Yearning for Chamonix

I just read a few of Colin Haley's entries on his blog ... big ski descents, solo of the supercouloir on Tacul, and sunny alpine south facing rock, like the Rebuffat on the Midi. No doubt this view will make an alpinist's heart race a little faster. (To identify the routes and features, click on the photograph to enlarge the image.)

Video: le tango vertical

This video captures a Slovenian climber deep water soloing on severely overhanging rock.

Video: Wordsworth's Quest for the Sublime

Click on the text to access a trailer for an entry in the Trento Film Festival entitled: "Wordsworth's Quest for the Sublime." The Romantic poets and painters tried to capture the intersection of beauty, power, mystical, and savagery that they perceived in nature. They conveyed nature as sublime as opposed to the merely picturesque. In this video the director tries to capture this essence on film by combining images of the Welsh mountains, with music, and some of the poet's own words.

The Quote of the Week is geared to all fossils, and it is from William Wordsworth ... THOUGH THE RADIANCE WHICH WAS ONCE SO BRIGHT BE NOW FOREVER TAKEN FROM MY SIGHT. THOUGH NOTHING CAN BRING BACK THE HOUR OF SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS, GLORY IN THE FLOWER. WE WILL GRIEVE NOT, RATHER FIND STRENGTH IN WHAT REMAINS.

The Most Influential Ski Book Ever

In the late 1800s Fridtjof Nansen crossed Greenland on skis. The book he wrote on his return was quickly translated into many languages and it was the single most influential book which got the British and the European continentals excited about the sport. Click on this text to access the table of contents, and the entire 400+ page tome on Google Books

I have enclosed below a review of this book from Amazon.com ...

Fridthof Nansen in this book did more to bring skiing to the larger world than any other individual. Until his Greenland crossing on skis, few outside of Norway, or Scandinavia at the most, had heard of skiing, although of course it had existed there for centuries. The early chapter of the book on skis and "skilobing" (skiing) is a marvelous account of the sport, and particularly of Sondre Norheim and the Telemarkers who revolutionized it as recreation.
Nansen writes the book in what can only be called a charming tone. He makes the crossing of the icecap seem easy, and indeed, most of the harrowing detail of the expedition relates to the efforts of the party after being dropped off at sea on the east coast of Greenland, through the ice floes with great difficulty, to an eventual landing and a hard climb up to the central ice plateau. There is also considerable detail given about the way of life of the Eskimo and Danish inhabitants of the Greenland west coast, where Nansen and his party overwintered after the crossing.
A classic of "cold exploration" and a lively style and good read after more than a century.

The NCS Crag Is Open!

Now that the snow from the recent storm has melted, our crag is drying out, and the students were climbing the easier routes this past weekend. It is time for me to pull out the rock shoes and make the full switch to the Spring. Of course the big questions is: Will the Fossils get together this summer?

Weekly Chamonix Ski Conditions

Every week from January to the end of April, the Corps of Guides does a video about alpine skiing and mountaineering conditions. This is the last one of the "season" although as the guide says, "we'll be skiing up high until June or early July. This will be a great resource to tune into just before we head over to do the Haute Route in 2011.

Bouldering in the 'dacks

It has been five weeks since I did some great bouldering with Danny in the Sierras outside of Bishop. Today I hiked up Owl's Head late in the day and did some easy problems in my mountaineering boots; that's Giant and Hurricane in the background. (The highlight of the day was a sauna over at the fossil cabin.)

Berg Films

Click on this text to watch a short video of film critic - IRENE BIGNARDI - introducing the evening. The video includes English sub-titles.

The 58th Trento Filmfestival opens with a treat for all film and music lovers: a screening of Der Heilige Berg plus a live performance of the film’s original score by the Hayden Orchestra of Bolzano and Trento, conducted by Helmut Imih
Der heilige Berg (1926) is widely considered to be the first Bergfilm as it contains all of the typical features of a mountain film; it is a whirlwind story of love, friendship and death, a majestic portrait of unforgiving, cloudy peaks, jagged rocks, grand massifs, glaciers and crevices, snowstorms and avalanches, evocatively captured at great risk amidst desolate snowy landscapes.

