Expedition organizers verified on Thursday that a mountaineer achieved a groundbreaking feat, becoming the first individual to ski down Mount Everest through the “death zone” without relying on supplemental oxygen.
The accomplishment by Polish national Andrzej Bargiel is also being celebrated as a pivotal milestone within the realm of mountaineering.
Bargiel, aged 37, ascended the planet’s tallest mountain, standing at 29,032 feet, on Sept. 22, subsequently donning his skis to commence his extensive descent.
Prior to embarking from the snow-covered summit, Bargiel declared in a video shared on his Instagram page, “I stand atop the world’s highest mountain, and my intention is to descend it on skis.”
Seven Summit Treks, the Nepal-based outfitter overseeing Bargiel’s expedition, verified to AFP that his descent represented the inaugural instance of its nature.
The report indicated that the athlete divided the achievement into two segments, initially skiing to Camp II for an overnight stay, then proceeding through the reportedly perilous Khumbu Icefall the following morning.
While previous attempts at skiing down Everest have occurred, none had successfully completed the entire route without the aid of bottled oxygen.
Davorin Karnicar, a Slovenian, was the first to ski from the summit to Base Camp in 2000, though he utilized supplemental oxygen.
AFP reported that his brother, Bartek, assisted by operating a drone which facilitated safe navigation through the glacier.
“This presented immense challenges, and it was an accomplishment previously unheard of,” Chhang Dawa Sherpa from Seven Summit Treks conveyed to AFP.
Furthermore, Bargiel endured close to 16 hours within the designated “death zone” situated above 8,000 meters, an altitude where oxygen concentrations are perilously sparse, making survival arduous without bottled air.
Upon his arrival at base camp, Bargiel was honored with a khada, a traditional Buddhist ceremonial scarf, in acknowledgement of his triumph.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki lauded the achievement on X, stating, “Is the sky the limit? Not for Poles! Andrzej Bargiel has successfully skied down Mount Everest.”
Bargiel is reputedly accustomed to pioneering high-altitude achievements. In 2018, he earned the distinction of being the first individual to ski down Pakistan’s K2, the globe’s second-tallest peak, an accomplishment BBC News highlighted as being consecrated to the centenary of Poland’s renewed independence.
He had previously made attempts on Everest in both 2019 and 2022, though these efforts were impeded by precarious ice conditions and powerful winds.
FOX Digital has contacted Andrzej Bargiel to solicit a comment.