Polish mountaineer and adventure skier Andrzej Bargiel became first person to climb Mount Everest and ski down without using supplemental oxygen.
He accomplish this remarkable milestone last week after years of preparation and two earlier failed attempts.
Above 8,000 meters, called the "death zone," there is only about one-third of the oxygen available at sea level.
Climbers in this zone risk serious health problems including altitude sickness, fluid in the lungs and potentially deadly brain swelling.
“Skiing down Everest without oxygen was a dream that had been growing inside me for years,” he was quoted as saying by The Guardian.
“The summit itself was arduous and difficult. I’d never spent so much time at such an altitude in my life, so that was a challenge in itself,” Mr Bargiel added.
Despite the extreme conditions in the death zone, Bargiel spent almost 16 hours struggling with the thin air to reach the summit.
He climbed from base camp over four days and then skied back down over the next two days.
After achieving the milestone, he said, “I had never spent so much time at such an altitude in my life. Skiing down Everest without oxygen was a dream that had been growing inside me for years.”
It is worth mentioning more than 7,000 climbers have reached Mount Everest's summit but only roughly 200 have done so without using bottled oxygen.
