[18] The same year, Kukuczka made one of the greatest achievements in his career by establishing a new route on the unclimbed south face of K2, which he and Tadeusz Piotrowski ascended alpine-style after overcoming extreme difficulties and staying in four bivies during the ascent alone.

Their accomplishment "pushed the boundaries of Himalayan mountaineering to new heights" with Kukuczka regarding this as the "most challenging climb he had ever undertaken at altitude".

He held the world record for shortest time span to summit the eight-thousanders for nearly 27 years until May 2014, when Kim Chang-ho beat his mark by one month and eight days.

[19] Unlike many other prominent high-altitude climbers of his time, the routes Kukuczka chose on the Himalayan giants were usually original, many of them first ascents and often done in the grip of winter wind and cold.

[3] In an era in Poland where even the most basic foods were scarce, Kukuczka was able to successfully mount and equip numerous expeditions to far-flung mountain ranges.

Usually pressed for cash and equipment, he painted factory chimneys by rope access (industrial climbing) to earn precious złotys to finance his mountaineering dreams.

Ultimately, Kukuczka completed his sweep of all of the world's eight-thousanders in the winter of 1986-87, but not before Messner finished his grand slam by scaling Manaslu and Lhotse in the autumn of 1986.

In 1988, the Polish Post issued a postage stamp featuring Jerzy Kukuczka honouring his reception of the Olympic Order.

[35] In 2015, a statue of Kukuczka designed by Bogumił Burzyński was unveiled at the main entrance to the Physical Education Academy (AWF) in Katowice.

In 2018, Robert Talarczyk directed a play entitled Himalaje (The Himalayas) devoted to the life of Kukuczka, which premiered at the Silesian Theatre in Katowice.