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A mountaineer has made history by becoming the first person to ski down Mount Everest without the use of supplemental oxygen, expedition organizers confirmed Thursday.
Polish national Andrzej Bargiel’s achievement is also being hailed as a landmark moment in the world of extreme endurance sports.
Bargiel, 37, summited the world’s highest peak at 29,032 feet Sept. 22 before putting on his skis and starting his big 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 to his Instagram page before pushing off from the snowy summit.
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According to AFP, Seven Summit Treks, the Nepal-based outfitter managing Bargiel’s expedition, confirmed his descent was the first of its kind.
They reported the athlete split the feat into two sections, first skiing to Camp II before spending the night, and then continuing through what is said to be the dangerous Khumbu Icefall the next morning.
People have tried ski descents from Everest in the past but none of them have completed the run without bottled oxygen.
In 2000, Slovenian Davorin Karnicar became the first to ski from the summit to Base Camp, but he relied on supplemental oxygen.
His brother, Bartek, helped by piloting a drone that helped guide him safely through the glacier, AFP reported.
“This was extremely challenging, and no one had done it before,” Chhang Dawa Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks told AFP.
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Bargiel also spent nearly 16 hours in the so-called “death zone” above 8,000 meters, where oxygen levels are dangerously low and survival is hard without bottled air.
When he reached Base Camp, Bargiel was greeted with a khada, a ceremonial Buddhist scarf, in recognition of his success.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk celebrated the accomplishment on X, writing: “Sky is the limit? Not for Poles! Andrzej Bargiel has just skied down Mount Everest.”
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Bargiel is reportedly no stranger to high-altitude firsts. In 2018, he became the first person to ski down Pakistan’s K2, the world’s second-highest mountain, a feat BBC News noted was dedicated to the centenary of Poland regaining independence.
He had also attempted Everest in 2019 and again in 2022 but was thwarted by unstable ice and high winds.