List of ski descents of eight-thousanders

This is a list of ski descents of eight-thousanders (which are the 14 highest peaks in the world that are over in elevation). Such feats are part of the sport of ski mountaineering, and also related to the sport of extreme skiing. The first descents can be traced to the 1970s.

Notable firsts

1970: Yuichiro Miura (Japan) made the first ski tracks above 8000m in preparation for his schuss from the south col of Everest for the film The Man Who Skied Down Everest. Yves Morin† (France) was the first to ski down an 8000m peak which he did on Annapurna in 1979 and over the course of the expedition skied all segments of the descent. However, he died while descending from the summit. 1988: Veronique Perillat (France) became the first woman to ski from the top of an eight-thousander and the first woman to ski from over 8000 meters, skiing off the top of Cho Oyu on a monoski. 2000: Davo Karničar† (Slovenia) completed the first top-to-bottom (base camp) descent of Everest (South Col route) without removing his skis. However, he benefited from O2 use. 1996: Hans Kammerlander (Italy) skied the top 300 meters of Everest but climbed down to 7700m before skiing to Advance Base Camp. Kammerlander skied the North Col route. 2006: Kit DesLauriers (United States) is the first woman to ski from the top of Everest. 2018: Andrzej Bargiel (Poland) completed the first top-to-bottom (base camp) descent of K2 (a combination of the normal route, Basque route, Messner's variant to the Polish route) without removing his skis. 2025: Andrzej Bargiel (Poland) First person in history to climb and ski from the summit of Everest without bottled oxygen.

List by eight-thousander

Mount Everest NEPAL/TIBET - 8850 meters

Skier Name Nationality Date Start Altitude (meters) Descent Route Notes O2 Age Hans Kammerlander Italy19968848N. faceFirst 300m from summit, then 1,000m by foot, then skied entire remaining route to Advanced Base Camp (ABC). No39 Davo Karničar† Slovenia20008848S. col1st Summit (8,848 meters) to Base Camp (5,380 meters) ski descent by the South Col route, with oxygen, without removing skis (a total vertical drop of 3,488 meters/11,443 Feet) in 4h:40min. Completion of this route required skiing the Hillary Step, the Lhotse Face, and the Khumbu Ice Fall. Yes37Marco Siffredi†France20018848Norton Couloir1st descent of mountain by snowboard (summit to ABC with no rappel)Yes22Stefan GattAustria20018848Norton CouloirSnowboard descent was interrupted, complete only from 8848m-8630m and 7600m-6500m due to lack of snow, and had to stop before ABC, thus crediting first complete descent to Siffredi the day after.No30 Kit DesLauriers United States20068848S. col1st woman to ski off summit (making her also the first woman to ski from the Seven Summits). Switched to crampons in Hillary Step due to low oxygen. Spent night at South Col (Camp IV, ~7,900 meters), skied Lhotse Face to Camp II (6,400 meters), then during same day to Base Camp using a combination of skis and crampons. Yes36 Jimmy Chin United States20068848S. PillarSkied from Summit; abseiled (rappelled) Hillary Step with skis on; skied from bottom of Hillary Step to South Summit; skied the South Pillar route which is the fall line from Camp 4; spent night at Camp IV (7,900 meters; skied Lhotse Face to Advanced Base Camp (ABC) Yes33 Rob Deslauriers United States20068848S. colabseiled Hillary Step with skis on; hiked to South Col; spent night at 7,800 meters; skied Lhotse Face to Advanced Base Camp (ABC) Yes41 Olof Sundstrom Sweden20068848N. ridgeto Advanced Base Camp (ABC, 6,400 meters), removed skis for several sections Yes25 Martin Letzer Sweden20068848N. ridgeto ABC (6400), removed skis for several sections Yes25 Tormod Granheim Norway20068848Nortonto 8,800; 87,50 to 8,500; 8,480 to 7,100, camped overnight; to 6,500m Yes31 Tomas Olsson† Sweden20068848Nortondied from fall at 8500 Yes30 France19928760S. colto c2. world altitude record at time Yes28 Dominique Perret Switzerland1996?8300N. faceHornblein couloir, n. face No34† France19788200S. colto 6200 "not in one smooth run" Yes25 Nicolas Jaeger† France19788200S. colto 6200 "not in one smooth run" Yes31 Reinhard Patschneider Italy19878200lhotse face from S. colfell dislocated shoulder Yes30 Brice Lequertier France20038200S. colto 6100 26 Yuichiro Miura Japan19708082S. col5-6 turns to S. Col, then wore parachute in schuss to ~6200, ended with fall Yes37Petr Machold†Hungary20037600N Col-NE RidgeSnowboard descent hampered by lack of snow, preventing descent of the entire route, which aimed to be the first snowboard descent from the Tibetan sideNo30 Andrzej Bargiel Poland 2025 8848 S. col 1st summit-to-Base Camp ski descent without supplemental oxygen. Skied from the summit to Camp II via the South Col on Sept 22, then continued to Base Camp on Sept 23 No 37

