Patagonia , USA winter catalogue
This is going to buy me a brand new lens…
Patagonia USA winter catalogue
AIGUILLE DE PURTSCHELLER
I had wonderful dreams for my heat wave-clear sky-no wind- days off. Some glorious summits. 2 of my favorites rope guns are having babies . The other one is in new york (why?) and my favorite climbing partner is in the midst of his mid thirties hormonal outburst. I have to be the rope gun then.that mean not so glorious summit nevertheless awesomeness… My first idea was the high up gorgeous ridge traverse on the aiguille doree. supposedly the best red granit in the mont blanc massif. however my new favorite rope bitch: Anna (that is her name) had to be at work on friday 5 pm at MBC. I chose the neighboring aiguille de purtscheller. Shorter and beautiful , high and far from the crowd. On the book it is pretty easy. the level is nice and sweet. I underestimated the chimney which was tough, long, no pros and required a few maneuvers to get the bags thru it and our bodies. other than that , RAS: beautiful climbing on amazing rock. The walk to and from is nothing less than amazing: Walking thru alpine meadows onto vast moraines, and then walk on those big glaciers (dark holes on the way) . The bivies around the albert 1 er hut are 5 stars….Everything went smoothly aside from a huge piece of rock smashing and ricochet over Anna’s body as she was raping . Luckily her backpack protected her. (panic attack for a few seconds thu) . she scored a few scratches and she made it on time at work. (Anna chose to not bring crampons err…!^$%@…better with). i am impressed at how she took it easy on the whole trip , she is soon to become a great climber…An alpinist.
prossiutto raviolis with greenlandic whale.
sunset
the chardonnet with a shooting star (plane)
the valley
morning light
anna
3 skier’s dream . Ourea obviously created those 3 mountains for skiers
Anna being reborn
can you see the dream in the back ground? so perfect
Anna [/caption]
Anna scrambling down to the rap
-
- prossiutto raviolis with greenlandic whale.
-
- 5 star bivy
-
- sunset
-
- sunset
-
- the chardonnet with a shooting star (plane)
-
- night sky
-
- the valley
-
- morning light
-
- anna
-
- 3 skier’s dream . Ourea obviously created those 3 mountains for skiers
-
- Anna being reborn can you see the dream in the back ground? so perfect
-
- tough birthing
-
- Anna
-
- Anna posing on the summit. I am impressed at how fast she learns climbing. I am going to be her rope bitch very soon….
-
- Anna scrambling down to the rap
aiguilles rouges
to any astroman-niac climbers , the aiguilles rouges are just a pile of shiat. It is. However , this is also the best leisurely not committing- sunny side -with a view -sport climbing- alpine-cragg- in the world- that i know of. Also, a lot of the routes out there were open by Piola himself and the rock is at times surprisingly good. This round however, for my 2 days off, i had 2 goals: stay away from the crowd, get confident in placing gear without being scared of falling head first on a sharp flake . i chose to go on the tour des crochue and the aiguille de perseverance. 2 easy routes on nice looking pillars, almost un-equipped (a few 1920 charlet pitons here and there) . The route finding was fun and placing gear in grassy crack pretty entertaining. (does it work really, i dont know , i didnt fall) , but best of all, aside from a couple of chamois and marmottes , we didnt see anyone.
tour des crochues
i started with Anna on the tour des crouchues, voie escande de Galbert (1970). (right side straight up)
anna on tour des crochues
anna tour des crochues
and then with luca on perseverance , arete sud integral
luca pandolfi on perseverance
luca on perseverance
luca
a beer at lac blanc refuge
aiguille d’entreve
We wanted to climb the west face of the aiguille d’entreve but upon our arrival we realized it was more due North and being pretty cold and cloudy that day we opted for the leisurely traverse. Me and Pete had never being on it before and it was a nice surprise. It is a very esthetic ridge walk, very exposed. The surrounding being the Italian side of the mont blanc massif , it is obviously wild and beautiful …I highly recommend that traverse over the cosmique ridge on busy summer days…
thor husted , pete gaston
le ticket le rond le carre et la lune. aiguille du peigne.
