ExWeb extensively covered Andrzej Bargiel’s astonishing 2018 ski descent of K2. On our year-end Top 10 Expedition list, it was number one. But we did not have the footage of the descent itself.
While someone could theoretically have skied K2 a couple of decades ago, we would not have been able to share the experience. The technology wasn’t available yet: This five-minute film was shot in part by the skier’s GoPro (the company was founded in 2002) and in part by a high-altitude drone operated by Bargiel’s brother (the drone pioneers DJI began in 2006).
With a sound track consisting mainly of Andrzej Bargiel panting at high altitude, the film shows just how hair-raising his line was. Most of us would not want to be clinging to those knife-edge ridges on our hands and knees, let alone on a pair of boards. Words and still images go only so far: This footage shows just what a crazy, visionary accomplishment this adventure was.
