Success for Andrzej Bargel, new addition to the Ferrino team
Andrzej Bargiel’s collaboration with Team Ferrino began in the best possible way: he climbed and skied the 8000-meter peaks of Gasherbrum I and Gasherbrum II.
Extreme climber and skier Andrzej Bargiel, heir to the great tradition of Polish mountaineering, had made headlines in 2018 when he became the first man in the world to ski down from the summit of K2.
In recent weeks, Andrzej, flanked by his companions. Janusz Gołąb, Maciej Sulima and Bartek Pawlikowski, wrote new chapter of his ambitious project “Hic Sunt Leones“, which aims to complete the ascent without use of supplemental oxygen and ski descent of the world’s 14 highest peaks. The project, which began in 2013, has already seen him complete the ascent and descent in record time of Shisha Pangma, Makalu, Broad Peak and, indeed, K2. This time the target was the “twin” peaks of the Gasherbrums, two of the highest peaks in the Karakoram range.
After the long approach on Pakistan’s Baltoro Glacier and the first acclimatization ascent to the 6401-meter Khosar Gang, the expedition tackled Gasherbrum II (8035 m), which Andrzej climbed and descended on skis last July 19. Ten days later it was the turn of Gasherbrum I (8080 m). After completing the night ascent from Camp 2, Andrzej reached the summit at 7:15 a.m. on July 26 and began his descent from there.
The expedition to the GI and GII represents another key step in the realization of the great dream Bargiel is pursuing, now also availing himself of the support of the best equipment made available by Ferrino, such as the Instinct backpack, which offers an ideal compromise between lightness, capacity and technicality and has already been appreciated by many steep skiers for the comfort it can offer even in the delicate stages of the descent.
“We are really happy for this new and beautiful adventure of Andrzej and his companions,” comments Anna Ferrino, CEO of Ferrino – His is an ambitious and innovative project, worthy of the great mountaineering school in which he grew up and with which our company has had the honor of collaborating since the 1990s, together with Krzystof Wielicki, then on the 2017, 2018 and 2020 Polish expeditions to K2. Collaborating with the world’s best climbers on feats of this caliber represents an opportunity for us to test our products in the most extreme conditions, gaining confirmation, but also new stimuli and suggestions for the constant improvement of performance and quality standards, at the service of all mountain enthusiasts“.
