K2 flown for the first time

Four pilots caught the ultimate weather window on K2 this year – and flew from the summit.

At 4.30pm on 28 July, a pink tandem launched from the summit of the second-highest mountain in the world. Until this day, nobody had ever flown from K2 (8,611m) but this was the third wing to fly off that day.

The pink tandem was airborne for 30 minutes. On board were Liv Sansoz and Zeb Roche, French mountain guides, who climbed together as a roped pair and without supplementary oxygen, and in the spirit of the cordée (roped team), flew down as a pair (both are experienced solo pilots). They landed at 5,400m, just “around the corner” and out of sight of base camp. 

A few hours earlier, fellow French alpinist Benjamin Védrines had landed in the same spot. He had climbed the standard Abruzzi Spur route on K2, also without supplementary oxygen, in a crazy-fast time, setting a new record of 10 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds. The previous fastest time was 23 hours, set by fellow Frenchman Benoit Chamoux in 1986. Benjamin flew down from the summit on his specially-made Skywalk...