If the words : slabs, traverse, roof are frightening to you. beyond reason: you should go there. It will be fun. 250 meter of slabs. open by Piola. and if it is too easy add some wet-ness into the equation . The rock is so good that if you can give it up, if you can balance your all life on that one little coffee spoon dish or crystal or what ever they call a hold then you will realize it is holding you and start to commit to the next move. and again and again and again …Of course i did not lead anything and i was cussing and puffing. i had fun. My next step is to find a tarantula and lick her ass.
Ben briggs getting ready
ben briggs stepping over the first roof.
what is supposed to be a hold
vision of hell
Thor husted sending it.
Thor husted
thor husted
thor husted.
god
-
- ben briggs stepping over the first roof.
-
- what is supposed to be a hold
-
- vision of hell
-
- Thor husted sending it.
-
- Thor husted
-
- thor husted
-
- god
-
- thor husted.
-
- Ben briggs getting ready
wandering and lurking
That is all my job and the weather are allowing me to do these days. the patterns are as follow: days off= unsettled weather. work days=sunny and warm. I watched 3 seasons of “breaking bad” which I highly recommend. I drunk a few bottles of red wine. got fat , unfit and lazy. I went on nice short walks-climbs and witnessed radical climbing at the world cup, the chamois habitat, clouds and mountains, dog fight. I also took a co-worker on the cosmic ridge….
A nice morning walk before work. Taking Miguel on his first trip outside the cave.
world cup and dog fight
chamois rock and clouds
conte de la folie ordinaire
It is very luxurious to wake up-ride a train up 1000 meters and then walk on a sea of ice surrounded by huge mountains to the base of perfect granit crack and slab climbing. watch the moine crumble (hopefully noone was on the trail or climbing) and then walk back on the sea of ice, ride the train back to town and have a glass of wine at home.
And since some weirdo gave that name to the route we climbed i thought i would throw some related quotes from the Man himself : Bukowski.
“show me a man who lives alone and has a perpetually dirty kitchen, and 5 times out of 9 I’ll show you an exceptional man.” “show me a man who lives alone and has a perpetually clean kitchen, and 8 times out of 9 I’ll show you a man with detestable spiritual qualities.”
― Charles Bukowski, Tales of Ordinary Madness
“the free soul is rare, but you know it when you see it – basically because you feel good, very good, when you are near or with them.”
― Charles Bukowski, Tales of Ordinary Madness
“Forgive me, I guess I am off in the head, but I mean, except for a quickie piece of ass it wouldn’t matter to me if all the people in the world died. Yes, I know it’s not nice. But I’d be as contended as a snail; it was, after all, the people who had made me unhappy.”
― Charles Bukowski, Tales of Ordinary Madness
mer de glace
the aiguille du moine crumbling
midsommar
its summer. i have given up all my big ski projects. the global warming induced heratic weather patterns have transformed my ski dreams into mushy icy hell ski nightmares. I am a climber now. or at least for the next 3 months. A sort of a climber that is. the weak one. scared .
Thor chose one of those 100 Rebuffat finest route. the grutter ridge on the aiguille des pelerins. a fairly easy airy ridge line going to the summit of the aiguille des pelerins. First climbed in 1935 by r. aubert and M .grutter. 1935 means sandbagged and scary. And sandbagged and scary it is. But so magnificient and aerial. With splendid views on the aiguilles de chamonix . A classic!
can you see the climbers
can you see the climbers
back at work.
I am back at work. night shift .in the past 2 weeks i have been trying to rea-just to those hours and the default world i am stuck with. It does not fit skiing. Especially when the high mountains are really good and screaming my name. Especially when the gerva is good. The gervasutti is the king of all couloir. standing there with a fun angle top to bottom. a skier dream. It is Guarded by a gigantic serac which in the past 5 years i have been in cham kept on breaking and taking all the snow away. This is the first year i see it that way. And i am working. Every time there is a window i am working. I tried to go after work at 7, the condition looked sketchy and i didnt feel like i could deal if things went wrong so i bailed.I watched my friends skiing it a little frustrated. i was off last night so me and ben went back up despite a week of precipitation and over a meter of snow. We got kicked out of the midi station in the storm . this is dysneyland up there now, those days are over, you have to go to hotel cosmique and spent 50 euros.we are not a refuge. the “compagnie du mont blanc” who celebrate alpinists from the past in a gallery doesnt want the present alpinits in its hallways.They kick them out like “mal propre” .how sad, they lost the spirit. The “aiguille du midi” is now an anesthetized ride that takes hordes of chinese and other indian who will stay 10 minute and buy souvenir made in china or india. they will soon forbid skis and ice axes.
