In July 2016, the paraglider Antoine Girard set off on a three-week hike-and-fly tour to explore the Karakorum mountains in Pakistan— alone. From the town of Skardu, he heads for the highest peaks of the Karakorum mountain range. The Frenchman has already twice failed in his attempts to climb the 8,051-meter-high Broad Peak and then paraglide from the summit down into the valley. His new idea is not to walk to the top but to fly! He hopes that the upwinds will carry him and his chute to the summit—and possibly beyond. If he succeeds, he will set a new altitude record in paragliding, but the air is too thin between the 8,000-meter peaks, and take-offs and landings are extremely tricky. Especially when you only have one person to rely on – yourself.
