Polish climber on skis makes Everest descent in first

Poland’s Andrzej Bargiel has turn out to be the primary climber to ski down the world’s highest mountain with out supplemental oxygen, his workforce and expedition organiser stated on Thursday (September 25, 2025).

Mr. Bargiel glided down Mount Everest’s snowy slopes after reaching the summit of the 8,849-metre (29,032-foot) mountain on Monday (September 22, 2025) .

“I am on top of the highest mountain in the world and I’m going to descend it on skis,” Mr. Bargiel stated in a video posted on Instagram early on Thursday.

Everest has seen a handful of ski descents however by no means a steady downhill with out extra oxygen.

In 2000, Slovenian Davorin Karnicar made the primary full ski descent from Everest’s summit to base camp utilizing bottled oxygen.

Chhang Dawa Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks, which organised the newest expedition, stated Mr. Bargiel skied all the way down to Camp 2, spent an evening after which reached the bottom camp on skis the following day.

“This was extremely challenging and no one had done it before,” Mr. Sherpa informed AFP.

Heavy snowfall compelled Mr. Bargiel to spend 16 hours above 8,000 metres, generally known as the “death zone” as a result of skinny air and low oxygen ranges heighten the danger of altitude illness.

He was greeted with a khada, a conventional Buddhist scarf, when he arrived on the base camp.

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

Mr. Bargiel’s workforce stated in a press release that he had made historical past and referred to as it a “groundbreaking milestone in the world of ski mountaineering”.

Mr. Bargiel began eyeing Everest a yr after he grew to become the primary individual to ski down Pakistan’s K2, the second-highest mountain on the earth, in 2018.

But a harmful overhanging serac compelled him to desert his 2019 try. He returned in 2022 however excessive winds hindered his plans.

The daredevil adventurer has been on a quest to make ski descents of the very best mountains on the earth beneath his Hic Sunt Leones undertaking, a Latin phrase for ‘listed below are lions’ and used to confer with uncharted territories.

In Pakistan he has skied down all 4 of Karakoram’s eight thousanders and in addition skied off Nepal’s Manaslu and Shishapangma in Tibet.

Autumn expeditions on Everest are uncommon due to snowier terrain, shorter and colder days and a slim summit window in comparison with the busy spring.