Huandoy Sur, 11-second descent. In 1997 Frenchmen Jérôme Blanc-Gras and Yannick Graziani made the second ascent of the French Route (800m, 5+ A2+[New Wave], Desmaison-Faivre- Ottmann-Salomon, 1976) on the overhanging, shaded south face of Huandoy Sur (6,160m)—one of the most daunting rock walls in the Cordillera Blanca. Last July, apparently dissatisfied with their 1997 style of descent, Blanc-Gras returned with his brother Christophe and Lionel Deborde, neither of whom had been to such altitude. The trio climbed the Southwest Ridge in poor conditions on July 15, taking 16 hours to the summit and requiring a forced bivy. In the morning they found an appealing perch at around 5,800m, above the steepest part of the south face, and jumped off, enjoying an 11-second fall and the first known BASE jump in the Blanca.

From Lindsay Griffin and personal communication with Jérôme Blanc-Gras