Daredevil turns into first climber to ski down Everest with out further oxygen after 16 hours in peak’s “loss of life zone,” staff says

Poland’s Andrzej Bargiel has grow to be the primary climber to ski down the world’s highest mountain with out supplemental oxygen, his staff and expedition organizer mentioned Thursday.

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

“I’m on high of the very best mountain on the planet and I will descend it on skis,” Bargiel said in a video posted on Instagram early on Thursday.

Bargiel posted another video of the descent on Instagram. “Thanks all for maintaining your fingers crossed!” he wrote. “Thanks additionally to my complete staff for being with me all through this venture.”

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 organized the most recent expedition, mentioned Bargiel skied right down to Camp 2, spent an evening after which reached the bottom camp on skis the following day.

“This was extraordinarily difficult and nobody had executed it earlier than,” Sherpa informed Agence France-Presse.

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

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

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

Bargiel’s staff mentioned in a press release that he had made historical past and known as it a “groundbreaking milestone on the planet of ski mountaineering.”

Bargiel began eyeing Everest a 12 months after he grew to become the primary particular person to ski down Pakistan’s K2, the second-highest mountain on the planet, in 2018. On the time, Bargiel devoted the feat to the a hundredth anniversary of Poland regaining its independence, BBC Information reported.

However 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 planet below his Hic Sunt Leones venture, a Latin phrase for “listed here are lions” and used to seek advice from uncharted territories.

In Pakistan, he has skied down all 4 of Karakoram’s eight thousanders. He additionally has 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.

Earlier this 12 months, famed Sherpa information Kami Rita reached the summit of Everest for the thirty first time, breaking his own record for probably the most climbs to the highest of the world’s highest peak.