Polish climber Andrzej Bargiel has become the first person to ski down the world’s highest mountain without supplemental oxygen. His team and expedition organizer confirmed the historic feat on Thursday.
Bargiel reached the summit of Mount Everest, which stands at 8,849 meters (29,032 feet), on Monday. He then began his descent on skis, successfully gliding down the snowy slopes to reach base camp.
A Groundbreaking Feat
While there have been a handful of ski descents from Everest’s summit before, Bargiel’s is the first continuous downhill descent without the use of supplemental oxygen. In 2000, Slovenian Davorin Karnicar completed the first full ski descent from the summit to base camp, but he used bottled oxygen.
According to Chhang Dawa Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks, which organized the expedition, Bargiel skied to Camp 2, spent a night there, and then continued his ski descent to the base camp the following day. Sherpa described the feat as “extremely challenging.”
Bargiel’s achievement is a “groundbreaking milestone in the world of ski mountaineering,” according to his team. He has been on a quest to ski down the highest mountains in the world as part of his “Hic Sunt Leones” (Here Are Lions) project, which refers to exploring uncharted territories.
This is not the first time Bargiel has made history. In 2018, he became the first person to ski down Pakistan’s K2, the world’s second-highest mountain. He has also skied down other major peaks, including Manaslu in Nepal and Shishapangma in Tibet.
The Everest expedition was not without its challenges. Heavy snowfall forced Bargiel to spend 16 hours in the “death zone,” above 8,000 meters, where thin air and low oxygen levels pose a significant risk of altitude sickness. After his descent, he was welcomed at base camp with a traditional Buddhist scarf.
