Gripped Magazine
A Historic First Ski Descent of Mount Everest Just Happened
Polish big mountain skier Andrzej Bargiel just made history with the first full ski descent of Mount Everest with no bottled oxygen. This was his third attempt on Everest, after failed bids in 2019 (due to a dangerous serac) and 2022 (high winds at the South Col).
Bargiel and his team, including a doctor, physiotherapist, safety manager, veteran climber Dariusz Załuski, and his brother Bartek as drone operator, travelled from Warsaw to Kathmandu late in summer, then trekked from Lukla to base camp for acclimatisation. After his successful descent, Bargiel wrote on social media, “Thank you all for keeping your fingers crossed!”
In 2015, Bargiel skied down Broad Peak (8,051 m) without bottled oxygen. In 2018, he completed the first full ski descent of K2 (8,611 m), documented in The Impossible Descent. By 2023, he skied all Karakoram 8,000-metre peaks, including Gasherbrum I and II.
He’s the only person to ski both Everest and K2. National Geographic named him 2019 Adventurer of the Year. See his and Red Bull’s social media posts about the Everest ski, and watch a film on his K2 ski, below. There are currently skiers on Everest hoping to descent the north side – read more about it here.
K2 Ski
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