Ama Dablam paraglide by Stuart Holmes

Sometimes a picture speaks a thousand words. Other times it stimulates a thousand questions. This is exactly what happened when we recently came across the video of Stuart Holmes who in 2009 paraglided off the summit of one of the most beautiful mountains in the world, Ama Dablam in Nepal. How ever did he do it? What was it like flying through thin air? And what happened to the rest of his climbing gear?

A flight of these proportions certainly doesn't stem from nowhere and we set out to find out more. We discovered that 45-year-old Holmes is not only an extremely capable paraglider, but that the photographer and journalist is also an experienced mountaineer, with highlights such as his 2005 summit of Mountain Everest and a 2007 low-key expedition to unexplored eastern Tibet together with Scottish mountaineer Bruce Normand which netted them the first ascent of PK 6008 in the East Nyenchentangle Mountains. Enjoy the video and interview.


Stuart Holmes Ama Dablam paraglide


Stuart, at 6856m Ama Dablam is certainly no easy mountain to climb. Before telling us about the flight, can you take us through the ascent?
I spent 3 weeks trekking before arriving at Ama Dablam Base Camp at 4500m. We walked in from Jiri to Namche Bazaar then explored the Thame Valley, and crossing the Renjo La pass at 5200m into the Gokyo Valley before arriving at Base Camp. This meant I was fairly well acclimatised to at least 5000m at this point. On the actual climb I was working alone so travelled quite quickly. The camps were already in place as I was piggy-backing another expedition run by a friend; Tim Mosedale, who is undoubtedly the authority on the mountain. I went from Base Camp to the spectacular site of Camp 2, perched on a rocky spur at around 6000m in about 8 hours. There is only room for 4 or 5 tents here on tiny platforms with huge drops on either side. I left at 5 the next morning and climbed past Camp 3 to reach the summit around 11 a.m.

So you had little gear
Yes, I was travelling light. I had one axe, my crampons, some food and a few bits of extra clothing, that’s all. So I was able to fly down with all my own kit except for my sleeping bag which I left in Camp 2 as a gift to one of the climbing Sherpas who was very happy to carry it down.

Once on the summit you prepared for take off...
The wind was quite strong on the top but worst of all the direction was very variable as it was swirling around the NW spur of the mountain. The glider was relatively easy to control being so small but it meant take off was tricky. I waited for a calmer spell before launching which fortunately went perfectly. The shape of the mountain and the reasonably large summit area makes it a perfect take off platform.

Did you use supplementary O2? And how cold was it?
I didn’t use supplementary oxygen, I was reasonably well acclimatised and have been much higher before on previous trips so was confident in my ability to cope at this altitude. The lowest temperature was when we set off from Camp 2, it was around –15 degrees.

The air at 6000m is obviously much thinner than at 3000m. How did the actual flight go?
I had previously only flown this wing, a Gin Yak 16.5, once before as it was a new model. I was most nervous about the speed of landing at Base Camp as I am not used to landing at 4500m. After the awkward take off the flight was fantastic; smooth, beautiful and really spectacular. My descent of 2350m took exactly 10 minutes. My landing was great, it seemed like I was travelling very fast close to the ground but the wing is designed to turn speed into lift so the actual touch down felt as easy as jumping off a chair!

The glider was a new model. How does it differ from paragliders usually used in the Alps?
A Speed Wing is a smaller version of the paragliders that you see flying around the mountains in the Alps and I used a Gin Glider. They are designed to be lightweight, mine weighs 2.3 kg including harness, and are portable. These wings are used for climbing up and flying down but can also be used in stronger wind conditions. I would not have been able to fly down from Ama Dablam with a normal paraglider. There was a French team at Base Camp at the same time in 2009 who were there to fly their paragliders from the summit but could not due to the strong wind.

Was this your first flight in the Himalaya?
No, I had flown twice previously in the Himalayas; I took a glider to Everest in 2005 and had one flight from around 5000m in 1991. I have flown 3 times off the Aiguille du Midi in Chamonix. This is actually very good practice for committing mountain flying, you only get one chance to get it right. It’s something I’d love to do more of, I like travelling light and fast and having the option of a fast and easy descent is very attractive.

You've travelled extensively. Why did you choose Ama Dablam in particular?
I have trekked and climbed in the Khumbu, Everest region of Nepal many times and Ama Dablam is the most striking mountain of all. A friend (Tim Mosedale, with whom I climbed Everest from Tibet in 2005) runs guided trips to Ama Dablam every year so logistically it was easy for me to arrange. It’s a challenging mountain, a little bit technical, it’s definitely not an easy mountain, but with fantastic exposure and scenery all around. I took a paraglider to Everest in 2005 with a hope of flying from the top but the winds were always very strong so it was not possible. I have a few ideas for future mountain flights.

Does Ama Dablam have a history of gliding off the summit?
I searched the internet and found no previous flights from Ama Dablam. The local Sherpas however talk of possibly a French pilot making a descent by paraglider some years ago so my descent was probably the second ever aerial descent, it was certainly the first by Speedwing.

Last question: what do you suggest to a budding paraglider?
For me, flying from Ama Dablam came on the back of more than 20 years paragliding experience and 25 years mountaineering. I was reasonably comfortable at all stages of the expedition and felt confident in my ability to judge the conditions. I was equally prepared with enough reserves of strength and energy in the event I had to descend in the normal way. The obvious advice to anyone wanting to fly from mountains is simply to get as much climbing and flying experience in the Alps as possible.