“I’m drawn to Everest,” said Andrzej Bargiel in an interview with his sponsor Red Bull. “Partly out of curiosity, I want to see how my body copes at such altitude. And also because, although this place doesn’t have the best PR, there are moments, like autumn, when it’s peaceful and you can work there independently – without all the commotion.”
The 37-year-old Polish ski mountaineer set off for Nepal this week with eight companions to achieve his big goal on his third attempt: to climb the 8,849-meter summit of Mount Everest without bottled oxygen and ski down from there to base camp.
Bargiel abandoned his first attempt in fall 2019 because a monster serac around 50 meters high and 30 meters wide was hanging over the Khumbu Icefall and threatening to break off. His second attempt ended in fall 2022 at the South Col at just under 8,000 meters, where the wind was so strong that Andrzej and his companion Janusz Golab couldn’t even pitch their tent.
Dariusz Zaluski is in the team
Golab is one of Bargiel’s mentors. Janusz supported the ski mountaineer, who is 20 years younger than him, on several of his ascents followed by ski descents, such as the first complete descent from K2 in 2018 and those from Gasherbrum I and II in 2023. This time, however, he is not part of Bargiel’s team.
Instead, another veteran of mountaineering in the Himalayas and Karakoram is joining the team: Dariusz Zaluski. The 66-year-old has summited five eight-thousanders, including Everest from both the Nepalese south side (in 2006) and the Tibetan north side (in 2012).
In 2011, Darek was part of the international quartet that scaled K2 via the Chinese north side of the mountain. With this success, Austrian Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner became the first woman to stand on all 14 eight-thousanders without bottled oxygen. Zaluski is also an experienced filmmaker. Bargiel will therefore benefit from him in two ways.
Seizing the opportunity
Andrzej has already skied down a total of six eight-thousanders: before K2 and the two Gasherbrum peaks, he also achieved this feat on Shishapangma in Tibet (in 2013), Manaslu in Nepal (in 2014), and Broad Peak in Pakistan (in 2015).
“We have to find the right conditions, avoid avalanche danger, and read the crevasses there,” said Bargiel about the upcoming Everest expedition. “The challenge is the [Khumbu] icefall itself, which is very complex. Sometimes it’s difficult to get through it, let alone the descent.”
Icefall Doctors support
To find the best way through the ice labyrinth, the team will also be supported by two Icefall Doctors, Tshering Tenjing Sherpa, who is regularly the base camp manager of the Nepalese specialist team in spring season, confirmed to me.
If the weather and conditions on the mountain are right, it’s important to be effective, says Andrzej: “You have to seize these moments and make the most of them, because if you lose one or two days, you’ll end up running out of time. I think this is crucial when operating there in the fall.”
So far, only Slovenian Davo Karnicar – who died in a forestry accident in his home country in 2019 – has managed to ski down from the summit of Everest via the south side of the mountain to base camp without having to take off his skis. For his ascent in 2000, he used bottled oxygen from the South Col, as well as for the first section on skis to the South Summit. Karnicar took four hours and 40 minutes to descend to base camp.
Skis removed in some places due to lack of snow
The number of ski attempts on the north side of Everest can be counted on one hand. In 1996, South Tyrolean Hans Kammerlander successfully skied down from the summit via the northeast flank and the North Col to the advanced base camp on the Eastern Rongbuk Glacier. However, he had to take off his skis in some places due to lack of snow. This was also the case in 2006 for Swedes Olof Sundstron and Martin Letzer, who also descended via the Northeast Ridge, as well as for Norwegians Tormod Granheim and Tomas Olsson, who chose the Norton Couloir. Olsson fell to his death from an altitude of 8,500 meters.
According to Andrzej Bargiel, he tried several times in vain to obtain a permit from the Chinese-Tibetan authorities to ski down the north side of Everest. “I think the Chinese simply don’t allow tourism to develop,” said Andrzej. “They fear that the issue of Tibet will be blown out of proportion, so they simply prefer not to have expeditions. It’s not something they see any value in. It’s more of a problem than a benefit to them. Unfortunately, that’s the philosophy and policy of the Chinese government.”
Tyler Andrews also wants to climb Everest this fall
Much later than Bargiel’s Polish team, namely at the beginning of October, speed specialist Tyler Andrews and his companions are expected to arrive at Everest Base Camp. The 35-year-old long-distance runner from the US wants to climb the highest mountain on earth without bottled oxygen, or rather “run up” it – faster than anyone before him.
In the last spring season, the much-hyped “Race on Everest” between Andrews and Karl Egloff – who has Swiss and Ecuadorian passports – failed at the end of May due to bad weather. Egloff, who started without oxygen, turned back at Camp 3 at around 7,300 meters on the route fixed with ropes up to the summit, while Andrews turned back at around the height of the so-called Balcony (8,400 m). Due to the stormy weather, Tyler had already decided before his start at base camp to use a breathing mask in the upper part of the mountain, contrary to his original plan.
