Andrzej Bargiel // Snow Leopard
Expedition Goal
Andrzej Bargiel's expedition aimed to achieve the Snow Leopard Award. It is a mountaineering badge awarded for summiting five seven-thousanders in the former USSR territory. Method - ski mountaineering: approaching, climbing, and skiing down from each peak. Time Record - breaking the previous record by at least 12 days (the previous record for summiting all peaks was set by Denis Urubko - 42 days in 1999).
Preparations for the Expedition
The preparations for the expedition lasted from the end of April 2016 until the departure of the ground team on June 23rd (6 people), the air team on June 29th (5 people), and July 1st (2 people).
In addition to the logistics of the expedition, organizing it, preparing mountaineering and filming equipment, many photos were taken during the pre-departure period in Warsaw, Zakopane, and Bielsko-Biała. Numerous meetings and interviews with people from Andrzej Bargiel's circle also took place during this time. Andrzej Bargiel himself was very focused on training during this period, so managing the athlete's time between his training, preparations, and the photo series was a significant challenge for the team.
On May 21st-22nd, four people (Andrzej Bargiel, Darek Załuski, Producer, and Director) traveled to Bishkek for documentation and a meeting with the local mountaineering agency Ak-Sai Travel, which was responsible for organizing the base camps under each peak and assisting with logistical matters.
A significant amount of filming and mountaineering equipment had to be transported by land. In the end, six team members traveled to Kyrgyzstan through Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, and Kazakhstan in two cars, meeting the rest of the team in Bishkek. This involved various formalities, such as obtaining visas and international driving licenses. Film accreditations and all necessary permits were also arranged with the ministries in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
During the preparatory phase, medical examinations and consultations for the team members were also conducted.
Expedition Team
- Andrzej Bargiel
- Tomek Gaj - producer
- Marek Dawid - director and cinematographer
- Dariusz Załuski - mountaineer
- Kuba Poburka - technical support, paraglider
- Marcin Kin - photographer
- Piotr Snopczyński - mountaineer
- Bartek Bargiel - drone operator
- Michał Popiel-Machnicki - cinematographer
- Robert Domański - responsible for photography equipment
- Tomek WoĹşniczka - camera operator (was with the team during the acclimatization stage and the first summit - Lenin Peak)
- Piotr Pawlus - camera operator
- Konrad Galan - production coordinator
- Artem Braun - Russian climber who was part of the climbing team on the first three peaks
Interesting Facts about the Expedition
Andrzej Bargiel's Descents and Ski Runs: On Peak Communism, Andrzej Bargiel broke a ski while jumping over a crevasse at around 5,500 meters, and he had to descend back to the base on a single ski.
During the descent from the last and most challenging peak, Peak Pobeda, Andrzej Bargiel's ski binding released, and the ski fell into a crevasse. Due to the situation, Andrzej had to descend from an altitude of approximately 6,300 meters.
Quick decisions
Andrzej Bargiel made the decision to attempt the fourth peak in the sequence, Chan Tengri, shortly after arriving at the base because the weather window was closing.
Flight cancellations possibility
The terrorist attacks in Istanbul on the day before the team's departure and the military coup in Istanbul on the night before Piotr Pawlus's departure raised doubts about the expedition.
Search for a doctor at BC Moskvina
On the Tajik side, the base camp doctor went missing, and all the teams present at the base camp participated in the search. Bartek Bargiel (Andrzej's brother) used a drone to expand the search area.
Photo: Marcin Kin // http://marcinkin.blogspot.com