Karakoram Expedition Series:
Francois camp at Ultar Sar (7388 meters)
This record-breaking flight was somewhat unexpected.
flight expedition originally planned to try to fly up 8,000 meters on Baltoro Glacier (Baltoro Glacier), breaking the 2016 Antoine GirardAtine Girard.
This flight expedition project has been planned for two years, and the most difficult part is obtaining flight permits for the Bartolo Glacier.
But no one expected that while the expedition team was still undergoing high-altitude adaptation in Karimabad, the opportunity to be caught off guard came.
Francois wrote: That day was June 6, and we only stayed in the mountains of Pakistan for a week.
The past week the expedition team has carried out mountaineering, camping, flying and skiing around Karimabad, familiarizing themselves with the surrounding environment and allowing the body to adapt to the high altitude.
Francois Camping during parachute skiing Francois Camping during parachute skiing
Francois wrote down in detail the flight. I was deeply attracted. I followed his text to search the name of each mountain he mentioned on the map, to see the direction of southeast, west and north, and to imagine the flight at that time.
Francois' flight route North ↑
Francois' narrative
(original text is French, the following is based on personal understanding - seven days)
has no specific goal, our idea is to expand our understanding of Hunsa Valley and its surrounding environment within a radius of about 150 kilometers around our hotel in Karimabad.
I brought a jar of oxygen with me, because our high-altitude adaptability training is far from over, and all outdoor enthusiasts know that nature’s gifts are often memorable. Only by believing is possible. My experience tells me not to let opportunities slip away.
My philosophy is very simple. If there is an upward airflow that can fly to 7000 meters, I cannot give up because my body has not adapted. I just need to carry an oxygen bottle to solve this problem. So I don't close any doors, you never know when the opportunity will come knocking on the door.
I have a good feeling that I announced before taking off that I will definitely break my personal height record. We even said we wanted to break the world record, but that was just a joke.
There is no real plan, but we quickly agreed to fly together: fly a few kilometers east, hit a point west, and maybe fly south for a while...I led the way, breaking my personal altitude record after 50 minutes of flight,
We chose to carry the lightest radio device (hand station) , but in flight, this caused us trouble because they were a little unreliable. When I informed the team that I was going to look back, some people didn't hear it. Then Julien found a good hot air flow, so he planned to fly over the Hunza Valley and head towards the Hispar② glacier.
Julien Dussere Flying southeast North↑
I dreamed of flying over this glacier for almost 10 years, but my hand station did not receive Julien's voice. I flew alone in the opposite direction for 30 minutes before I learned from the hand station that they did not follow me. They were 40 kilometers away from me!
Francois Flying northwest North↑
But the scenery here is also great, with endless glaciers and snow-capped mountains, any small hill is much larger than Mon Blanc , and the conditions are also good, so I decided to continue moving forward alone.
Francois Ragolski flew past the ice crack Francois Ragolski flew past the ice crack
I walked along Ultar Sar (7388m), which is the first peak in the 20-kilometer mythological peak chain. The lowest point of this peak chain is above 7000 meters. I left Batura on the right and told myself that I would be back soon. I want to try flying to the west wall of Purian Sar first, which is only 50 kilometers away, just pass through a 5,000-meter pass.
Due to the high altitude low air density , my speed is very fast, basically exceeding 60 km/h. The airflow I caught along the way made me get higher and higher. But things were not as easy as I thought. Even if I flew to 6,500 meters, I couldn't find the pass to flip over. I had no choice but to fly south with my fate and change my target to Rakaposhi (7788 meters).
From a distance, I felt that the bottom of the cloud was very low, however, when I flew closer, I found that the bottom of the cloud was rising near the top of the mountain. Soon, I saw the clouds rising almost vertically along the north wall. These clouds allow me to understand the direction and intensity of the wind. I began to believe that it was possible to fly to the top.
But how can I reach this kind of wind that is only available at high places and can only be used by sticking to mountains? I began to slow down my flight to take advantage of even a minimal rise, and the time has come to test patience.
is very slow, but it is undoubtedly rising. As it gets higher and higher, the landscape becomes more and more spectacular. Haha, my first
I have turned on my oxygen, but I have to save it. The oxygen supply is not ideal. I am a little confused and have difficulty breathing. Every time I inhaled some oxygen, I will recover some energy. Sometimes the oxygen tube falls out of my frozen nose. After a few minutes, I am about to suffocate before I realize that when I put the oxygen tube back, I feel like I am resurrected again.
I rose to
Then I decided to fly to the north wall, I had to fly along the north wall, passing an ice wall that was almost vertical that made me 5000 meters from the bottom of the valley. The wind is the northwest wind, and I didn't encounter any ascent along the way... all the way to the ridge of the east, and when I heard my Syria GPS making the first sound that indicates ascent, it felt like I was hitting a lottery! I'm soaring on Legboxi Peak! The winds at the top of the mountain will usually be stronger, what else can stop me from flying higher?
fly over Rakaposhi
Francois rides the wind on the north wall
But the ups and downs of emotions are not over yet. When I rose for hundreds of meters, the top of the mountain suddenly disappeared into a cloud and was completely covered. This was simply abominable. I was looking forward to the cloud dissipation. The magical thing is that in less than ten minutes, just as I was about to leave, the cloud disappeared.So I was able to fly to the top,
is the first time this mountain and it is also a dream come true.
Francois Before Rakaposhi Francois Before Rakaposhi
I began to imagine 8000 meters that are no longer far away. It was cold on top and I was glad I had the Racer electric heating gloves, and this new technology made every flight more enjoyable.
