Bear Grylls has never lacked towering ambition, pushing body and mind to their limit in pursuit of improbable feats of endurance.The explorer, whose first encounter with Everest was when he reached the summit only three years after breaking his back in three places, survived temperatures of -76F (-60C) and dangerously low oxygen levels to reach 29,500ft (8,991m). His achievement is almost 10,000ft higher than the previous powered paraglide record, although the record is yet to be independently verified.
Grylls and Cardozo had to wait for a weather window, when the hurricane-force winds that spin around the mountain subsided, before running into the sky. That moment arrived at 4.45am.
Grylls and his co-pilot, Gilo Cardozo, took off at 11,600ft (3,535m) from their base camp in eastern Nepal under a parachute propelled by a four-stroke, unleaded petrol engine that was strapped to his back.
With 120lb of survival kit and oxygen on their backs, and 18 months of training behind them, they soared into the freezing atmosphere at speeds of 75mph (120km/h).
At 28,000ft (8,534m) Mr Cardozo's engine stopped and he was forced down, but Mr Grylls climbed a further 1,500ft (457.2m) and looked over the mountain which almost claimed his life in 1998. "It was a very proud moment when I saw the summit again," he said. "I forgot how intimidating it can be."
Link & Image: Telegraph
Tags: Paragliding | Record | Sport | Everest
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