K2 - The Elusive Ski Descent

It’s easy to understand why no one has successfully skied K2 yet from top to bottom. The world’s second highest peak, known as the “Savage Mountain” has only seen some 300 summits, whereas for comparison Mt. Everest has had over 5600 summits. Just getting to the top of K2 is elusive; skiing off the top ups the game substantially. In 2009 American Dave Watson managed to ski the upper portion of K2 before calling it quits at the bottleneck, a 60 degree section of ice and crust.

Polish ski mountaineer Andrzej Bargiel is headed to K2 for his second attempt at skiing the entire mountain. In 2017 he abandoned his attempt due to rock fall and high avalanche danger. I have my doubts that K2 will ever be skied but wish Bargiel the best. Here’s a teaser video from his 2017 attempt.