Climbing and then skiing down a mountain that has killed nearly a quarter of anyone who’s attempted to climb it sounds like a recipe for disaster. But that wasn’t going to stop Polish ski mountaineer Andrzej Bargiel from taking on K2.
The mountain is only 650 feet shorter than Everest, but it’s a whole lot more dangerous, causing many climbers to steer clear of it.
Bargiel became the first to ever ski down it from the summit on July 22, 2018. After ascending the mountain over the course of 3.5 days, he clipped into his bindings and prepared for what was ahead.
At a total altitude of over 5 miles, this was going to be a hard grind where one small mistake could cost him his life.
After side-slipping, turning and skiing his way down, he made it in a total of 7 hours with a total elevation drop of 2.2 miles.
