K2 films play at Kendal Mountain Festival
"It's the most magical flight of our life."
24 November, 2025, by Tarquin CooperTwo of the three flights from the summit of K2 in summer 2024 were the headline paragliding films to play at this year’s Kendal Mountain Festival. Zeb Roche, Liv Sansov and Benjamin Védrines were all in attendance, sharing the inside story of their very different – and equally remarkable journeys.
“It was the most magical flight of our lives,” Liv told Cross Country after the screening. “The flight was crazy. You have to imagine you are extremely high on the mountains and K2 has no mountains close by. It’s almost like you’re in space you are so high.”
Zeb also revealed that he couldn’t enjoy the moment on the summit as he switched to “pilot mode”.
“You know that the conditions can switch in seconds. I had to analyse the shape of the summit to see how I can put up the glider, where is the wind, what are the obstacles.”
The first attempt to bring the tandem up failed and it ended up at their feet – which was tricky given they were connected, wearing crampons and every step required herculean energy. Luckily another climber appeared who held the wing for wing for them.
The footage of their launch is one of the film’s highlights but Liv revealed it nearly didn’t come out as she’d put the Insta360 in a pocket with an energy gel which spilt its contents over one of the lenses – fortunately not the one they needed. “Reliving the adventure a year on still gives a lot of emotion,” Zeb added.
Chasing Shadows meanwhile is the story of Benjamin’s lightning speed ascent, and descent by paraglider of K2 – which he summited, without supplementary oxygen in 10h 59m. Benjamin is more elite alpinist than pilot, using a wing merely as a tool to get off the mountain quickly. One of the most visually spectacular moments of the film is his launch, which amazingly was captured by drone. Equally eye-opening for pilots was a terrifying-to-watch failed launch in the midst of a white out lower down the mountain during acclimatisation.
In the film, he also reveals some of the deep soul searching that he experienced afterwards. Far from feeling elated after landing, he felt only shame and disgust at having vanquished his dream. The feeling only left after he went back up the mountain to rescue an injured Italian climber.
“We are in a world where it’s very macho and sometimes we are not very open to share our emotions. On social media when you see someone go fast (and they’re described) as a kind of machine. But I’m not a machine at all. I have some fear, some weaknesses and it’s very important to share,” he told the audience afterwards.
K2 Mon Amour is available to watch via the Kendal Mountain Festival player. A subscription is required. Chasing Shadows is currently only available to watch via select theatrical venues and film festivals.
Established in 1980, Kendal Mountain Festival is an annual gathering in the English Lake District that celebrates all aspects of outdoor and adventure culture. During the four-day festival over 150 films were screened with hundreds of talks, events and workshops. It was mostly wet over the weekend. However, on Friday morning the weather was clear and cold, allowing some pilots to get in a glorious hike-and-fly (main photo).
The full story of the three flights from K2 last summer can be read here.
