In a first, Polish climber skis down Everest without supplemental oxygen

Andrzej Bargiel, braving dense snowfall, glided down the world’s highest upland connected his 3rd attempt.

Poland’s Andrzej Bargiel has go the archetypal climber to skis down the world’s highest upland without supplemental oxygen, his squad and expedition organiser say.

Bargiel glided down Mount Everest’s snowy slopes aft reaching the acme of the 8,849-metre (29,032ft) upland connected Monday.

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“I americium connected apical of the highest upland successful the world, and I’m going to descend it connected skis,” Bargiel said successful a video taken earlier his descent and posted connected Instagram aboriginal connected Thursday.

Everest has seen a fistful of skis descents but ne'er a continuous downhill without further oxygen.

Pierwszy w historii zjazd na nartach ze szczytu Mount Everestu bez użycia dodatkowego tlenu ⛷️🏔️

Dziękuję wszystkim za trzymanie kciuków! 🙌

Ogromne podziękowania dla teamu Seven Summit Treks, Chang Dawa, Speed Dawa – bez Was 10 sukces nie byłby możliwy 🙏

Serdecznie… pic.twitter.com/udBliwDhZy

— Andrzej Bargiel (@JedrekBargiel) September 25, 2025

In 2000, Slovenian Davorin Karnicar made the archetypal afloat skis descent from Everest’s acme to basal campy utilizing bottled oxygen.

Chhang Dawa Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks, which organised the latest expedition, said Bargiel skied down to Camp 2, spent a nighttime and past reached the basal campy connected skis the adjacent day.

“This was highly challenging, and nary 1 had done it before,” Sherpa told the AFP quality agency.

Heavy snowfall forced Bargiel to walk 16 hours supra 8,000 metres (26,250ft), known arsenic the “death zone” due to the fact that bladed aerial and debased oxygen levels heighten the hazard of altitude sickness.

He was greeted with a khada, a accepted Buddhist scarf, erstwhile helium arrived astatine the basal camp.

“Sky is the limit? Not for Poles! Andrzej Bargiel has conscionable skied down Mount Everest,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk posted connected X.

Bargiel’s squad said successful a connection that helium had made past and called it a “groundbreaking milestone successful the satellite of skis mountaineering”.

Bargiel started eyeing Everest a twelvemonth aft helium became the archetypal idiosyncratic to skis down Pakistan’s K2, the 2nd highest upland successful the world, successful 2018.

But a unsafe overhanging serac forced him to wantonness his 2019 attempt. He returned successful 2022, but precocious winds hindered his plans.

The daredevil adventurer has been connected a quest to marque skis descents of the highest mountains successful the satellite nether his Hic Sunt Leones project, a Latin operation for “here are lions” and utilized to notation to uncharted territories.

In Pakistan, helium has skied down each 4 of Karakoram’s mountains that are higher than 8,000 metres and besides skied disconnected Nepal’s Manaslu and Shishapangma successful Tibet.

Autumn expeditions connected Everest are uncommon due to the fact that of snowier terrain, shorter and colder days and a constrictive acme model compared with the engaged spring.