Andrzej Leszek Bargiel (; born April 18, 1988, in Rabka,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
) is a Polish ski mountaineer, backcountry skier, mountain runner and climber. Raised in Łętownia, he is a three-time Polish ski mountaineering champion and held third place in the overall World Cup. He is the current record holder in taking the least amount of time to achieve the Snow Leopard award. He is also the current record holder in the
Elbrus
Mount Elbrus; ; is the highest mountain in Russia and Europe. It is a dormant volcano, dormant stratovolcano rising above sea level, and is the highest volcano in Eurasia, as well as the List of mountain peaks by prominence, tenth-most promi ...
Race. Since 2013, he has been running his original ''HIC SUNT LEONES'' (“here are lions” in Latin) project, the goal of which are speedy, oxygenless ascents and ski descents from the highest mountain peaks on Earth. These included
Shishapangma
Shishapangma, or Shishasbangma or Xixiabangma ( zh, s=希夏邦马, p=Xī xià bāng mǎ), is the 14th-highest mountain in the world, at above sea level. The lowest 8,000 metre peak, it is located entirely within Tibet.
Name
Geologist Toni H ...
in 2013,
Manaslu
Manaslu (; , also known as Kutang) is the List of highest mountains#List, eighth-highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It is in the Mansiri Himal, part of the Nepalese Himalayas, in west-central Nepal. Manaslu means "mountain of the ...
in 2014,
Broad Peak
Broad Peak (; ) is one of the eight-thousanders, and is located in the Karakoram range spanning Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan and Xinjiang, China. It is the 12th highest mountain in the world with elevation above sea level. The first ascent of t ...
Gasherbrum II
Gasherbrum II (; ; ); surveyed as K4, is the 13th highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It is the third-highest peak of the Gasherbrum massif, and is located in the Karakoram, on the border between Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan and ...
and
Gasherbrum I
Gasherbrum I, originally surveyed as K5, and also known as Hidden Peak, is the 11th highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It is located between Shigar District in the Gilgit–Baltistan region of Pakistan and Tashkurgan in the Xi ...
in 2023. He is the first person to ski all eight-thousanders in the
Karakoram
The Karakoram () is a mountain range in the Kashmir region spanning the border of Pakistan, China, and India, with the northwestern extremity of the range extending to Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Most of the Karakoram mountain range is withi ...
range. He lives in
Zakopane
Zakopane (Gorals#Language, Podhale Goral: ''Zokopane'') is a town in the south of Poland, in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998, it was part of Nowy Sącz Voivodeship; since 1999, it has ...
Patrouille des Glaciers
The Patrouille des Glaciers (PDG) is a ski mountaineering race organised every two years by the Swiss Armed Forces, in which military and civilian teams compete. It takes place once every two years at the end of April, in the south part of the ca ...
together with Jacek Żylka-Żebracki and Mariusz Wargocki
** 1st - record on Elbrus Race (Extreme route, 3:23:37)
* 2013, October 2 – he is the first Pole to have made a ski descent of
Shishapangma
Shishapangma, or Shishasbangma or Xixiabangma ( zh, s=希夏邦马, p=Xī xià bāng mǎ), is the 14th-highest mountain in the world, at above sea level. The lowest 8,000 metre peak, it is located entirely within Tibet.
Name
Geologist Toni H ...
(central summit)
*2014, September 25 – he set a record time climbing from base camp to the summit of
Manaslu
Manaslu (; , also known as Kutang) is the List of highest mountains#List, eighth-highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It is in the Mansiri Himal, part of the Nepalese Himalayas, in west-central Nepal. Manaslu means "mountain of the ...
in 14 hours 5 minutes. He also set a record time for base-peak-base at 21 hours 14 minutes (on skis).
*2015, July 25 – he was the first person to climb and ski down
Broad Peak
Broad Peak (; ) is one of the eight-thousanders, and is located in the Karakoram range spanning Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan and Xinjiang, China. It is the 12th highest mountain in the world with elevation above sea level. The first ascent of t ...
* 2016: Winning the Snow Leopard award in record time - 29 days 17 hours 5 minutes from the start of the ABC July 15
**
Lenin Peak
Lenin Peak or Ibn Sina (Avicenna) Peak (, ; ; , renamed () in July 2006 (Tajik); for Russian tex Peak Korzhenevskaya - July 25 (ascent from Moskvina BC at the height of 4350 meters to the summit in 8 hours 40 minutes; exit from the summit on skis for the snow line and the descent to the base camp).
** Ismoil Somoni Peak - August 2 (ascent from Moskvina BC at the height of 4350 meters to the summit in 14 hours 25 minutes; exit from the summit on skis for the snow line and the descent to the base camp).
**
Khan Tengri
Khan Tengri is a mountain of the Tian Shan mountain range in Central Asia. It is on the China—Kyrgyzstan—Kazakhstan tripoint, east of lake Issyk-Kul, Issyk Kul in Kyrgyzstan. Its geologic elevation is , but its glacial icecap rises to ...
- August 10 (ascent from the South Inylchek BC at an altitude of 4070 meters to the summit in 8 hours 17 minutes; descent on skis from an altitude of about 6300 m).
**
Jengish Chokusu
Jengish Chokusu or Victory Peak is the highest mountain in the Tian Shan mountain system in Central Asia at . It lies on the China–Kyrgyzstan border between the Ak-Suu District in the Issyk-Kul Region of far Eastern Kyrgyzstan and Wensu Count ...
- August 14, 12:35 local time, descent on skis.
* 2017, May 21 - Skiing Mallory's Couloir of the north face
Aiguille du Midi
The Aiguille du Midi (, "Needle at midday") is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif within the French Alps. It is a popular tourist destination and can be directly accessed by cable car from Chamonix that takes visitors close to Mont Blanc.
Ca ...
* 2018, July 22 - First man in history to ski from the summit of K2 to base camp without removing skis.
* 2019, September 30 – due to safety issues he stopped the Everest Ski Challenge expedition.
* 2021:
** April 30, first ascent of Yawash Sar II, followed by a ski descent.
** May 10, partial ski descent from the summit of Laila Peak (Hushe Valley).
* 2023:
** July 19, ski descent from the summit of
Gasherbrum II
Gasherbrum II (; ; ); surveyed as K4, is the 13th highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It is the third-highest peak of the Gasherbrum massif, and is located in the Karakoram, on the border between Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan and ...
.
** July 26, ski descent from the summit of
Gasherbrum I
Gasherbrum I, originally surveyed as K5, and also known as Hidden Peak, is the 11th highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It is located between Shigar District in the Gilgit–Baltistan region of Pakistan and Tashkurgan in the Xi ...
- becomes the first person to ever ski all eight-thousanders in the
Karakoram
The Karakoram () is a mountain range in the Kashmir region spanning the border of Pakistan, China, and India, with the northwestern extremity of the range extending to Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Most of the Karakoram mountain range is withi ...
range.
*2024,
Andes
The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...
&
Patagonia
Patagonia () is a geographical region that includes parts of Argentina and Chile at the southern end of South America. The region includes the southern section of the Andes mountain chain with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers ...
Ski Expedition.
Selected prizes
In February 2019, Andrzej Bargiel was named National Geographic Adventurer of the Year.