The wind is very strong, I am almost hovering, sometimes moving forward a few meters, and sometimes backing a little, I am a little uneasy, but I know that if the wind blows me behind the mountain, although there will be some small turbulence, I still have enough height to escape. Anyway, I'm still optimistic. A few minutes later, the clouds formed again at my feet and the peak completely disappeared. I'm surfing on the cloud of
breaks the record
followed by
world record
bang,
I told my friends that they could all hear me this time. At first, they thought I was joking, but when I saw that I insisted, they flew towards Legboxifeng and joined me. I was super excited to hear Seb, Alex and Julien in the desk. They flew along my route for a few hours and despite their hard work, they came a little late and the conditions were not very good. They continued to try over the next four days, but none of them succeeded.
Red is the trajectory of Francois that flew first, and the green is the trajectory of Julien. He also went up the west ridge of Rakaposhi, but the north wall had no rise to the east ridge, so he had to land
(Francois' flight has not ended...)
Fly over Diran
As for my side, I am very happy that I am here. My day is not over yet. I am 1,000 meters taller than Diran (7266 meters) 15 kilometers away behind me. I turned around, the wind pushed me, and flew effortlessly at 60 km/h. After 14 minutes, my wingtip touched the peak of the Dijang Peak. This may be the highest "wingtip touchdown" in history. When I was doing it, I saw the speed on GPS displaying 95 km/h!
Francois's wing tip and the Diran peak at an altitude of 7266 meters
is so amazing, I can't describe the scenery here! Alps is just a small hill next to them, with huge mountains extending in all directions, endless!
At such a moment, I decided to dedicate this flight to John Sylvester, the first legend to fly in these mountains, he died two weeks before this flight, and in the flight, even when I wrote this, my eyes were filled with tears.
(When I read this, my heart was very touched, and tears rose in my eyes again and again. When I heard the news that John Silvester③ died of a heart attack at the end of May this year, I couldn’t believe that he was only 60 years old, and I thought there would be a chance to know him in the future.I sent my timeline of the history of snow-capped mountains to my friend Michel Ferrer, editor-in-chief of Parapente+, and asked him if there was any additional information. He mentioned John Sylvester, who said he was an important figure in the Himalayan flight. He was a British pilot and mountaineer. He has been in Pakistan all year round to open new flight routes in these mountains. For adventurers such as Antoine Girard and Tom de Dorlodot, John Sylvester was a pioneer, and his flight showed that flying on these extremely high snow-capped mountains is possible. ——Seven days)
Francois Before Diran Peak Francois Before Diran Peak
In short, it is now 4:30 pm and the sun is about to set. It was getting late, so I took a detour to try Spantik (7027 meters, also known as Golden Peak), which faced a great risk, that is, I might not be able to return to civilized society at night, so I had to sleep on the glacier for a few days, walk for a few hours, and struggle in an unknown environment...Okay, I'll give it a try!
Otherwise, what's the point of bringing a tent, sleeping bag, food and mountaineering equipment?
Francois Between Diran peak and Spantik peak
Trial Spantik peak is a bit bold, but it pays off. More perfectly, I was flying to the top just the right time. The northwest wall of Spantik Peak is called a golden pillar because the sun shines on it when it sets...
Spantik's Golden Pilar Golden pillar
I am there, I can't believe it! The scenery is simply spectacular! I recall the time I spent on the map, on Google Earth, and talking to Pakistani experts!
Francoish
My flight was largely thanks to Antoine Girard, who was the promoter of our expedition and his "great fantasy" that helped us realize our dreams. Antoine has been optimistic, which is sometimes difficult to do during a global pandemic. Finally, once you get to the mountains, it is easy to forget this information.
Returning back to the wind for 40 kilometers is undoubtedly the most difficult part of the flight. This is the limit, but I did it.
Francois landed in the town of Karimabad and returned to the civilized society
I landed 100 meters away from the hotel! It was 7:00 pm when landing, I flew for 7 hours and 25 minutes, 199 kilometers, and flew over three 7,000-meter peaks, setting a new world record, 8,225 meters!
I found it hard to imagine how a flight could be so wonderful and have so many wonderful chapters. I'm often asked to describe how I feel in flight and I can't explain to you everything I see or all the emotions I feel. How do you describe it to someone who has never enjoyed what this is? ! ? I just let you imagine, and I encourage you to experience it yourself...
——François Ragolski
The above is Francois's narrative
Back to the sentence at the beginning of the article, opportunities are left to those who are prepared. It seems like some coincidence that some misunderstandings brought about this record-breaking 8,000-meter flight, but Francois was originally a world-class top pilot with absolute strength.
In an interview with cross country magazine, he said: "I am able to soar on these mountains, above these peaks, I think it's my experience in (El Hierro, one of the Canary Islands in Spain) , which made me do, and we have been doing it all the time in yero (the world's best aerobatic pilots in winter come here to train in strong northeast trade winds), and I've done it 100 times.
The series of videos he filmed with his friend Martin Schricke is humorous and funny, and it is also showing his superb skills, such as taking off and landing on the moving sports car , somersaulting in the air, answering the phone, and taking out a notebook to play flying chess with his friend and reading newspapers... He flew parachutes on the beach, shooting, playing tennis, and playing golf...
He caught the "ball" thrown by the mountains of Karakoram again and again on June 6, 2021, creating such a perfect flight!
The trajectory of this flight can be seen on the syride website: bit.ly/3k9T0zA
Note:
① See the official account article: The first Red Bull Stunt Cross Country Race Red Bull Acro Cross
② According to the Wikipedia information, Hispar Glacier is 49 kilometers long and is with Hispar The 67-kilometer-long Biafo Glacier converges on La, forming the longest glacier system in the world outside the polar region,
③John Sylvester, that is, John Silvester. Several French friends wrote this i as y
The expedition has just begun and will not be continued...
Karakoram Expedition Series:
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