Daredevil Becomes 1st Person to Ski Down K2

Polish climber Andrzej Bargiel has made history
By Josh Gardner,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 23, 2018 4:48 PM CDT
Daredevil Becomes 1st Person to Ski Down K2
Andrzej Bargiel scaled K2 and skied back down.   (Marek Ogien/Red Bull Content Pool)

A daredevil has made history as the first person to ever ski down the world's second highest peak. Polish climber Andrzej Bargiel recently ascended K2 on the border of China and Pakistan, reaching the summit on Sunday, Radio Poland reports. The 30-year-old then made history by skiing all the way back down. At 28,251 feet above sea level, K2 is about 777 feet shy of the top of Mt. Everest. Speaking to the folks at Red Bull, which sponsored the daring feat, Bargiel said he hit some roadblocks on the way to accomplishing his dream. "Some problems appeared when I reached the peak and started to ski down. It was very cloudy and I had to wait for it to clear up at Base IV because the next phase of my downhill was going to be very difficult and technical on an extremely steep wall," he said.

Sunday's was Bargiel's second attempt. His first, in 2017, was aborted due to dangerous conditions caused by high temperatures. Speaking after his successful run this time around, Bargiel jokingly referenced the earlier failure. "I feel huge happiness and, to be honest ... I’m glad that I won’t be coming here again," he said. Bargiel was accompanied on his ascent by a crack team of climbers that included his brother and several expert sherpas. (More skiing stories.)

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