World first: Andrzej Bargiel just skied down Everest without supplementary oxygen
Congratulations to 37-year-old Polish ski mountaineer Andrzej Bargiel who just did something no one else in the history of mankind has ever accomplished, climbing Mount Everest without using bottled oxygen and then skiing all the way back down to the end of snow after the Khumbu Icefall.
The historic accomplishment happened on September 22nd, 2025. After nearly 16 hours climbing in Everest’s notorious “Death Zone” (above 26,247 feet where oxygen levels are dangerously low), Bargiel clipped into his skis on the summit and began his descent via the South Col Route.
Bargiel reached Camp II (approximately 21,000 feet) that night and rested. The summit push had taken longer than anticipated and skiing in darkness was deemed far too dangerous and difficult to navigate.
The following morning, he skied through the treacherous Khumbu Icefall with the help of his brother Bartek who flew a drone overhead and guided him through the extremely hazardous terrain. Bargiel then safely arrived at Base Camp and became the first person to ascend and descend Mount Everest on skis with no bottled oxygen, cementing his place among the legends of high altitude endurance.
“The ascent was difficult because other expeditions are closed at this time of year. Much more work is required [and] the conditions are much more difficult.
It would have been most convenient for me to go straight from Base Camp to the summit, but conditions don’t always allow for that. In this case, that’s exactly what happened. It’s incredibly high. You have to be well prepared to be able to function for 16 hours above 8,000m.
I split the descent into two parts, as navigating the technically difficult Icefall in relatively safe conditions was only possible in the morning. The summit itself was arduous and difficult. I’d never spent so much time at such an altitude in my life, so that was a challenge in itself.” -Andrzej Bargiel
This was Bargiel’s third attempt at skiing Everest after two previous unsuccessful expeditions in 2019 and 2022:
“It’s one of the most important milestones in my sports career. Skiing down Everest without oxygen was a dream that had been growing inside me for years. I knew that the difficult autumn conditions and plotting the descent line through the Khumbu Glacier would be the greatest challenge I could ever face.”
Hats off to Bargiel who overcame all the challenges of operating for 16 hours without oxygen at the cruising attitude of a passenger jet where the air is so thin that climbers only get about a third of the oxygen available at sea level. Truly historic, dzięki Andrzej.
