Andrzej Bargiel looked death in the face for 16 hours straight and came out the other side with his name in the history books.
And what this Polish ski mountaineer accomplished will have extreme athletes around the world shaking their heads in disbelief.
Polish climber becomes first to ski down Everest without oxygen after surviving 16 hours in the "death zone"
After reaching the summit on Monday, Bargiel made his historic descent down the 8,849-meter (29,032-foot) peak, becoming the first climber to ski down the world’s highest mountain without supplemental oxygen.¹
The Polish adventurer endured 16 hours above 8,000 meters – an altitude known as the "death zone" because thin air and low oxygen levels dramatically heighten the risk of altitude sickness and death.²
Severe weather conditions trapped Bargiel in an environment that has proven fatal to experienced climbers, but he successfully completed his descent.
"I am on top of the highest mountain in the world and I’m going to descend it on skis," Bargiel said in a video posted on Instagram early Thursday.³
Chhang Dawa Sherpa from Seven Summit Treks, the expedition organizer, confirmed that Bargiel descended on skis to Camp 2, stayed overnight, then continued skiing to base camp the following day.
"This was extremely challenging and no one had done it before," Sherpa told Agence France-Presse.⁴
Years of failed attempts made this victory even sweeter
This wasn’t Bargiel’s first rodeo with Everest – or his first disappointment.
He started eyeing the world’s tallest peak back in 2018, right after he became the first person to ski down Pakistan’s K2, the second-highest mountain in the world.
A massive ice formation hanging over the route shut down his 2019 dreams before he could even take his first turn.
He came back in 2022 with renewed determination, but high winds sent him home empty-handed again.
This time around, everything clicked – even though fall climbing on Everest is a nightmare with more snow, brutal cold, shorter days, and about five minutes to actually summit compared to the spring circus season.
https://x.com/EverestToday/status/1971164816401461460“>https://x.com/EverestToday/status/1971164816401461460
Now he’s done something nobody else has pulled off
Sure, other guys have skied down Everest before, but every single one of them was sucking on bottled oxygen like it was going out of style.
In 2000, Slovenian Davorin Karnicar made the first full ski descent from Everest’s summit to base camp – but he used bottled oxygen to survive the journey.⁵
Bargiel’s achievement puts him in a category all by himself.
When he arrived at base camp, he was greeted with a khada, a traditional Buddhist scarf, in recognition of his historic accomplishment.
Even Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk couldn’t contain his excitement about his countryman’s achievement.
"Sky is the limit? Not for Poles! Andrzej Bargiel has just skied down Mount Everest," Tusk posted on X.⁶
https://twitter.com/Rainmaker1973/status/1971524292476334452
The man who refuses to let mountains win
This latest conquest is part of Bargiel’s ambitious Hic Sunt Leones project – a Latin phrase meaning "here are lions" that refers to uncharted territories on ancient maps.
His goal is to make ski descents of the highest mountains in the world, and his track record is already impressive.
In Pakistan, he has skied down all four of Karakoram’s eight thousanders.
He’s also conquered Nepal’s Manaslu and Shishapangma in Tibet on skis.
But you get the feeling this Polish daredevil isn’t done pushing the boundaries of what’s humanly possible.
Bargiel’s team called his latest achievement a "groundbreaking milestone in the world of ski mountaineering," and it’s hard to argue with that assessment.⁷
After surviving 16 hours in conditions that regularly claim lives and then skiing down the world’s most dangerous mountain without oxygen, Bargiel has proven that sometimes the impossible is just another word for "hasn’t been done yet."
The question now is what mountain will be crazy enough to challenge him next.
¹ CBS News, "Daredevil becomes first climber to ski down Everest without extra oxygen after 16 hours in peak’s ‘death zone,’ team says," CBS News, September 25, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ Ibid.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ Ibid.
⁶ Ibid.
⁷ Ibid.
