Targeting #6 of 7Summits7Flights South African adventurer and paraglider pilot Pierre Carter aims to become the second person to climb the seven summits (the highest peak in each continent) and descend by paraglider.
Following his adventure project 7Summits7Flights, Everest will be the sixth out of seven peaks Pierre aims to champion. On his trip, he will use a NOVA DOUBLESKIN hike & fly wing.
Pierre Carter’s intrigue for paragliding soared after he experienced his first flight in 1988. “I thought paragliding was a good way to get down the mountain once you’ve reached the top,” he says. But soon, the feeling of pure, unparalleled freedom you experience when paragliding took over and has since become not only a passion but a way of life.
Since then, Pierre has competed in many international competitions, notably World competitions and Hike & Fly races such as the Red Bull X-Alps, on three occasions. A South African paraglider, Pierre has earned many podium places in the South African circuit over the years.
7Summits7Flights is one of Pierre’s ongoing ventures that ranges as far back as 1996. While he claimed the idea in the late 1990s, Pierre began his mission in 2005 with Mount Elbrus. To date, he has successfully summited and flown all but two of the highest peaks on each continent of the world.
Now, his eyes and ambitions are set on Mount Everest. Pierre says his biggest achievement will be to survive the infamous ice fall, summit the mountain, and only then, hopefully with the weather being perfect, realise one of his dreams of flying off. He says there is only a 10% or less chance that the elements will come together to make this a reality.
Pierre hopes to cruise through the Nepalese skies in mid-May. For the epic trip, he has chosen the NOVA DOUBLESKIN hike & fly paraglider. In his opinion, it is best suited for the job.
If things work out, he hopes to finish his 7Summits7Flights quest with Mt Vinson on the Antarctic continent at the end of 2022. He also hopes to visit New Zealand, which has recently been declared the 8th continent, to climb and fly off Mt Cook.