Andrzej Bargiel from Poland has become the first person to ski down Mount Everest without an oxygen tank, his team announced on Thursday.
Polish Himalayan mountaineering gained fame in the 1980s thanks to “Ice Warriors” like Jerzy Kukuczka and the late Wanda Rutkiewicz, who led pioneering expeditions, especially daring winter climbs, and developed new routes.
Bargiel, 37, has continued the tradition. In 2018, he became the first person to ski down the world’s second-highest mountain, K2.
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Bargiel’s climb to the summit of the highest peak in the Himalayas, standing at 8,849 meters above sea level, took longer than planned due to heavy snow, his team stated.
“The Pole spent 16 hours on a grueling climb in the death zone (at an altitude above 8,000m), without the use of supplemental oxygen,” they said.
“He spent only a few minutes on the summit of the world’s highest mountain before strapping on his skis and beginning his historic descent, racing against the setting sun.”
A video posted on Bargiel’s Facebook account showed him sliding down a thick layer of snow this week against a backdrop of the world’s highest summits.
Take a look at the bold stunt here:
Bargiel had to stop at Camp 2 at around 6,400m above sea level due to nightfall, which made it impossible to navigate safely, and continued his descent at sunrise, his team said.
“Sky is the limit? Not for Poles! Andrzej Bargiel just skied down Mount Everest!” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on the social media platform X.
