South African adventurer Pierre Carter is officially the first man to ever paraglider off Everest with permission, ticking off his 6th of 7 summits and flights goal.
South Africa (15 June 2022) – Pierre Carter, 55 years old, has dedicated the last few years of his life to completing an adventure of a lifetime – seven summits and seven flights. His goal has been to climb to the summit of the seven highest mountains, one on each continent, and then paraglide off the mountain back down to where he started.
Pierre started paragliding in 1988 and loved it. He started formulating a plan to paraglide off some of the highest mountains in the world but really set the plan in motion in 1998, and by 2000, he was on his way to summiting both Elbrus and Aconcagua. Pierre realised there was something to his idea and decided to give the expedition a real try.
He put together a team and started working towards completing a summit and flight on each of his seven chosen mountains. He even went back to Elbrus and Aconcagua so they could properly document his summit and flights. His list includes nine mountains so far, two of which he has been unsuccessful in climbing or flying and one he plans to climb in 2023.
So far, he has summited or attempted to and flown the following:
- Aconagua in Argentia – Completed in 2005, 2007 and 2011.
- Denali in Alaska – Completed in 2016 (Prohibited from flying off).
- Kilimanjaro in Tanzania – Completed in 2011, 2017, 2018 and 2019.
- Elbrus in Russia – Completed in 2005 and 2010.
- Carstens Pyramid in Iranian Jaya- Completed in 2018.
- Mount Kosciusko in Australia – Completed in 2018.
- Mount Cook in New Zealand – Attempted in 2018.
- Mount Everest in Nepal – Completed in 2022.
- Mount Vinson in Antarctica – To be done in 2023.
Pierre has been successful in his attempt to summit and paraglide off of Mount Everest. This makes him the first man to ever do so (legally), and the 4th man to have done it overall.
Pierre was successfully issued a permit by the Nepali Government to glide from the top. This meant he could take the leap towards achieving his “7 Summits 7 Flights” goal. He set off on this massive adventure in early May. Beating weather and a viral infection, he made his way back to the base camp on the 15th of May 2022.
Now he can start making his plans for Mount Vinson in 2023.
by 