French Team Skis 8,034m High Gasherbrum II

A French ski teams are reported to have summited Gasherbrum II, the 13th highest mountain in the world at 8,034 metres (26,358 ft) above sea level and one of the 16 so called “8000ers” on earth, then skied back down.

The group, led by Alpine Adventure Guides, included two women, Tiphaine Duperier who works at Val d’Isère and Aurélia Lanoe, along with Boris Langenstein and Guillaume Pierrel had to wait for more than a month through bad weather before making their ascent, having arrived in the region in early June. They are then reported to have made the summit and ski descent far faster than previous attempts.

The mountain was first climbed on July 7, 1956, by an Austrian expedition and is believed to have been first skied in August 1984 by a mixed French and Swiss expedition.

Aurélia and Guillaume are returning to France but Tiphaine and Boris will attempt to climb and ski Gasherbrum I where skiing legend Sylvain Saudan made the first ski descent from an 8000m peak on July 28, 1982.

Picture top credit: Guillaume Pierrel. Below Wikipedia image of Gasherbrum II.