Andrzej
Bargiel
Poland
·
Ski Touring
Date of birth | 18 April 1988 |
|---|---|
Place of birth | Łętownia, Jordanów |
Age | 37 |
Nationality | Poland |
Career start | 2006 |
Disciplines | Ski Mountaineering/Touring |
Andrzej Bargiel has his older brother to thank for introducing him to the world of skiing. Grzesiek was a mountain rescuer and invited Andrzej to work with him at the Polish village of Białka Tatrzańska, where he had an opportunity to see what his brother's working day looked like.
That was the beginning of Andrzej's love for mountains and his passion for ski mountaineering. His brother showed him how to walk on skis and, shortly after, he took part in a ski mountaineering competition, scoring well for a debutant.
Grzesiek was his first coach and had a huge influence on Andrzej. He trained alone in his home town of Łętownia, often at night, starting with small goals – and today he's still setting new ones.
His first big summit was Mount Elbrus in Russia, but his goal is to finish in the Himalayas and ski down from all the Seven Summits. He got a step closer to achieving that goal when he completed an incredible first descent of K2 on skis in July 2018.
Then in 2021, Andrzej became the first person to climb the 6,178m Yawash Sar II peak before skiing down, an achievement that was documented in the film, Doo Sar: A Karakoram Ski Expedition film.
In 2023, he again made mountaineering history when he skied down from the summit of the 8,080m-high Gasherbrum I mountain in the Karakoram region of the Himalayas. In doing so he became the first person to have skied down from the summits of all the Karakoram 8,000m mountains.
Most recently, in September 2025, he finally achieved his crowning feat to date. Following on from aborted expeditions in 2019 and 2021, he became the first person to climb up to the summit of Mount Everest and descend again without supplementary oxygen - cementing his place among the legends of high-mountain endurance.
Bargiel said: “It’s one of the most important milestones in my sports career. Skiing down Everest without oxygen was a dream that had been growing inside me for years. I knew that the difficult autumn conditions and plotting the descent line through the Khumbu Glacier would be the greatest challenge I could ever face.” You can read the full story of the achievement here.
On the summit of Mount Everest
© Bartłomiej Bargiel/Red Bull Content Pool
Taking a break on the trek up
© Bartłomiej Pawlikowski/Red Bull Content Pool
The ascent of Mount Everest's summit took longer than anticipated
© Pasang Rinzee Sherpa for East Studio/Red Bull Content Pool
Bargiel descended on skis without supplementary oxygen
© Bartłomiej Pawlikowski/Red Bull Content Pool