Three alpinists from Kyrgyzstan, Boris Egorov, Vladimir Murzaev, and Konstantin Yaemurd, have made the first known BASE jump from Fitz Roy in Patagonia. After climbing Royal Flush over several days while carrying their BASE gear, they jumped from the summit on Jan. 7. While no BASE jumps from Fitz Roy had been previously documented, climbers have paraglided from the peak in the past.

Despite the lack of official permission, paragliding and BASE jumping have a long history in Patagonia. The first recorded flight dates to 1988, when Matthias and Michael Pinn paraglided from the summits of Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre using rudimentary equipment. Few flights were documented over the following decades until a new generation emerged in recent years. Climbers including Pablo Pontoriero, Fabian Buhl, Mario Heller, and others have since completed “climb and fly” ascents from peaks such as Fitz Roy, Cerro Torre, Aguja Guillaumet, and Saint-Exupéry.

BASE jumping in the region began in the mid-2000s, when Dean Potter attempted a jump from Cerro Torre. Unable to find a safe exit, he instead jumped from El Mocho. In 2008, Valery Rozov climbed the first six pitches of the Compressor Route before jumping. His jump was repeated in 2020.

Royal Flush is a 1,200-metre 5.12 A0 route that was largely established in the mid-1990s by Kurt Albert, Bernd Arnold, Jörg Gerschel, and Lutz Richter. In 1998, three climbers made the first complete ascent to Fitz Roy’s summit after fixing ropes. In 2005, Tommy Caldwell and Topher Donahue freed the crux pitch, but conditions prevented a fully free ascent. In 2008, Jimmy Haden and Mike Pennings completed the first alpine-style ascent. It has since seen several ascents.

View this post on Instagram

BASE jumping and paragliding are currently considered prohibited within Los Glaciares National Park under the administration’s guiding principle that any activity not explicitly permitted is therefore forbidden.

Patagonia climber Rolando Garibotti addressed this in a 2022 post on pataclimb.com, writing, “It is necessary to justify why a human activity should be authorized. Since neither paragliding nor BASE jumping cause environmental impact, one can assume that once the issue has been studied, these activities will be authorized.”

Previous Flights

The post Climbers BASE Jump from the Summit of Fitz Roy appeared first on Gripped Magazine.