Climbers Liv Sansoz and Bertrand Roche climbed the second highest peak in the world before descending it in a two-seater paraglider. A feat that they detail for “”.
They achieved a first. Climbing K2 on July 28, then flying in a tandem paraglider. The mountaineers Liv Sansoz (47 years old) and Bertrand Roche, a high mountain guide (alias Zeb, 51 years old), a paragliding specialist, were guests of honor at the Icarus Cup (1). They tell this first without oxygen. As a couple, which is not insignificant.
Bertrand Roche explains: “We love being together, and I don’t have a bad temperament, rather a calm temperament. We directed our energy towards the success of the project. Quiet in the tent, focused on the effort. When we returned, our friends were worried about our understanding. But no, there was no need.”
Liv Sansoz is a specialist in pure climbing, mainly rock climbing. “We’re not going to be good in the same areas, continues Bertrand Roche. We go by feeling. We know how to read the sky. I have been paragliding for forty years. I look at the snow flying, the shape of certain clouds… We have weather information of course, but we will confirm it on the ground. Going there is still our choice.”
The guide continues: “Once you’re up there, you can’t stay up there too long. Two days up there is complicated… 8,611 meters at the summit! You have to know how to make the right decisions, because you’re not in your right mind (with the lack of oxygen, editor’s note). While climbing, we checked if the other person was feeling okay, to avoid ending up like zombies, not knowing what to do.” Comments confirmed by Liv Sansoz: “You have to train yourself to stay lucid and quick at altitude, because you can start to hallucinate.”
Were they afraid? Bertrand Roche: “With the habit and the number of expeditions we have done, we have a somewhat automatic fear management. In reality, we were afraid before. Once on the ground, we are in an environment that we know perfectly. We do not know everything, but we have fun.” Liv Sansoz: “We could have doubts about the most delicate passage (under the “bottleneck”, a huge serac responsible for dozens of deaths along the southeastern spur, known as the Abruzzi Passage). When we arrived, it was beautiful. That reassured us, because we saw that it looked very compact.
The difficulties? “It’s very cold at night, around minus twenty degrees. At 8,300 meters, you feel like you’re in slow motion. You talk as if you’re drunk. You feel big temporal distortions, you think you’re resting for five minutes. And, finally, you realize that forty minutes have passed. On the way down, you feel really good, you regain energy. (from 8,600 to 5,000 meters). Great memories! We enjoy the landscape, the view. We go from crawling to bird. We find ourselves up there, disconnected from the earth. The vision of the mountain behind us is extraordinary.”
The sail is livelier because the air is thinner and you have to have the most precise gesture possible. Besides, there is no plan B. “No emergency parachute, explains Bertrand Roche. So, we must not fail. Hallucinations, without oxygen, are possible. For us, it is a choice. When you are a mountaineer, there is no point in taking oxygen. It is also respecting a certain ethic. Doing it honestly.”
What’s next? “We haven’t finished landing from this project, we have to digest this one. We are still experiencing such strong emotions.»
(1) The world’s largest air sports event, which has been held since Saturday and until Tuesday in Saint-Hilaire-du-Touvet and Lumbin in Grésivaudan. They screened a short extract from their documentary, which is currently being edited.
Source: www.liberation.fr
