On the eastern borders of Nepal, on the icy and dizzying north face of Jannu Est (7,468 meters) on which they opened a route called “Summit of the Piles”, in mid-October, French mountaineers Nicolas Jean and Benjamin Védrines were not entirely alone. Like a guardian angel, videographer Thibaut Marot’s drone buzzed alongside them during the three days of ascent, doubling their athletic performance with a technological feat.
Sometimes less than two meters from the pair, the mechanical eye of the 900 grams and 70 centimeters machine captured without sound the body language of this extreme achievement. « We never used the radio to confirm that everything was okay, except in the evening at the bivouac because it could not fly at night »traces Benjamin Védrines. Jerky gestures, body spasms… From the base camp, at an altitude of 4,700 meters, the videographer and the Nepalese staff – a sirdar (expedition leader), a cook and his two assistants – « experienced the emotion liveconfesses Thibaut Marot. We all cried ». His rare images, which will become a film, will probably have the same effect on spectators.
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