Francois Bon speedrides Aconcagua
Eleven days up, less than five minutes down. Francois Bon goes HUGE in South America
‘Let’s go!’ … Francois Bon flies his speed wing down South America’s highest mountain
Francois Bon, Gin Gliders’ speedriding test pilot, has just taken the sport to a new level. The French speedriding aficionado, who made the first descent of the North Wall of the Eiger and has been a driving force in many of the major landmark descents in the sport, spent eleven days climbing Aconcagua, the highest mountain outside of the Himalayas.
Launching from the summit at 6,962 metres Francois rode the immense 3,000 m high south face of the mountain in a ripping four minutes and 50 seconds.
Aconcagua descent, the route. Photo: acro-base.com
“At that altitude you go really fast! I just fell out of the sky and past the rock walls. It was incredible!â€
Francois’ descent marks a new direction for the sport of speedriding. It takes the use of skis and speedriding wings away from the relative banality and safety of ski resorts to the treacherous, yet intoxicating world of high-altitude mountaineering.
With the sport at such a fledgling age coupled with the balls of pioneers like Bon the inevitable questions are going to be raised – how long till we see the first descents of K2 or Everest?
Full report and interview in Cross Country as soon as we can track down Francois.
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