We love a good challenge. In fact, we make sure we are setting goals and crushing those goals on the regular. But some goals are huge challenges and take complete dedication and focus.
Enter three friends who set out to accomplish something none of them had done before. It started in the Fall of 2016 when two paragliding pilots from England, Rhys Fisher and Mark Baldwin, ventured south to
Pyrenees. They set out for fun with one last hike and fly trip of the season through this range of mountains between France and Spain.
This year, along with another good friend, Fons de Leeuw, the three returned to the Pyrenees. This time with big a mission – an expedition from sea to summit, and then back to sea. The three friends attempted to cross the entire length of the range, from the Bay of Biscay to the Mediterranean, powered only by the elements and
ToeSox.
We caught up with the crew to learn more about their mission and how they prepared themselves for the experience of their lives. They called this feat:
Reaching Lost Mountain.
Tell us about Lost Mountain. Where is it? Why this mountain for you guys?
The fact that there was a mountain called Monte Peridido, which translates to lost mountain made everyone really excited. Then we checked it out on the map and it is one of the bigger mountains of the Pyrenees, tucked away at the back of a really interested valley. It is deep and the idea of flying over it was the most exciting idea of the entire trip. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until later that we discovered that mountain is in airspace and so we had to navigate around it.
What were your packing essentials? Any secret you can share for others packing for an adventure?
Paraglider, food, water,
good pair of shoes and some ToeSox! Take a solar charger. Today’s solar chargers are good enough to keep multiple members of the team fully charged!
What was the hardest part of the expedition and why?
The last 50/60km – 3 days. This section had to be made on foot as the sea got closer the mountains were further away which made flying not possible and so carrying the paraglider made less and less sense.
What is the most memorable part of the trip?
We never reached the summit, but did fly around it, which was absolutely spectacular! The first big flight was also memorable. We had been hiking over a week and were exhausted, never quite managed to be in the right place at the right time, weather wise and then good weather came. Two of us flew personal bests, which more than doubled our distance in less than 7 hours.
Why ToeSox? How did they help you?
After listening to the podcast of Steve Nash and Dean Crosby we heard that they took toe socks with them and were a lifesaver. So the search for the perfect socks for us began. We chose ToeSox because they are extremely comfortable, light and they are
available as a compression sock, which is important when on the long hikes. Apart from Rhys who suffered from blisters due to not wearing in his brand new hiking shoes, the team did not suffer from any blisters as the socks prevented this.
The experience wouldn’t be complete without the help of their media team, Josh and Alice Horwood, who filmed the expedition with GoPro and Drone. Watch their adventure on the
Adventures Unbound Facebook page.
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