The two Polish climbers summited the 8,091 m mountain in the early hours of Monday, Poland's PAP news agency reported.
Ziemski and Pereira made a “fast ascent and descent, with Ziemski on skis all the time,” which allowed them “to reach Base Camp quickly and avoid the avalanche that swept away the fixed ropes,” according to the ExplorersWeb site.
Pereira stayed at the peak of Annapurna to film Ziemski’s descent on skis, before climbing down to Base Camp, the PAP news agency reported.
Polish climbers summit Annapurna 'without supplemental oxygen and Sherpa support'
Afterwards, Ziemski described the snow conditions as “mixed, rather difficult than easy.”
The two Poles climbed Annapurna without using supplemental oxygen and Sherpa support, according to news outlets.
The scaling of Annapurna is part of Ziemski and Pereira’s joint undertaking, called Mad Ski Project 2023.
Poles to tackle Dhaulagiri next
The other part of the project is to repeat the feat on another Himalayan eight-thousander, the nearby peak of Dhaulagiri, the PAP news agency reported.
Ziemski and Pereira have already flown by helicopter to Base Camp at the 8,167 m mountain, according to news reports.
In an earlier interview with PAP, Piotr Pustelnik, the head of the Polish Mountaineering Association (PZA), said that a ski descent from Dhaulagiri “should be easier” and that Ziemski and Pereira’s project “has every chance of success.”
Mount Annapurna
The world’s 10th-highest mountain, Annapurna was the first eight-thousander to be successfully climbed when a French expedition led by Maurice Herzog summited it in 1950, the PAP news agency reported.
The first winter ascent of Annapurna was made in 1987 by Polish climbers Artur Hajzer and Jerzy Kukuczka, according to the DreamWanderlust website.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, eurosport.tvn24.pl, ExplorersWeb, dreamwanderlust.com
Click on the audio player above to listen to a report by Radio Poland's Michał Owczarek.