Climber breaks world record with oxygen-free descent from Everest

Andrzej Bargiel has achieved a historic milestone, becoming the first person to both summit Mount Everest and ski down its entirety without the use of supplemental oxygen.

The 37-year-old Polish mountaineer completed the remarkable feat on September 22, 2025. After reaching the summit of the world’s tallest peak, he began his ski descent — all without taking a single breath of additional oxygen. Bargiel spent nearly 16 hours in Everest’s infamous “death zone,” which lies above 8,000 meters, where oxygen levels are dangerously low.

While others have skied parts of Everest before, Bargiel's achievement marks the first full descent from the summit without oxygen support — a groundbreaking moment in high-altitude mountaineering and extreme skiing.

This success comes after two previous attempts in 2019 and 2022 were aborted, with the latter reportedly cut short due to a snowstorm, according to a September 27 post by news outlet NEXTA on X (formerly Twitter).

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk praised the achievement on social media, proudly stating: “Sky is the limit? Not for Poles! Andrzej Bargiel just skied down Mount Everest.”

Bargiel’s record-setting descent follows a string of Everest-related headlines this year. In June 2025, an Australian YouTuber had to be rescued after suffering from severe altitude sickness caused by oxygen deprivation.