Cho Oyu, Winter Ascent. A Polish-Canadian party led by Andrzej Zawada completed the first winter ascent of Cho Oyu (8201 meters, 26,906 feet). They climbed the southeast-face route. Maciej Berbeka and Maciej Pawlikowski climbed to the summit on February 12, 1985 followed two or three days later by Zygmunt A. Heinrich and Jerzy Kukuczka. They established five camps. The weather was generally bad. This was the second 8000er for Kukuczka in one month, since he also climbed Dhaulagiri on January 21, 1985. This is his eighth 8000er, a record bettered only by Reinhold Messner. During the winter of 1984-5 more expeditions were in the Himalaya than ever before, but surprisingly fewer summits were reached. Of the 19 parties, only five or six were successful. Five climbers were killed.

Józef Nyka, Editor, Taternik, Poland