ANTOINE GIRARD @ 8054 M

@8054 M IN PEROU...

By Antoine Girard

Ihad the chance to climb up to over 8000m in Peru on the 7th of June 2022. The strong, cold and humid wind came down from the Selva, whilst a dry, hot wind came from the Altiplano. Where these two winds met created a big confluence. My vario went up to 13m/s at about 7500m. I started to climb in a blue sky. Then a cloud of humidity was created in the lee of the confluence. I surfed the edge of the cloud from 6200m. At about 7800m, I lost control of the glider for a few seconds in extreme conditions. This loss of control put me into the cloud. Everything instantly frosted up, the lines, instruments, glasses; it was minus 35 °C! I couldn’t put on my mitts to manage my wing, and I was left wearing my little Racer summer gloves. My fingers instantly turned into pieces of wood. I was in full hypoxia as I wasn’t acclima‐tised, nor was I prepared for going so high.