K2 PAKISTAN - 8611 meters Skier Name Nationality Date Start Altitude (meters) Descent Route Notes O2 AgeFederico SecchiItaly20248611Abruzzisummiteer; skied top 300m, climbed rest of route due to conditions and pitch No32Andrzej BargielPoland20188611The combination of the normal route (Abruzzi), then Basque route to camp 3, then traverse via Messner's variant to the Polish route and ski down to BCsummiteer; 1st summit to bc ski descent without removing skisNo30 Hans KammerlanderItaly20018611Abruzzisummiteer; skied top 400m, climbed rest of route due to conditions and pitch No44 David WatsonUnited States20098351Abruzzidid not summit; skied to c3 (7351), downclimbed pyramid and chimney, skied 6400 to 5100 Yes34 Fredrik Ericsson†Sweden20107800Cesen/Basque Routedid not summit; skied to BC (5100 m); died in the attempt to reach the summitNo35Luis Stitzinger†Germany20118050Cesen/Basque Route to C3, traverse to Kukuczka Route, down to BCdid not summit; skied Kukuczka Route to BC (5100 m); longest ski descent up to dateNo39

Kangchenjunga NEPAL - 8586 meters

Bartek Ziemski NO O2 Skied from summit

No ski descents from above 8000 meters

Lhotse NEPAL - 8516 meters Skier Name Nationality Date Start Altitude (meters) Descent Route Notes O2 Age Jamie LaidlawUnited States20078300Faceto 6400 at night Yes27 Hilaree Nelson†United States20188516Dream Linesummiteer; 1st summit to bc ski descent Yes Jim MorrisonUnited States20188516Dream Linesummiteer; 1st summit to bc ski descent Yes Bartek ZiemskiPoland20268516unknownsummiteer; 1st summit of 2026 No31

Makalu NEPAL - 8466

Skier Name Nationality Date Start Altitude (Meters) Descent Route Notes O2 Age Adrian Ballinger United States 2022 8451 NW Ridge First summit to crampon point ski descent. Started Ski descent from 15m below summit due to crowds on the summit. Abseiled without skis for 60m in the French Couloir due to pure rock section around 8,077m. Skied NW Ridge before abseiling with skis on from 7100m to 6900m due to steep rock/ice section. Descended the remaining 1000m to crampon point using fixed lines sparingly as hand line. Finished the descent to ABC on foot. Yes 46Bartek ZiemskiPoland20248466Partial ski descent, had to step out of skis on French Couloir, and skied down to 6000m, where the snow endedNo29