. Anyway, we skied the ridge and the south side sled with just a touch. when we got to the slope before the perroux hut, it sled as well with barely a touch. the perroux hut needs some love, the door is broken, there are no blankets left and some trash . it is my mission for this summer. if you have blankets let me know. we climbed the first 100 meters of the triangle du tacul and heard a big deep womp followed with some movement. we bailed smoothly but fast. . no gerva. and tomorrow no partners. and then work. fuck. sweet obsession….
nicklas hansen
nicklas hansen
This is the old perroux hut , it needs some fixing : the door is broken and other stuff. it needs blankets as well. And since “the compagnie du mont blanc” doesnt want any dirty alpinists in the hallway , it could disturb the japenese/chinese/ indians watching a movie on alpinism…we might have to spent some time in there…
-
- nicklas hansen
-
- This is the old perroux hut , it needs some fixing : the door is broken and other stuff. it needs blankets as well. And since “the compagnie du mont blanc” doesnt want any dirty alpinists in the hallway , it could disturb the japenese/chinese/ indians watching a movie on alpinism…we might have to spent some time in there…
-
- nicklas hansen
Adventure yoga retreat in kalymnos the end. climbing, tits grabbing and beatches.
the apartment we rented was very nice and conveniently located , 15 min from the grand grotto (kalymnos main attraction) 2 min from the beach and town. It was fully equiped and clean. The owner is Antonio Galouzis : www.agalouzis.com. Antonio and his wife are amazing people and made sure our stay was delightul. Very often , we would come back from sending 8a all day and be greeted by tasty greek delicacy made by Antonio’s wife. (the first pictures shows the apt). Also , the trip was organized by adventure yoga retreat. It went as smoothly as it could be. They have yoga surf trips in portugal as well. The people in Kalymnos are very nice and welcoming. I highly encourage anyone to go to Kalymnos or anywhere in greece and spend as many euros as you could. IT will be well worth it. And good for greece. I will shut up now…time for the tits grabbing pictures…
this was our house
the hole. some good climbing in there.
the cove
hot chicks
heather swift
heather swift
find the climber-
find the climber-
the hole
cape town (S.Africa) versus Bishop (california): Johnathan Jacobs (cape town) won by far.
cape town (S.Africa) versus Bishop (california): Johnathan Jacobs (cape town) won by far.
lunch
Johnathan Jacobs
moon
the crew departure
tits handle bar….
-
- find the climber-
-
- find the climber-
-
- find the climber-
-
- tits handle bar….
-
- hot chicks
-
- the cove
-
- the hole. some good climbing in there.
-
- the hole
-
- find the climber
-
- the hole
-
- lunch
-
- heather climbing
-
- heather swift
-
- heather swift
-
- Johnathan Jacobs
-
- cape town (S.Africa) versus Bishop (california): Johnathan Jacobs (cape town) won by far.
-
- cape town (S.Africa) versus Bishop (california): Johnathan Jacobs (cape town) won by far.
-
- this was our house
-
- the crew departure
-
- me and the chicks
-
- me an the chicks
-
- sunset good bye
-
- moon
find the climber . 1…Kalymnos with adventure yoga retreat
Kalymnos with adventure yoga retreat
Johnathan Jacobs
Johnathan Jacobs
Johnathan Jacobs
Johnathan Jacobs
kalymnos – yoga-eat-climb-beach-climb-eat-yoga-eat-beach….sleep
Kalymnos and its people are superb and so is the climbing, the food the house and everything. with alpine yoga and climbing retreat
-
- house
-
- pilate
col de la brenva : voie tardivel. The wild side.
go up mont maudit make a left.
