Stanislaw MOTYKA

From 1923, Stanisław Motyka skied in the winter months and went mountain climbing in the summer. In the 5x10 km relay, he was a member of the teams that won the Polish Championships in 1927 and 1928 and were runners-up in 1932 and 1933. At the 1928 Winter Olympics he competed in Nordic combined but had to give up his career after a heavy fall when ski jumping. Motyka later concentrated on climbing, and joined international rope teams until 1938. A licensed mountain guide, he was known for his light style and his excellent orientation in the mountains. In 1939, he was appointed director of the School for Tourism and Mountaineering in Hala Gąsienicowa. He published descriptions, drawings and photos, and wrote poems about the Tatras and the hiking and climbing there. At the beginning of World War II, he was involved in transporting refugees to Slovakia and Hungary. When German secret police Gestapo were looking for him, he fled to a camp of Polish refugees in Hungary near the town of Szentendre. There, he drowned in the River Danube.