Bartek Ziemski Skis Everest Without Oxygen, First to Complete Lhotse-Everest Double in 1 Season
Updated
Updated · Outside · May 19
Bartek Ziemski Skis Everest Without Oxygen, First to Complete Lhotse-Everest Double in 1 Season
9 articles · Updated · Outside · May 19
May 18’s Everest descent took Ziemski from the summit back to Base Camp without supplemental oxygen, making him only the second skier ever to descend the world’s highest peak that way.
The 37-year-old Pole had skied Lhotse to Base Camp just a week earlier, also without bottled oxygen, after climbing it first and navigating the Khumbu Icefall on skis.
That back-to-back effort made him the first person to climb and ski both 8,000-meter neighbors—Lhotse and Everest—without oxygen in the same season.
Unlike earlier landmark descents backed by sponsors, film crews or large support teams, Ziemski completed Everest solo and has kept a deliberately low public profile.
What revolutionary training allows a human to ski two 8,000-meter peaks in a week without oxygen?
Is this 'pure style' the ultimate protest against Everest's commercial climbing industry?
After shunning fame and risking death for 'fun', what is the psychological toll of such an extreme accomplishment?