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 after 10h 59mn 59s. He then unfolds his sail. And sets off. “I put years of experience to good use on that day, combining high-altitude speed mountaineering and paragliding. Once again, I experienced indescribable sensations and emotions that day,” he explained.
After Frenchamn Jean-Marc Boivin’s first paragliding descent of Everest in 1988, it was once again a Frenchman, Benjamin Védrines, who made the first paragliding flight of K2. Thirty minutes after taking off, he was at K2 base camp! A historic thirty-minute flight, the fastest K2 descent of all time.
Adding a record time and a record descent is right in line with what Benjamin achieved on Broad Peak two years ago. A feat, because in addition to the extreme fatigue of a one-shot ascent, the concentration required to fly in these conditions is also a real achievement, at an altitude where no paraglider has ever ventured, with the exception of Antoine Girard, who set off from the valley in 2021 and flew over Broad Peak, at over 8400 meters. Védrines also recorded the highest paragliding flight ever achieved.
Benjamin Védrines prepares for his flight from the summit of K2. ©Coll. Védrines
The joy of this exceptional flight. ©Coll. Védrines
For his part, Jean-Yves “Blutch” Fredriksen recounts. “Sunday, the 28th of July, 1:30 pm. It must be barely 5 minutes since I reached the summit, and I’m already ready to take off. I finally realize that the wind is nil, zero, zilch, nibble! A gust of wind finally takes me over. I don’t hesitate for a second. My movements are precise and meticulous. In a quarter of a second I’m up and running down the slope. I take off just before the hole. I’m not out of breath and hastily remove my gloves to turn my camera back on. All I have to do is open my eyes wide, soak up the flight and the sick landscape I’ll only see once in my life. I feel immensely free.“
Twenty minutes later, Blutch lands not at the BC but next to his tent at 6600 meters. He has to bring his gear back down. But it won’t be by air. “After packing up my bivouac, the 25-kilo backpack cutting into my shoulders and a downward breeze prevented me from taking off again. For one last night, I have K2 all to myself.“
Blutch and his mythical flight to K2 ©Coll. JY Fredriksen
Blutch and his mythical flight to K2, in front of the Bottle Neck ©Coll. JY Fredriksen
First tandem flight from K2
Zeb Roche made the first tandem flight on Everest with Claire Bernier. That was in 2001. Twenty-three years later, he and Liv Sansoz formed a roped party for K2, with the aim of paragliding, in tandem of course, as Liv Sansoz herself is an experienced pilot.
Until now, no paraglider has ever taken off in tandem from the summit of one of the world’s highest peaks, the K2, at 8,611m. Liv and Zeb sign here the first tandem flight from K2. The icing on the cake of a fine ascent: Liv became the second French woman to climb K2 without oxygen, more than thirty years after mountaineer Chantal Mauduit.
The choice of a tandem takeoff meant that, at this altitude of 8,611m, they could take off at the same time, so as not to risk leaving the partner alone, as any takeoff is unpredictable. Rope party spirit to the end: with Liv carrying the two-seater to the summit, Zeb had the task of successfully completing this first take-off, a tandem feat.
“This expedition has been a success beyond my dreams, I’m still weightless…” confided Zeb Roche on his return to France last week. “We still can’t believe it, added Liv Sansoz. It was crazy up there! The higher we went, the harder it got, but the more certain we were that we were going to make it. Our bodies weren’t responding normally, but we were hyper lucid. When our feet left the ground, it was literally a moment of grace!”
The K2 take-off, a tandem feat
Tandem take-off from K2 for Liv and Zeb ©Coll. Liv Sansoz/Zeb Roche
Mythical tandem flight with the K2 on the background for Liv and Zeb. ©Coll. Zeb Roche/Liv Sansoz