In an astounding display of human endurance and skill, a Polish adventure skier has etched his name in history as the first person to not only climb Mount Everest but also ski all the way back down without relying on any supplemental oxygen. This monumental achievement was proudly announced by his sponsors.
The remarkable mountaineer, Andrzej Bargiel, aged 37, accomplished this unparalleled feat on a Monday. His journey involved a rigorous four-day ascent from base camp, followed by an equally challenging two-day ski descent.
Footage captured at Everest’s breathtaking summit — an altitude where available oxygen plummets to just one-third of sea level — vividly shows Mr. Bargiel’s labored breathing even before he began his ski descent. This truly underscores the immense difficulty of performing any physical activity on Everest without additional oxygen. To put his achievement into perspective: while over 7,000 individuals have successfully reached Everest’s 8,800-foot peak, a mere 200 or so have managed this without using oxygen tanks.
In stark contrast to the grueling ascent, Mr. Bargiel was later observed gracefully carving through the untouched snow, appearing as serene as a recreational skier enjoying a resort trail, rather than descending the world’s most formidable mountain.
Yet, the journey was far from simple, as other moments show him expertly navigating treacherous and perilous sections, including razor-thin ridges, near-vertical mountain faces, and sheer drop-offs.
News of this extraordinary accomplishment quickly reached Poland’s Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, who enthusiastically shared on social media: “Sky is the limit? Not for Poles! Andrzej Bargiel has just skied down Mount Everest.”
Adding another layer of challenge, Bargiel chose to make his ascent during the autumn season. This period is known for its highly unpredictable mountain weather, although it offers the advantage of significantly fewer climbers on the slopes compared to the busy May expedition season.
His journey began at Everest’s base camp in Nepal, where he strategically rotated between higher Camps I, II, and III. This crucial acclimatization process allowed his body to gradually adapt to the extreme altitude.
Starting his final summit push from Camp IV on Sunday, Bargiel reached the peak 16 hours later. His sponsors noted that this leg of the journey took longer than anticipated due to unexpected fresh snowfall.
Just minutes after touching the summit, he commenced his breathtaking descent. Within five hours, he had skied down to Camp II, pausing there only because of the encroaching darkness. The following morning, he completed the final leg, skiing for another hour and 45 minutes to safely reach base camp.
Remarkably, the most perilous segment of his expedition occurred near the very end, at the infamous Khumbu Icefall, located just above base camp. His team recounted how he navigated this ‘labyrinth of shifting ice and deep crevasses’ entirely without the aid of ropes or fixed lines. Crucially, a drone piloted by his brother, Bartek, provided invaluable assistance during this extremely challenging section.
In a press release, Andrzej Bargiel expressed his deep-seated motivation: “Skiing down Everest without oxygen was a dream that had been growing inside me for years. I knew that the difficult autumn conditions and plotting the descent line through the Khumbu Glacier would be the greatest challenge I could ever face.”
For historical context, Davo Karnicar of Slovenia is widely acknowledged as the first individual to successfully ski down Mount Everest, accomplishing the summit-to-base camp journey in a swift 4 hours and 40 minutes in the year 2000. Additionally, the 1975 Academy Award-winning documentary, “The Man Who Skied Down Everest,” chronicled Yuichiro Miura of Japan’s pioneering descent of a smaller portion of the peak.
This is not Bargiel’s first extraordinary achievement; he has previously conquered and skied down K2, the world’s second-highest mountain, along with several other formidable peaks across the globe.