Watch: New Red Bull Footage Shows Ski Descent of Himalayan "Killer Mountain"

Earlier this summer, renowned Polish skier and mountaineer Andrzej Bargiel became the first person in history to climb and complete a continuous ski of the Himalaya’s 26,660-foot Nanga Parbat—all without supplemental oxygen.

The feat further established Bargiel as an athlete capable of—and willing to—carve lines down the world’s most imposing mountains. In part because of the number of fatalities on its flanks before its first ascent in 1953 by Austrian alpinist Hermann Buhl, Nanga Parbat is unofficially known as the “Killer Mountain,” according to National Geographic. 

Now, months later, Red Bull has released tense footage from Bargiel’s ski descent. See it below.

As the world’s ninth-highest peak, Nanga Parbat has long stood as an alluring, if dangerous, test piece for climbers. Following Buhl’s 1953 ascent, the mountain saw another historic moment when, in 1970, Reinhold Messner managed a successful climb of the Rupal Face, Nanga Parbat’s south wall, followed by a slew of other ascents.

But skiing the mountain continuously proved challenging, according to a Red Bull recap of Bargiel’s ski, because of the upper Diamir Face. The serac barrier gummed up ski attempts, forcing skiers to step out of their planks and get through on foot. Bargiel, though, discovered a way through as he descended via the Messner Route.

Before setting off, Bargiel spent weeks acclimatizing to the altitude, preparing for the hours he would spend in the “death zone,” where the air is so thin that climbers can’t last for long without supplemental oxygen.

In total, including the climb, Bargiel’s round trip took two days and nine hours. He completed the descent at 15:00 on June 30, 2026.

“It was one of the most complex ski projects I’ve ever seen in the high mountains,” said Janusz Gołąb, Bargiel’s climbing support and fellow Polish alpinist, per Red Bull. “Andrzej had to constantly assess and solve the terrain in real time throughout the descent. On Nanga Parbat, there is no room for chance.”

For Bargiel, the journey on Nanga Parbat followed soon after a high-profile oxygen-free ski descent of Mt. Everest, which he completed in September 2025.

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