 Bear and Gilo then flew successfully to 8,535 meter (28,000 feet) when a fault in Gilo’s machine forced him to abort only 300 meter below the summit and he had to glide back to safety. Bear continued to ascend until, at 0933 local time, he reached 8,990 meter (29,500 feet) and was able to look down on Everest as he circled above some of the most famous peaks in the Himalayas. Then his own engine developed problems and he too had to glide back to safety but he had achieved his goal. The project will be aired by Discovery Channel and Channel 4 in a few days time.
The historic project was sponsored by GKN, a UK based engineering firm while Explore Himalaya (Nepal) was appointed as a logistic partner in conjunction with High and Wild (UK). The specially designated team from Explore Himalaya spent over six months on the various assignments required for the mission such as getting several different permits from Government's offices, handling entire arrangement during their stay in Nepal, getting whole team and their equipments to and from take off point, arranging sets of crew to cater to the mission team including their film shooting unit etc.
Besides two mission pilots there were over 20 GKN employees, who trekked on foot supported by a team of crew from Explore Himalaya to the take off point to witness the flight over world's highest mountain in presence of liaison officers appointed by Government of Nepal.
Flying Paramotor is a very new concept introduced in Nepalese tourism, now the recent success of 'Mission Everest' can be taken as a guideline to develop a new adventure tourism sport in Nepal which, we believe, would attract many adventure enthusiasts from all over the world.
Bear Grylls |
Giles (Gilo) Cardozo |
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