No paraglider had ever taken off from K2 until the 28th of July, a day of celebration for French himalayism. On that day, four French climbers reached the summit without oxygen. The rocket Benjamin Védrines in less than eleven hours, the couple Liv Sansoz Zeb Roche, all 3 by the normal route, and Jean-Yves Fredriksen by the voie des Basques solo. Benjamin Védrines inaugurates the first paragliding flight from the summit of K2, while Liv and Zeb sign the first tandem flight. Blutch also succeeds in paragliding from K2. A historic achievement!
The secret has been kept until now. And with good reason. Following the accident involving a paraglider on the Baltoro, the Pakistani authorities had banned all paragliding flights, despite the authorizations obtained in advance. But for the four Frenchmen who had been working on K2 for over a month, it was hard to imagine the descent – long and dangerous in any case – without a paraglider. Trained and extremely accustomed to high-mountain flying, the French did indeed paraglide down from the summit of K2, 8611 m, on the 28th of July. And as he confirmed to us today, Frenchman Benjamin Védrines is the first person to use a paraglider to descend K2. Historic!
First to the summit of the four French, Benjamin Védrines left last. The Védrines rocket took off at 0:10 am on Sunday, the 28th of July, 2024, from the advanced base camp (5350 m), after 40 days of waiting. He reached the summit