinrich (27 May 1989), Mount Everest (Himalayas)
Wacław Otręba (27 May 1989), Mount Everest (Himalayas)
Eugeniusz Chrobak (28 May 1989), Mount Everest (Himalayas)
Jerzy Kukuczka (24 October 1989), Lhotse (Himalayas)
Wanda Rutkiewicz (13 May 1992), Kanchendzonga (Himalayas)
Sylwia Dmowska (2 October 1992), Manaslu (Himalayas)
Tadeusz Kudelski (18 May 1999), Mount Everest (Himalayas)
Krzysztof Liszewski (25 May 2003), Mount Everest (Himalayas)
Piotr Morawski (8 April 2009), Dhaulagiri (Himalayas)
Maciej Berbeka (6 March 2013), Broad Peak (Karakorum)
Tomasz Kowalski (6 March 2013), Broad Peak (Karakorum)
Artur Hajzer (7 July 2013), Gaszerbrum I (Karakorum)
Aleksander Ostrowski (25 July 2015), Gaszerbrum II (Karakorum)
Tomasz Mackiewicz (30 January 2018), Nanga Parbat (Himalayas)

A plaque reads: "They remained in the mountains they loved. To the memory of Polish climbers who died while climbing eight-thousand metre peaks in the Himalayas and Karakorum'.