Not content with K2, extreme skier Andrzej Bargiel has announced he will attempt to ski Everest. Bargiel won’t use supplementary O2 or Sherpa support. Together with a small team, Bargiel will travel to Nepal tomorrow. He hopes to start climbing in September.
As on K2, Bargiel’s brother Bartek will support him and film the expedition using drones. Expert alpinist Janusz Golab, cameraman Carlos Llerandi, and photographer Bartek Pawlikowski make up the rest of the team.
Bargiel and his team will not be alone. They are sharing a permit with Pioneer Adventure. This will include at least three climbers who will tackle Everest with Sherpa support.
Pioneer Adventure confirmed to ExplorersWeb that they will fix the route through the Khumbu Icefall. In spring, this job is carried out by the Ice Doctors, a Sherpa team assigned by the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee.
The time is now
At a press conference in Warsaw today, Bargiel explained that though Everest is harder to climb during the post-monsoon season because of excess snow, it is safer for a ski descent as some crevasses will be covered.
Bargiel also mentioned that he has been fine-tuning the project since a previous attempt in 2019 and that he’s anxious to ski Everest sooner rather than later. “Global warming is affecting the conditions of high-altitude mountains and this activity may not be feasible in 10 years,” Bargiel said.
Climber and extreme skier Andrzej Bargiel of Poland. Photo: Andrzej Bargiel
Everest has only been fully skied once, by Davo Karnicar in 2000. The Slovenian skier descended the entire south side route but used O2.
Hans Kammerlander made a no-O2 descent of Everest’s north side in 1996 but started 300m below the summit.
Postponed since 2019
Bargiel attempted to ski Everest without O2 back in 2019. However, he ended the expedition after five weeks because of a gigantic overhanging serac that loomed over the Khumbu Icefall.
Previously, Bargiel has skied Shishapangma, Broad Peak Central, and, most famously, K2. In 2021, Bargiel swapped the 8,000’ers for lonelier peaks in Pakistan, completing beautiful ski descents on Yawash Sar II, Laila Peak, and Doo Sar.
