Polish Red Bull Athlete Closes Decade-Long Pakistan Project by Skiing an Unbroken Line Down From Summit to Snowline, Without bottled oxygen
Andrzej Bargiel has skied K2 and Everest without bottled oxygen. No one, until now, had climbed and skied Nanga Parbat — summit to snowline — in one continuous, oxygen-free push.
The Red Bull athlete has become the first person in history to climb the 8,126-metre peak and complete an unbroken ski descent to the end of skiable snow, without supplemental oxygen throughout, as part of his Hic Sunt Leones – Nanga Parbat Ski Challenge 2026 expedition.
Hic Sunt Leones, Latin for “here are lions,” is the phrase historically used on maps to mark unexplored territory.
Nanga Parbat carries one of the deadliest records among the world’s 8,000-metre peaks and is central to the legacy of Reinhold Messner’s 1970 ascent of the Rupal Face.
Despite numerous previous ski attempts, no expedition had completed a continuous descent from the summit to the end of snow conditions. Bargiel’s route ran through the upper Diamir Face, an area complicated by a large serac barrier that had historically forced climbers off their skis.
Route / Performance Overview
Bargiel began acclimatisation and high-camp rotation in the second half of June 2026, progressively adapting to altitudes above 8,000 metres while assessing snow and weather conditions.
He departed Base Camp (4,200 m) at 06:00 on June 28, 2026, climbing without supplemental oxygen.
He overnighted at Camp II (6,200 m) and Camp III (6,850 m) during the summit push.
He reached the summit of Nanga Parbat (8,126 m) and spent 45 minutes there before transitioning to skis.
He descended via the Messner Route, navigating a traverse past a serac barrier that had previously ended ski descent attempts on foot.
He spent a total of two hours above 7,900–8,000 m, within the mountain’s death zone. He completed the ski descent at 15:00 on June 30, 2026, below Camp I (4,400 m), marking the end of continuous skiable snow and the first fully continuous ski line recorded on Nanga Parbat.
The full round trip from Base Camp to the summit and back took 2 days and 9 hours
Athlete Quotes
“I knew that the success of this project would depend on the right timing and the right conditions in the mountains. I’m happy that we were able to find a line that made it possible to complete the entire descent safely. I’d like to thank the whole team and Red Bull for their support,” said Andrzej Bargiel after completing the expedition.
“It was one of the most complex ski projects I’ve ever seen in the high mountains. Andrzej had to constantly assess and solve the terrain in real time throughout the descent. On Nanga Parbat, there is no room for chance,” commented Janusz Gołąb.
Why It Matters
No prior ski descent of Nanga Parbat had connected the summit to the end of snow coverage in a single continuous line, despite multiple earlier attempts. The descent required real-time route-finding along the Messner Route’s serac-complicated traverse, a technical exercise closer to route architecture than conventional ski mountaineering.
Combined with an oxygen-free ascent completed in under two and a half days round trip, the achievement completes Bargiel’s run of first ski descents across Pakistan’s 8,000-metre peaks, a project he began with Broad Peak in 2015. It also extends the historical narrative beyond the Messner-era Rupal Face descents into a modern high-altitude ski context.
About the Athlete
Andrzej Bargiel, born in 1988 in Łętownia, Poland, is a multiple-time Polish champion and former member of the Polish national ski mountaineering team. He is a Red Bull athlete and holds the first full ski descents of K2 (2018) and Broad Peak (2015), and in 2025 became the first person to climb and ski Mount Everest from summit to Base Camp without supplemental oxygen. With Nanga Parbat, he becomes the first person to have climbed and skied Broad Peak, K2, Gasherbrum I, Gasherbrum II, Everest, and Nanga Parbat without supplemental oxygen.
Key Facts
Athlete: Andrzej Bargiel (Poland), age 38
Achievement: First continuous ski descent of Nanga Parbat, climbed and skied without supplemental oxygen
Mountain: Nanga Parbat
Location: Diamir Face, Western Himalayas, Pakistan
Summit elevation: 8,126 m
Base Camp elevation: 4,200 m
Expedition: Hic Sunt Leones – Nanga Parbat Ski Challenge 2026
Expedition team:
– Andrzej Bargiel – Ski Mountaineer
– Janusz Gołąb – Sports Support
– Dariusz Załuski – Sports Support, Camera Operator
– Jakub Gzela – Drone and Camera operator
– Pasang Rinzee Sherpa – Camera Operator
– Bartek Pawlikowski – Photographer
Camp elevations:
– Camp I (C1): 4,800 m
– Camp II (C2): 6,200 m
– Camp III (C3): 6,850 m
– Camp IV (C4): not established / not applicable
Summit push start: June 28, 2026, at 6:00 a.m., from Base Camp (4,200 m)
End of the ski descent: June 30, 2026, at 3:00 p.m., below Camp I (4,400 m)
Total time (Base Camp – Summit – Base Camp): 2 days and 9 hours
Time spent on the summit: 45 minutes
Time spent in the death zone (above 7,900–8,000 m): 2 hours
Route timeline: Departure from Base Camp → overnight at Camp II → overnight at Camp III → summit push → ski descent
Steepest / most difficult section of the route: The Messner Route, including the traverse past the seracs.
Weather conditions on summit day: Sunny.
Style: Ascent and ski descent completed without supplemental oxygen
Prior related descents: Broad Peak (2015), K2 (2018), Gasherbrum I & II (2023), Everest (2025) — all completed without supplemental oxygen
Keywords
Primary: Andrzej Bargiel, Nanga Parbat ski descent, Hic Sunt Leones Nanga Parbat Ski Challenge 2026
Achievement: first continuous ski descent Nanga Parbat, Nanga Parbat without supplemental oxygen, Diamir Face ski line, Pakistan no-oxygen ski descents
Contextual: Nanga Parbat, Messner Rupal Face history, high-altitude ski mountaineering, Polish Himalayan mountaineering, 8000-metre peak skiing
Question-based: who was the first person to ski down Nanga Parbat, has Nanga Parbat ever had a full ski descent, what is the Hic Sunt Leones expedition, is Andrzej Bargiel a Red Bull athlete, which 8000-metre peaks has Andrzej Bargiel skied
