The Broad Peak expedition of Lukas Wörle

Our Austrian team pilot has lived in the mountains since a young age and as he grew up it was naturally that he wanted to climb ever higher mountains…

Mountaineer since childhood

Our team pilot Lukas Wörle has been passionate about mountains and outdoors since he was a child. He spends most of his time on rocks, on ice and snow and discovered recently the joy of being in the air using a paraglider to go down from the mountains. Inspired by his father, Alfred Wörle, who made two expeditions in Nepal in 1989 and 1991, he started to think of his own mountaineering project combining his passion for alpinism and paragliding.

The idea of climbing an 8000 m peak without the help of oxygen or altitude supports and then paragliding from the summit was born.

In 2022, Lukas Wörle set off on his way to Gasherbrum II (Karakoram, Himalaya). Unfortunately, in his attempt to reach the summit from Camp 2 in the midst of bad weather, Lukas had to turn back at an altitude of 7000 meters during a snowstorm.

Unexpected rescue operation at Broad Peak

With the learnings from his first expedition, it was immediately clear to Lukas that there would be another attempt in 2023. He joined the AirDesign pilots team so we can support him in his project with the light harness Le Slip and the single surface glider The New UFO.
Together with his father Alfred and his brother Vincent, Lukas Wörle this time was off for Broad Peak, 8047 meters. During his summit attempt, Lukas Wörle came across a Pakistani mountaineer who was dying at over 8000 meters.

Lukas took responsibility for the rescue and transported the man alone from over 8000 meters down to 7800 meters before an American colleague assisted with further help. This operation saved the man’s life.

On his way to the summit again

After this unexpected rescue operation that saved one man’s life, Lukas was determined to give it a go for a second attempt a week later. Alas, enormous exhaustion forced him to turn back at 7,700 meters. Nevertheless, he managed to launch with his UFO and flew back to base camp.

Lukas is now flying with the RONIN, which he is very happy about and he leaves for Pakistan on June 20th for new adventures from the highest peaks… to be continued!