Early and personal life The name of Bachleda's father is unknown. His mother was Zofia Bachleda Galian. He was a
Goral, an ethnographic group which inhabits the
Tatra Mountains on both sides of the modern border between Poland and Slovakia. She died when he was twelve, leaving him an orphan. He earned a living as a shepherd-boy in the high mountains. He later went to
Upper Hungary to find work, where he was called up for military service. In 1873, he was discharged, and returned to
Zakopane. It was in the grip of a cholera epidemic, and he tended the sick and buried the dead. Thereafter, he supported himself by working as a carpenter, and also by hunting. He married Agnieszka Styrczula from
Dzianisz, and they had three children. She died, and he remarried.
Mountain guide During the late 19th century, mountaineering became a popular pastime for young people from the middle and upper classes across Europe. Men with local knowledge were in demand as guides, and could be well paid. Bachleda took up that profession, initially as assistant to experienced guides such as (1824-1897), (1828 or 1832 - 1913) and the two Jędrzej Walas, (1820-1896) and (1841-1900). In 1886, he was recognised as a Class I guide. In 1898, Jędrzej Wala the younger retired. From then on, Bachleda was called
Królem Przewodników Tatrzańskich ('King of the Tatra Guides') and
Orzeł Tatr ('Eagle of the Tatras'). He is said to have had outstanding qualities of character: tact, minimisation of risk, courage, consideration, self-sacrifice, helpfulness, diligence and honesty. His clients included:
Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński (1874-1941, writer, poet, critic and translator), (1878-1968, mechanical engineer and mathematician), (1862-1928, journalist and translator), (1869-1935, physician, painter and folklorist), (1873-1942, merchant), (1861-1956, priest), (1867-1941, writer and publisher),
Mieczysław Karłowicz (1876-1909, composer and conductor),
Franciszek Nowicki (1864-1935, poet and political activist), (1861-1907, historian),
Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer (1865-1940, poet and novelist) and
Henryk Sienkiewicz (1846-1916, journalist, novelist and Nobel laureate). He had a talent for orienting himself in difficult, rocky areas, and for mountaineering. He pioneered several routes in the Tatras. These included the descent of the northern wall of
Lomnický štít (1888), and the first ascents of, among others, (1892), (1895), (1902), (1904), (1904) and (1904). He made the second ascents of
Mnich and . He took part in the first winter ascents of (1905) (below
Gerlachovský štít, the highest peak in the High Tatras), and of
Bystrá (the highest peak in the
Western Tatras). He climbed in groups roped together from as early as 1900. He was the first Tatra highlander to learn to ski (no later than 1902). ==Legacy==