Diotima (Leni Riefenstahl) is a young woman born by the ocean who imitates its power and vitality in a ritual dance. Her heart, however, yearns for the mountains and a man who can conquer them. On a trip to the Alps, she does her “dance of the sea” before a well-to-do audience, among which are two young mountain-climbers who watch her awestruck.

Karl (Luis Trenker), the most famous climber in the region, flees to the mountains for the night in order to calm the anxiety that has overcome him. Vigo, a fearless young skier, offers the beautiful dancer edelweiss, and in return receives a silk scarf. Against his mother’s advice, Karl tells Diotima of his feelings for her, but when she returns his affections, he leaves for the mountains to find an altar, sculpted by nature, where they can wed. In the meantime, Diotima cheers Vigo to victory in a skiing race, rushing to congratulate him. By chance, Karl witnesses the scene, but he does not recognise his friend, believing he has lost the young woman’s love to another man. In a moment of desperation, he asks Vigo to join him on a climb of the most treacherous peak in the area. During their ascent, Karl realises that his friend is also in love with Diotima. As Karl advances towards his rival in a jealous rage, Vigo steps backwards, falls off the ledge, and is left dangling by the rope that joins them. As a storm rages about them, Vigo begs his friend to cut the rope and save himself, but Karl, filled with regret, refuses. Delirious with fatigue, Karl dreams that he is leading Diotima to the altar in an ice cathedral. He then plunges to his death with his friend.

A Prayer for the Windhorse

A Prayer For The Windhorse from CTL Films on Vimeo.

A documentary shot on the Nepal-Tibetan border that follows a semi-nomadic tribe's yearly journey over the mountain border. The Buddhist society always prays to the mythical Tibetan animal, the Windhorse. The documentary is making the rounds of the mountain films festivals, as well as the occasional artsie cinemas in major cities ... keep your eyes peeled ... it has gotten great reviews.

Pinheads on the Haute Route

Click on the text to access a great article by Seth Masia about skiing the classic traverse on telemark gear. The article appeared in the fantastic journal "Skiing Heritage" several years ago.

Patrouille des Glaciers 2010

Held every other year, from Zermatt to Verbier, this 70K team race is the grand-daddy of ski mountaineering endurance events. It was run last weekend and the winning time is usually just under six hours which is really motoring considering there is over 7000 meters of climbing! Click on this link to access a swiss-topo video that gives you an aerial view. Amazing.

Nordic Technique

This link gives you access to the high-speed, high definition video collection that the USST is collecting for coaches, racers, and serious students of the sport. These videos may be advanced frame by frame - using something called dartfish software - and so one can analyze minute technical elements (hand, hip, and ankle positions, joint angulation, and pole plants) and then with footage of your own skiing you may compare and contrast. Check it out, then go to the home page and see the rest of the collection!

http://dcp.dartfish.com/Player.aspx?CR=p1490c6378m76375&CL=1

Heavy, Wet, Late Spring Snow

It's almost May, however with 16-17 inches of fresh new snow - no matter how heavy - you have to get out there and make some telemark turns. I did lots of laps, mostly concerned with blowing off some carbon dioxide, but our kids were looking mighty sharp. As for me, when I pointed them downhill I was simply in survival mode trying to get down without hurting myself.

First Female to Climb All 8,000 Meter Peaks

Click on the text to access the New York Times article, detailing the South Korean mountaineer who became the first female alpinist to summit all 14 of the 8,000 meter peaks. She finished yesterday when she climbed Annapurna. As a side note, all my Korean students were quite proud.

The Calendar Says Spring But ...

