Nanga Parbat climbed, paraglided & skied by David Göttler, Tiphaine Duperier, Boris Langenstein

A year after abandoning their summit push due to unfavourable conditions, Germany's David Göttler and Frence's Tiphaine Duperier and Boris Langenstein have now completed an impressive, alpine style ascent of Nanga Parbat (8126m) via the mountains infamous Rupal Face. Compounding to the difficulties, Göttler descended the mountain by paraglider, while Duperier and Langenstein descended on skis.

Göttler’s objective was to descend by paraglider to basecamp directly from the 8126m high summit. Due to strong winds however, the alpinists were forced to descend slightly, to 7,700m, before the 43-year-old could successfully launch his glider. There are no records of anyone attempting to paraglide from this altitude on Nanga Parbat, previously.  Following Göttlers descent, Duperier and Langenstein spent a night at 7625m, before descending by ski and on foot, over the subsequent 3 days.

The Rupal Face is a massive, nearly 4,600-meter high rock and ice wall on the southern side of Nanga Parbat, considered to be the tallest mountain face on earth. The trio climbed without supplementary oxygen, fixed lines or support from porters, via the Schell Route, named after Austrian Hanns Schell who first climbed the line in 1976 together with Siegfried Gimpel, Robert Schauer and Hilmar Sturm. According to available records, this route along the fierce left part of the Rupal flank has been climbed a total of 8 times, with the last ascent being made in 2013. With her ascent, Duperier has become only the second woman to climb the route, after Marija Frantar of Slovenia summited with Jožet Rozman in 1990. Göttler for his part has become the first to ascend and descend the ninth-highest mountain in this manner.

Success crowns 4 previous attempts for Göttler, who made the following expeditions: a 2013/14 winter attempt with Simone Moro, a 2021/22 winter attempt with Hervé Barmasse, a 2023 summer attempt with Benjamin Védrines and the aforementioned 2024 summer attempt with Mike Arnold, Duperier and Langenstein.

Commenting after the ascent and paraglide Göttler, who summited Everest in 2022 without supplementary oxygen, stated "Definitely for me, the highlight of my career, so far. I always dreamt of climbing an 8,000m peak via a non-normal route and in alpine-style with a small team. We consider our ascent as alpine-style as we only used one 50m rope, some pitons and camelots. We had one tent for the three of us, 1 stove, mattress and sleeping bag and food and gas we carried all by ourselves.

We did make one trip, prior to the summit push to make a gear deposit and assess the conditions, up to 6000m. This two- day rotation was made immediately following our arrival at BC, on the 13th and 14th of June. Before arriving at the Rupal Face of Nanga Parbat, the three of us acclimatized by climbing Island Peak (6,165m) and Baruntse (7,129m) in Nepal.

The cherry on top was the flight down, which was once in a lifetime experience. On top, reflecting on the bold accomplishment of the 4 Austrian climbers who opened this route in 1976 makes the whole experience even more special.

The many attempts I needed, over the years, to finally succeed in ascending and descending this incredible
mountain in this style, makes me very proud. Nowadays everybody wants everything instantly and is not
willing to dedicate a significant amount of time to achieve a lifetime dream. I hope to showcase that it’s
worth it."

ASCENT TIMELINE
21/06/2025: Climbed from Base Camp (3600m) to 6000m
22/06/2025: 6000m to 6800m
23/06/2025: 6800m to 7400m
24/06/2025: 7400m to summit of Nanga Parbat, 8126m and back to 7700m. From here Göttler took off
with his paraglider and flew back to BC. Duperier and Langenstein bivy at 7625m with a tent, stove and
mattress. They skied/climbed down from the summit to the bivy.
25/06/2025: Duperier and Langenstein climb/ski from 7625m to 7400m
26/06/2025: Duperier and Langenstein ski from 7400m to 6000m
27/06/2025: Duperier and Langenstein climb/ski down from 6000m to BC