Polish ski mountaineer Andrzej Bargiel is ready to conquer his final 8,000-meter peak, setting a new standard for human accomplishment.
After having skied down 13 of the world’s 14 8,000-meter peaks, Bargiel has made the journey to Pakistan, where he plans to ski down Nanga Parbat, the only 8,000-er peak he has not yet completed. Sitting at 8,126 meters, Nanga Parbat is the ninth-highest mountain on Earth, known for its extreme verticals and nickname, “Killer Mountain.”
If completed, Bargiel would become the first person to ski down all 14 8,000-er peaks.
The 38-year-old will climb alongside expert alpinists Janusz Golab and Dariusz Zaluski, along with a film crew to capture Bargiel’s historic feat. Their expedition began on Wednesday, June 10, with a ski attempt planned for the first week of July, according to Poland’s public broadcaster TVP World.
“Nanga Parbat is a mountain that demands enormous patience and humility. I’d like to try to find a logical, continuous descent line and ski it in the cleanest way possible,” Bargiel said.
Bargiel’s team said he will likely climb and ski the Diamir Face. It contains the mountain’s most frequently climbed route, the Kinshoffer Route, as well as multiple other well-established paths. The Diamir Face will give Bargiel different ski descent options, allowing him to choose the route with the best conditions. Bargiel will climb without supplementary oxygen, as is his custom.
Bargiel conquered his first 8,000-er peak in 2013 after skiing down China’s Shishapangma, the world’s 14th-highest peak at 8,027 meters. Bargiel made his biggest waves in the mountaineering community in 2025, when he became the first to ski from Mount Everest’s summit to base camp without supplemental oxygen. Weather had forced Bargiel to abandon his Everest attempts in 2019 and 2022, but he would end up skiing the world’s highest mountain just a few years later. Bargiel is also the only human to ski down K2 without supplementary oxygen.
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Despite his experience, Nanga Parbat is a unique beast. Bargiel is aiming for a full descent of the mountain, but all previous skiers have encountered unskiable, snowless conditions on the mountain. In 2019, French nationals Tiphaine Duperier and Boris Langenstein had attempted a complete ski descent, but were forced to remove their skis due to a lack of snow. The same issue was met by Hans Kammerlander in 1990, who attempted the world’s first ski descent of Nanga Parbat.
If completed, Bargiel would celebrate his accomplishment alongside fellow Pole Bartek Ziemski, who recently skied down Everest and Lhotse this past season.
