The German professional alpinist Fabian Buhl climbed the route Ragni on Cerro Torre two days ago and then flew off the summit to the Torre glacier with his paraglider. So far, there has not been a successful paraglider start after climbing a route on Cerro Torre.
As if it wasn't enough, the Route Ragni at Cerro Torre in Patagonia "To reopen", Fabi Buhl also carried his paraglider with him. Fabi Buhl, Laura Tiefenthaler and Raphaela Haug, in collaboration with a French team, started the route as the first of the season and had to invest a lot in the ascent. Huge amounts of rime ice stood in the way of the alpinists.
Delicate start at the top of Cerro Torre
After the successful ascent and a night in the bivouac, Fabi Buhl grabbed his paraglider (AirDesign Paragliders, model Susi 3, 16m2) from his backpack and prepared for the start, which was not quite smooth, as Patagonia Vertical reports.
At the start, Fabi Buhl, that individual lines were tangled, but stopping was out of the question. Fabi was worried that he wouldn't have the courage to attempt a second takeoff and hoped the lines would untangle in mid-air. So he continued running and took off, but the lines remained tangled. After a 17-minute flight, Fabi landed on the Torre Glacier.
First flights already in the late eighties
Over 30 years ago (1988), the two alpinists Matthias and Michael Pinn started from the summit of Cerro Fitz Roy after climbing the Supercanaleta route. Four days later, the two started the Compressor Route together with Uwe Passler, but could not start from the summit due to the bad weather conditions.
A week later, they flew back to the summit in a helicopter and started their flights. Roman Tschurtschenthaler got another flight, who also flew to the summit in a helicopter.
That might interest you
+ + +
Credits: Cover picture Fabian Buhl