Tim Emmett In Trango Wingsuit Climb

Trango Towers in the Karakorum. Home of the highest vertical wall in the Himalayas.

Some of the team - including Tim Emmett - will use wingsuits, other conventional tracking parachute rigs.

Longstanding MHW-sponsored British climber, Tim Emmett, is taking on a big new challenge when he joins up with French climbers Liv Sansoz, Jerome Blanc-Gras and Manu Guy to attempt the highest vertical rock wall in the Himalaya before BASE-jumping from the summit using a wingsuit.

Trango Towers

The distinctive peak of Great Trango (6300m) - think Dolomite-like rock peaks transplanted to the Himalaya - in the Karakorum, boasts a 7,000-foot vertical granite face, with a well-earned reputation for hardness. The plan is for the team to climb the mountain as an unsupported foursome, hauling everything they need with them, then, once they've reached the summit, to don wingsuits or parachutes and descend to the glacier.

Although all four are experienced climbers and jumpers, only Jerome Blanc-Gras has previous experience of jumping at 6,000m before making it even more of a challenge.

'The First Time'

Emmett says; “Trango will be a big adventure, it is the first time a team has attempted this style of ascent in the Himalayas. All climbers plan to jump so everything we take for the ascent must come down with us. Our combined previous experience prepares us well for difficult task of what we’re trying to achieve.”

“There are so many potential issues for us to deal with - the weather being a major unknown, along with how much ice there could be up there. However, that’s all part of the adventure!”

The team, all sponsored by Mountain Hardwear, set off for Pakistan at the end of last week and now face a three-day truck ride along the notorious Karakorum Highway followed by a further three days trekking to reach the Baltoro Glacier and a further two weeks to climb and fly the route.

Bonkers stuff, but oddly fascinating. You can follow Tim's ongoing blog about the expedition and find loads more detailed info on the project at trangoairwall.wordpress.com.