Paragliding world first
Adventurer and paraglider Tom de Dorlodot flies over K2, the second highest mountain on earth. He is the first person in the world to achieve such a paragliding feat!
Years of preparation were required for such a risky expedition. Tom de Dorlodot travelled to Pakistan on several occasions with this unprecedented goal in mind. It was a case of sixth time lucky.
Launching a paraglider towards a totally uninhabited area, on a journey of several tens of kilometres, represents a very perilous challenge. First, you have to cross the very hostile Baltoro Glacier region and then wait for favourable but often capricious updrafts. And, lastly, in these deserts of ice, Tom de Dorlodot managed to get up close to peaks of over 8,000 metres in altitude.
In addition to the meticulous preparation of the journey and a total technical mastery of this sport, good physical skills and a strong mental attitude are also required when, once in the air, you cannot return to the ground for hours.
Forced to improvise with the help of his friend Horacio Llorens in this landscape that had never before been flown over by a paraglider, the Belgian adventurer was able to fly close to mythical mountains such as the Trango Towers, the Muztagh Tower, the Broad Peak and the Gasherbrum IV. During this seven-hour flight, the paraglider from Ottignies (Walloon Brabant province) was able to reach K2 (8,611 m), the second highest mountain on the planet after Everest (8,849 m).
Congratulations to Tom de Dorlodot for this unprecedented feat in the history of this particularly eco-friendly disciple.