Antoine Girard Makes History with First-Ever 400km FAI Triangle
Antoine Girard has done it again. On 16 June 2026, the French pilot flew a 400.5km FAI triangle from northern Pakistan — becoming the first paraglider pilot in history to break the 400km barrier for this demanding course type.
The flight, launched from near Karimabad in the Karakoram, kept Antoine in the air for 11 hours and 32 minutes. He was flying an Ozone Zeolite 2, partnered with Veso Ovcharov who was flying a F*Race 2 in a coordinated two-ship effort.
A Route Through the Roof of the World
The triangle took Antoine across some of the planet’s most extreme flying terrain. Launching near Karimabad, he first pushed west to a turnpoint in far-western Pakistan, then swung southeast toward Gilgit, before racing back northeast to Karimabad — and then beyond, to close the triangle.
The course tracked through heavily glaciated mountain terrain where peaks soar between 6,000m and 7,000m. At his highest point Antoine was flying at 6,746m (nearly 22,000ft), with a total altitude gain of 2,455m over the course of the day.
Patience Pays Off
The flight didn’t go exactly to plan. Antoine and Veso’s speed strategy was working perfectly until heavy rain rolled in and interrupted their progress.
“I chose to wait it out and then skirt around the rain zone,” Antoine said afterward. “While this decision cost me almost an hour — leaving me to navigate weak and disorganised thermals after the storm passed — patience finally paid off. The flight concluded with the first-ever 400km triangle and a new world record in one of my favourite playgrounds!”
By the Numbers
- Distance: 400.5km FAI triangle
- Maximum speed: 90 km/h
- Average speed: 35.8 km/h
- Ceiling: 6,746m
- Total altitude gain: 2,455m
- Flight time: 11 hours 32 minutes
- Maximum climb rate: 5m/s
A Familiar Playground
Antoine is no stranger to the Karakoram. He first made global headlines on 18 July 2021, when he became the first paraglider pilot ever to fly over the summit of an 8,000m peak — soaring over Broad Peak (8,051m) in the Pakistani Himalayas.
His 400km triangle pushes the FAI triangle record significantly further. The previous mark — 358km — was set by Edouard Potel at Col de l’Izoard in the southern French Alps in August 2025. Antoine’s flight now awaits formal FAI ratification to be recognised as an official world record.
You can explore the full tracklog at Syride.
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Source: Cross Country Magazine (xcmag.com)