Four French mountaineers and pilots are currently in Pakistan, with their sights set on climbing and flying from the summit of K2, the world’s second highest mountain at 8,611m.
They are three separate expeditions, climbing via different routes: Benjamin Vedrines, Jean-Yves Fredriksen – remember Fiddler on the Roof, published in issue 182, August 2017? and Liv Sansoz and Zebulon Roche, who will be climbing together. All of them plan to climb without the use of supplementary oxygen.
Benjamin Vedrines plans to make his ascent in a single day. His 15m² wing is a special version of the Skywalk Pace developed especially for the project – its designer, Jean-Baptise Chandelier, is a neighbour of Benjamin’s, and has been closely involved in the project all the way through. The wing was carefully optimised in size and construction for his flying weight to reduce its weight to just 925g. The video above documents his preparations.
Jean-Yves Fredriksen plans to climb the Cesen route or the Messner variant. He wrote in his blog, “The normal route is overcrowded and also exposed to rockfall. I have avoided normal routes in the Alps for 35 years, so I’m not going to follow one during my personal projects!“ He estimated the window for summiting is around three weeks from 8 July. He plans to make the most of his acclimatisation period, which is several weeks, by “climbing, paragliding and playing his violin in beautiful surroundings”.
Former world climbing champion Liv Sansoz and mountain guide Zeb Roche will climb together via the Abruzzi Route. Zeb has summited Everest, twice, and flown off on a tandem with Claire Bernier in 2001. He also flew off Everest’s South Col as a passenger on a tandem flight with his father in 1990, at the age of 17. (More on the history of flying from Everest here).
Follow their progress:
Instagram @benjaminvedrines @jeanyvesfredriksen @livsansoz @antipodeszeb
Jean-Yves Fredriksen’s blog
Liv and Zeb’s blog
