In a display of stunning courage, skill and persistence, the Polish ski mountaineer put down the first-ever ski descent of the Karakorum giant known as K2. Now that’s more than a simple ski challenge. It’s a freeride skiing (or better said steep skiing) accomplishment like never before!

How many first descents are left in the world? Deep in the Himalayas, probably quite a few, but not a single one taunted and teased ski mountaineers like K2. Just 200m shorter than Mt Everest, and a lot more dangerous, it was one of the few well-known peaks still un-skied from the summit. Until July 22, 2018 that is, when Polish ski mountaineer Andrzej Bargiel clicked into his bindings at an altitude of 8,611m and jump-turned, side-slipped and skied his way down to glory.

His descent will go down in history as one of the most daring descents ever made on skis. Following his solo ascent to the summit – without oxygen – he spent the next seven-plus hours getting down.

All filmed with a drone and a camera on his helmet, this is the raw footage of the climb and descent!