Cho Oyu NEPAL - 8188 meters Skier Name Nationality Date Start Altitude (meters) Descent Route Notes O2 Age Veronique PerillatFrance19888188NW sidemonoski, first woman from 8000mNo26 Adrian BallingerUnited States20138188NW sidecontinuous to C1, no snow below C1; 10m roped skiing at icecliff Yes37 Sergey BaranovRussia20138188NW sidecontinuous to C1, no snow below C1; 10m roped skiing at icecliff Yes44 Halvard StaveNorway20018188NW sideto rock band at 7800; c3 to c2; fell 300m but ok Yes25 Thierry RenardFrance19878188NW sideto 6200 - descent disputed No41 Russell Reginald BriceNew Zealand19968188W. ridge -W. faceto 7500 Yes44Stefan GattAustria19998100mNW sideSnowboard descent from start of slope of summit plateau to rock ridge, walked 30m with the board board 8000m to C3 (7450m); next day Gatt snowboarded from C3 to 6800m.No28Marco Siffredi†France20008188NW sideSnowboard descent to 6400mYes21Bertrand DelapierreFrance20008188NW sideSnowboard descent to 6400mNo24 Hajime TerayamaJapan20008188NW sideto 7400 Yes33 Laura BakosUnited States20008188NW sideto 6600 w/ overnight at camp 3 No32 Vladimir SmrzSwitzerland20008188NW sideto c2, removed skis at yellow band No35 Vladislav Terzyul†Ukraine20008188NW sideto c2; side stepped certain rock bands No47Laura BakosUnited States20008188NW SideSkied from summit to 6600mNo32 Viki GroseljSlovenia20018188NW sidetop to c1, overnight at c2; no snow below c1 No49 Kristoffer EricksonUnited States20018188NW sideto c3(7500) Yes28 Kazuka HiraideJapan20018188NW sideto c3(7500) No22Kristoffer EriksonUnited States20028118NW side Thomas LaemmleGermany20038188NW sideto rock band 7800; 7600 to serac (6800); 6750 to snow end (6000) No37 Wilhemus PasquierSwitzerland20038188NW sideto C1 (6400) No54 Greg NieuwenhuysNetherlands20048188NW sideto 8000, overnight at c3 (7500), ski c3/c2 and 6750/6400 No24 Takashi NizayamaJapan20048188NW sideskinned up from 8000; skied from summit to 8000 Yes43 Tomas Olsson†Sweden20048188NW sidecontinuous to c1 (6400) No28 Tormod GranheimNorway20048188NW sidecontinuous to c1 (6400) No30 Martin Walter SchmidtNew Zealand20048188NW sidecontinuous to c1 (6400) No44 Todd Cavell WindleNew Zealand20048188NW sideto 7800 Yes30 Jean Noel Urban†France20058188NW sidecontinuous to c2(6750) No45 Kasha Rigby†United States20058188NW sideto abc (5700) with overnight at c2; 1st telemark descent Yes35 Hilaree Nelson† United States20058188NW sideto abc with overnight at c2 Yes32 Kenton Edward CoolGreat Britain20068188NW Sideto abc (abseiled icefall c2-c1) Yes33 Dusan DebelakSlovenia20068188NW sideto c2 (6750) No40 Octavio DeFazioArgentina20068188NW sideto c1 (6400) (except 10m ice cliff) Yes36 Martina PalmSwitzerland20068188NW sideto c1 (6400) (except 10m ice cliff) Yes32 Steve MaroltUnited States20078188NW sideto c1 (6600) No42 Medhi DidaultFrance20078188NW sideto c1 (6600) No22 Tyler JohnsonUnited States20078188NW sideto abc (5700) with overnight at c2 No31 Rory StarkUnited States20078188NWsideto abc (5700) with overnight at c2 No36 James GileUnited States20078150NW sideto c1(6600) No43 Michael AasheimUnited States20058100NW Sideskied to abc (5700) (thru icefall) No43 Daniel McCannUnited States20058100NW sideskied to abc (5700) (thru icefall) No43 Mike MaroltUnited States20078100NW sideto c1 (6600) No42 Fabio BeozziItaly20118100NW sideto 6000 (thru Messner Route, 1st ski descent)No37 Jose Diogo Giraldes TavaresPortugal20118050NW sideto ABC (5700) with overnight at c2 (7100) No44Brooks EntwistleUnited States20168188NW sideTo C1; No snow below C1; rappelled ice cliff and yellow bandYes49Zebulon BlaisUnited States20168188NW sideContinuous to C1; no snow below C1; roped skiing through yellow band and ice cliffYes33Emily HarringtonUnited States20168188NW sideContinuous to C1; no snow below C1; roped skiing through ice cliffYes30Adrian BallingerGreat Britain 20168188NW sideContinuous to C1; no snow below C1; roped skiing through ice cliffYes40Aleksander Ostrowski†Poland20158188NW sideTo C2, removed skis, packed a tent and then to C1 on skisNo26Caroline GleichUnited States20188188NW sideTo C1: rappelled yellow band and ice cliffYes32

Dhaulagiri NEPAL - 8167 meters Skier Name Nationality Date Start Altitude (meters) Descent Route Notes O2 Age David FojtikCzech Republic20098147NE Ridge20m below summit couloir to 30m above C3 (7200);C2 (6700) to BC (4700) No36Bartek ZiemskiPoland20238167NE RidgeZiemski skied down the West Couloir all the way to base camp, but took off his skis briefly at C3 to wait for his team members and at C2 to pack up his tent.No28

Manaslu NEPAL - 8163 meters