Venturing up a deserted Everest to summit without supplementary oxygen and then skiing all the way down to Base Camp, avoiding or somehow descending the treacherous Khumbu Icefall on skis, seems like a long, tricky task. However, Andrzej Bargiel of Poland has reached the South Col, at nearly 8,000m, after just two weeks on Everest. From there, he skied back to Base Camp.
A good pace
“After spending a night in Camp 2, I pushed up to around 7,000m below the Geneva Spur and bivouacked there,” Bargiel wrote on Wednesday. “On the following morning, I continued climbing toward the South Col (7,900m) before skiing back down to Everest Base Camp.” He did not say whether he kept the skis on through the Khumbu Icefall or avoided it.
Andrzej Bargiel near the location of Camp 2. Photo: Pasang Rinzee/Pawlikowski Media
The Polish climber and skier is progressing at a good pace. Conditions permitting, he could be ready for a summit push with just one more acclimatization round, including a night at Camp 4. However, he has not specified his timetable.
How hard is Everest on skis?
It is a common belief that climbing Everest is hard due to its extreme altitude, but not that technically challenging. Skiing down the peak, however, is a different story.
Crevasses can be crossed on foot with a ladder, but what about on skis? Photo: Pasang Rinzee/Pawlikowski Media
First of all, the altitude is demanding no matter how you descend, but skiing requires more effort than walking, and Bargiel won’t be using bottled oxygen. He didn’t need it in 2018 when he completed the first ski descent of K2, but Everest is even higher.
Second, Everest has exposed passages and technical obstacles that are much harder on skis, starting at the very top. The traverse across the Hillary Step and the South Summit down to the Balcony is exposed and difficult to manage. Previous Everest skiers Rob and Kit Deslauriers rappelled that section or at least held onto the fixed ropes. But it is not clear whether Bargiel intends to lay ropes on the higher sections.
The Lhotse Face and the long Valley of Silence to the Western Cwm should be doable, but the line from Camp 1 to Base Camp is an open question.
The Karnicar experience
Twenty-five years ago, Davo Karnicar of Slovenia climbed Everest in four days, with Sherpa support and sipping some oxygen during the night he spent in Camp 4 before the summit push. He then skied down nonstop in five hours. He never took off his skis and used no rappels. His was the only complete, uninterrupted ski descent of Everest.
Karnicar skied along the flank of the exposed summit ridge down to the South Col. When, 2,000 vertical meters below, he approached the Khumbu Icefall, he turned left, toward the flank of Nuptse. Surprisingly, he found a continuous line all the way down to Base Camp, leaving the Icefall’s seracs to his right.
Davo Karnicar on Everest. Photo: Davo Karnicar’s 2000 team
Like Bargiel, Karnicar went to Everest in the post-monsoon for its snow coverage. However, the avalanche risk is greater.
“We were very much surprised there was so much snow there,” Karnicar said at the time, as cited in an article by PlanetMountain. “The Hillary step, the steep crest, and huge amounts of snow which threatened to avalanche — these are the main characteristics of this first uninterrupted ski from the top of the tallest mountain on this planet.”
Karnicar was 38 when he skied down Everest. He had previously skied Annapurna. He died in 2019, in a tree-cutting accident on his property.
In the last few days, Bargiel has been scouting the mountain and looking for potential ski lines.
Andrzej Bargiel beside his bivy tent on Everest. Photo: Pasang Rinzee/Pawlikowski Media