Dropping there is a very special moment. it is a very intense,unusual time. Everything looks huge and brutal . you know you are in for a very long ski in a very wild and beautiful place.
When we scoped the face from the tour ronde i thought it was going to be a lot easier: a nice ballad. the scale is so huge, from that far away i couldnt size things correctly. Like the gigantic serac and cornices we were skiing under , the rock bands which were a lot bigger and steeper , the overall lenght of the face. WE had a nice 20 cm of fresh snow on the top of nice edge-able crust. I could never find a safe spot or even anckor myself to my poles to set up and take pictures. Its never too steep but never a comfortable angle. At every turns, my partners would throw some wet heavy snow that could potentially take me off my edges. whilst Taking pictures of skiers under the serac i thought what if that thing goes, would I feel stupid for being here, will i get knocked off and slide down the abyss… I rapidly switched my mind back to enjoying the skiing , breath-in the outrageously beautiful and wild place i am in the middle of . I realize how privileged i am to be there. thanks to skiing and tardivel.
The route finding in the rock band was not hard but stressful knowing what is above you.
It is surely among the most beautiful face i have skied in the wildest place i have been to. also the most dangerous.
After skiing the face we went over the kuffner ridge and we skied down another steep couloir in hard condition with very tired legs. we then skied the valley blanche, we went up the montenver steps and rode the train down to cham. We Finished the day with a well deserved beer and burger at elevation.
this is the face, Brenden who took the first bin is on it , can you see him?
the previous evening
midi bivy
Ben is the only one to ski the ridge, in the dark with north wind and in really bad condition.
on the kuffner , the last steep couloir before the valley blanche and the beer.
-
- on the kuffner ridge
du maïs sur la tour ronde
harvesting corn on the tour ronde was just perfect. fuck extreme skiing! and fuck that hair on my sensor.
spring powder. 2 days in the valley with Mark Shelp and Michael-bird-shaffer
une bande de cochons et pis c est tous. des salopards au col des courtes …
-
- powder
-
- ready to go
-
- col des courte
-
- col des courtes
greenland
I was hired as a photographer by elemental adventure
things didnt happen as planned due to a broken heli. nevertheless we scored 3 good days of skiing: swiss style . The villages and the people are beautiful and generous , the scenics are just breathtaking hense the amount of pictures. I tried to put just a few…i will just shut up then! I want to go back.
too much foehn here. I am heading to greenland
I was hired as a photographer by elemental adventure to take pictures on a heliski trip in greenland. I am heading there sunday. I will keep on posting once i am there. meanwhile 2 videos:
freeriding in chamonix the past 2 weeks:
freeriding in austria? sometime before I was born:
bird watching
i realized on the ridge that my bindings i had switched on a new used pair of skis were at the wrong size, that and the skis were delaming…lame! i stayed up and watched birds.
the white room.
Ally Swinton
Philip Ebert
Philip Ebert
Ally Swinton
Ally Swinton
Philip Ebert
Ally Swinton
Philip Ebert
A daley cosmique. a bird with an umbrella. flower. apres ski with a red fish.
-
- David Rosenbarger
-
- future badass alpinist
the window
the spring weather patterns are making the weatherman look like a hysterical junky who took a bunch of acid before writing his forecast. However, we found a window big enough for a kaw-aw-wing crowmonkey, a growling goat, a punkviking a few frenchies some yankees ..later followed by more vikings and one south african.
dave rosenbarger
-
- dave rosenbarger
-
- dave rosenbarger
-
- dave rosenbarger
-
- nate wallace
-
- nate wallace
-
- nate wallace
-
- nate wallace
-
- mark shelp
-
- mark shelp
-
- mark shelp
-
- nicklas hansen
-
- dave rosenbarger
-
- nate wallace
-
- nate wallace
-
- nate wallace
-
- nate wallace
-
- dave rosenbarger
-
- dave rosenbarger
-
- dave rosenbarger
-
- dave rosenbarger
-
- dave rosenbarger
-
- dave rosenbarger
-
- nicklas hansen
Cedric Bernardini 
