Andrzej Bargiel’s Historic Ski Descent of Mount Everest
A new video of the epic 2025 ski was just released, watch below
Polish ski mountaineer Andrzej Bargiel made history this year by becoming the first person to summit Mount Everest (8,849 m) and then ski down from the summit to base camp without using supplemental oxygen. His expedition, culminating on Sept. 22, marked a groundbreaking milestone in high-altitude ski mountaineering.
Bargiel’s ascent was anything but routine. After years of preparation and two previous attempts, in 2019 and 2022, he left base camp on Sept. 19, carried his skis up during the climb, and endured nearly 16 hours in the so-called “death zone” above 8,000 m. He described the moment: “I am on top of the highest mountain in the world, and I’m going to descend it on skis.”
From the summit, Bargiel clipped into his skis and began the descent via the South Col route. He reached Camp II (~6,400 m) by nightfall, spent the night there due to darkness and difficult visibility, and resumed skiing the next morning through the treacherous Khumbu Icefall before arriving at base camp. Reflecting on the achievement, he remarked: “It’s one of the most important milestones in my sports career. Skiing down Everest without oxygen was a dream that had been growing inside me for years.”
The feat is especially significant given the extreme physiological demands: at the altitude above 8,000 m, oxygen levels drop to roughly one-third of sea level, and the risk of altitude-related illness or death soars. His expedition was conducted under his long-running project Hic Sunt Leones, which targets ski descents of the world’s highest peaks without bottled oxygen. The success has earned wide recognition, including from Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk who wrote: “Sky is the limit? Not for Poles! Andrzej Bargiel has just skied down Mount Everest.”
Everest Ski
