Gasherbrum I has its peak in the Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan.
KARAR HAIDERI/PAP/EPA

A Polish ski mountaineer has summited Gasherbrum I, the world’s 11th-highest mountain, and started his descent on skis, the climber has announced on social media.

Ski mountaineer Andrzej Bargiel wrote on social media that he had reached the peak of Gasherbrum I (8068 m above sea level) and started his descent to the base. The ascent began on July 25 at 8.00 am Polish time, and he reached the peak on July 26 at around 4.15 Polish time.

Gasherbrum I has its peak in the Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan.

Bargiel pursues his climbing goals as part of the ‘Hic Sunt Leones’ project, which has been going on for over a decade. The name comes from the Latin for “here are lions”. The sentence was used to describe hitherto unknown areas.

The first goal chosen by the ski mountaineer was the descent from the lowest of the ‘eight-thousanders’ Shishapangma (8013 m above sea level) in 2013, he managed to do it from the central peak. He has also climbed Manaslu (8156 m), Broad Peak (8047 m) and K2 (8611 m), from which he skied down.

As part of this year’s edition of the project called ‘The Gasherbrum Ski Challenge’, he climbed Gasherbrum II (8035 m above sea level) and then made his descent to the base.

Also taking part in the expedition is the climber Janusz Golab, who together with Adam Bielecki stood on the summit of Gasherbrum I during the winter of 2012.

Bargiel is also accompanied by photographer Bartek Pawlikowski and cameraman Maciej Sulima, who are documenting the entire expedition.