Andrzej Bargiel Making Second Attempt To Ski Everest

Andrzej Bargiel, the ski mountaineer who became the first person to successfully climb and ski K2 in 2018, has announced he’ll make a fresh attempt at skiing Mt Everest this autumn.

Bargiel announced his fresh attempt in a live Youtube press conference from Polish capital Warsaw, stating that he would attempt to ski Everest without taking any supplementary oxygen and without sherpa support, instead he will be part of a small team including his brother, who will provide drone support.

The use of drones were a big positive impact, Bargiel (34)  said, in his successful descent of K2, allowing him to view particularly dangerous sections of the descent. In the film of his descent the drone was also shown flying medical supplies up to Bargiel’s climbing partner when  he got into difficulties high on K2, and guiding a lost climber the team came across down a safer part of the mountain.

Bargiel first announced his plan to make a rapid Everest ascent and ski down in 2019, aiming to complete it in monsoon season, a time of year not usually thought favourable for ascents, but which Bargiel said should be better as more crevasses will be filled with snow.  His 2019 attempt was abandoned however due to very dangerous huge ice overhangs on the route.

Everest is reported to have only been fully skied once, by the late Slovenian skier Davo Karnicar in 2000, using supplementary oxygen.  Several other skiers have descended all but a few hundred metres of the mountain.

Bargiel said he was keen to complete his descent as soon as possible because, “Global warming is affecting the conditions of high-altitude mountains and this activity may not be feasible in 10 years.”

He has travelled to Nepal and aims to start acclimatising and climbing in September.