Perhaps this is also the starting point of any “demythologisation” and “debronzing” of Polish mountaineering, especially in its Himalayan variety. Over the years, discussions on ethos have taken on the character of discussing specific, personal cases. A statement by Andrzej Wilczkowski during the famous “Gliwice Summit” organised in the late 1980s is a case in point:
The situation now is that we have come incredibly close to the edge of human capabilities. And what (else) is there to say; as far as ethics then and today are concerned, in my opinion it was the same and is the same, only at some point all those who thought we were heroes suddenly saw that the king is naked. Which does not change things at all; we should be trying to make things better. For ourselves. Not for the public. (Szczyt Gliwicki… [Gliwice Summit] 1988–1989: 89).
This diagnosis appears in the context outlined above: the question regarding human beings leads to “baring” them and questions of ethics, although in this case the climbing context is still a fundamental issue, separate from journalism. However, over the years, the tendency to “bare” mountaineers has been stronger and stronger and has resulted in a stronger reevaluation of the historical mountaineering ethos. In an interview given to Joanna Dzikowska, Wojciech Kurtyka subjected winter Himalayanism and the achievements of its main representatives to criticism, with the result that in this case it is difficult to say clearly whether the criticism concerns the ethos itself or is aimed at specific individuals (Wojciech Kurtyka… 2024). It has become a logical consequence of highlighting individual cases to challenge the general pattern of attitudes or to point out inconsistencies between it and reality; however, the discourse itself is thus proliferated and diffused. To summarise: it is not difficult to point out that the “baring” of the mountaineer is accompanied by the “demythologisation” of mountaineering itself, coloquially understood as its demystification, that is, revealing and acknowledging its true character; a discourse focused on the “naked” mountaineer is supposed to reveal the social truth of mountaineering. However, this relationship may appear differently if we reflect on the nature of myth and adopt an anthropological understanding thereof.
