The mountain is considered to be the most difficult Himalayan summit conquered before World War II. The first man to reach the summit of Mount Everest, Sherp Tenzig Norgay himself once admitted that it was in fact Nanda Devi that he believed was the most challenging mountain he had ever climbed.

To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the first Polish expedition a jubilee party will set off into the Himalayas in the spring of 2009, led by Jakub Bujak’s grandson, Jan Lenczowski.

So far, no other Pole has managed to achieve what Bujak and Klarner did and reach the summit of Nanda Devi East. What is more, no one else has set foot on the mountain’s summit for the last couple of years.

The story of the first conquest of Nanda Devi is linked to some interesting parts of Polish history and the history of World War II.

Stefan Bernadzikiewicz and Adam Karpiński (members of the first Polish expedition) were killed by an avalanche and became the first victims of what has since become known as the ‘Nanda curse’. Jakub Bujak and Janusz Klarner went missing several years later and their deaths are still shrouded in mystery.

In 2008, a Polish journalist Anna Pietraszek unearthed the film recording made during the first expedition. The discovery of the tape in the British Film Institute in London received a great deal of media attention in Poland (including being mentioned on the evening news programme Wiadomości).

The aim of the expedition is to commemorate the Polish success in the Himalayas and repeat the 1939 route. The core of the expedition team will consist of young Himalayan mountaineers, experienced in climbing high mountains. The attempt will take place between 20 April and 7 June 2009.