Bargiel First to Ski Down All Karakoram 8K Peaks
Andrzej Bargiel, the first man to ski down K2, has just become the first to ski all four of the Karakoram 8K Peaks.
Bargiel completed his feat when he reached the summit of Gasherbrum I, standing at 8,080 metres, at 4:15 am local time on July 26th undertaking his ski descent without supplemental oxygen.
This unprecedented achievement establishes him as the first person to have skied from the summits of all the Karakoram eight-thousanders, marking a milestone in skiing and mountaineering history.
In 2015, Bargiel had been the first man to ski down Broad Peak (8,051 m), and in 2018, he achieved the seemingly impossible, skiing down K2 (8,611 m) without removing his skis or using supplemental oxygen.
Bargiel’s Karakoram journey began with his expedition to Pakistan on June 30. The goal was to scale both Gasherbrum peaks without supplemental oxygen and ski down their summits and that has now been accomplished.
Preparation for this monumental task started well before the expedition. Andrzej and fellow climber Janusz Gołąb climbed Khosar Gang (6,400 m) as part of acclimatization. His journey with Gasherbrum II (8,035 m), was successful, with Andrzej reaching the peak and completing the ski descent on July 19. The lack of ample weather windows made a single outing traverse between the two peaks untenable.
But a few days after that successful ski descent of Gasherbrum II the team started their ascent of Gasherbrum I. On July 25, at 2:00 AM local time. Andrzej Bargiel alongside Janusz Gołąb and Maciej Sulima reached camp 2. Bargiel reached the peak of Gasherbrum I at dawn on July 26, before starting his ski descent that ended in a triumphant return to the camp a few hours later.
The achievement underscores the growing allure of the Karakoram range, which span the borders of three countries, Pakistan, India and China and boast the greatest concentration of the highest peaks globally and the largest glacial system outside the polar regions.