An unexpected Spring storm dumped over a foot of snow on us last night, and it is going to snow all day as well. I was out at 6:15 AM, doing laps up and down the NCS ski hill. My daughter Lucy skied to barn chores at 7:00 AM. I had such a bast that I will try and go out again either just before, or just after dinner.

A Typical Off Piste Day Skiing in Chamonix

BD athlete Colin Haley skiing on Aiguille du Midi above Chamonix, France from Black Diamond Equipment on Vimeo.

Himalayan Art

Click on this text to access a fabulous virtual museum of himalayan art objects from Kashmir, to Nepal, and on into Tibet. This is an incredibly important cultural resource, and any alpinist setting off to climb a 6-7-8,000 meter peak ought to check it out!

John Gill: a bouldering legend

Noted Colorado climber Pat Ament has recently completed a short film that profiles both John Gill and the disciples he influenced. This weekend the film has its Eastern debut. The short video includes clips from "The Disciples of Gill" as well as information about the Eastern screenings. One of the highlights of my climbing career was taking Treetops West kids to the Needles in the Dakotas and I managed to do 2-3 Gill problems. I also remember doing the bottom 12-15' of the Thimble, trying to psych myself to take a stab at it, but I knew the cojones were not there.

I cut and pasted a quick profile below:

John Gill was so far ahead of his time the best climbers of the day didn’t believe the stories they heard. Rumors had a man able to fly through air from one finger-hold to another. People came across small white chalk arrows drawn below impossible-looking faces of rock. The mysterious Gill moved through the forest of various climbing areas, leaving not only the chalk arrow but chalked holds up rock no one else could begin to ascend.


A competitive rope climber at the University of Georgia Tech, Gill could climb a rope to the top of a tall gym in 3.8 seconds. That’s faster than a normal person can pull a rope of that length through the hands. Gill taught himself the one-arm, one-finger pull-up and invented the one-arm front lever. He was not simply a show of strength, however. Along with balance and technique, Gill has always been a man of virtue and humility.

When Pat Ament, a university gymnast and pioneer boulderer himself, wrote the book “Master of Rock,” Gill’s Biography, the climbing community learned what it would take to reach the highest echelons of pure rock climbing and, at the same time, aspire to being – as Gill – the highest quality of person. (Click on this text to access a link to a discussion of Gill's solo adventure and highball bouldering exploits.)

The Big Race: Brian v. Mark

This weekend our two intrepid fossils will be cragging in Joshua Tree. No doubt many good pitches will be fired off.

However, the main event is the handicapped 200 yard dash between Brian and Mark. Here is how El Presidente calls it ... "The winner buys drinks for the other. It will be the real determination of altitude advantages Brian has been whining about for years. I am coming from 11 feet and he is coming from 64 feet. That gives me a 54 foot handicap. After much deliberation we negotiated (factors included age, weight, length of time since anyone ran, time zone differences, how much we drank the night before) on a 50 yard distance. We then had to apply handicapped times for each factor. When the negotiations were concluded I ended up with a 3 minute and 33 second handicap. So if I can run 50 yards 3 minutes and 32 seconds slower than Brian he owes me a night out."

I couldn't find any current pictures of the two fossils in their running garb so I went online and found some facsimiles.

Video: Lost Horizon

The full-length feature film, produced and directed by Frank Capra. For those that have not seen this 1930s classic you are in for a treat; of course the book is immeasurably better and a slim volume that I re-read every year. This engaging story by James Hilton features the kidnapping of four random people being evacuated from the British Embassy prior to World War II, their crash landing on the Tibetan plateau, and their discovery of shangri-la. Enjoy!

Video: an old classic

A young Catherine Destivelle - back at the height of her competition days - solos a rock route in Mali. The video has a great soundtrack, and the rock shoes are vintage 80s. Needless to say, even before her string of amazing alpine, big-wall, and expedition routes which followed this video, she was clearly "the real deal."

A Yoga Manifesto

I have been in Manhattan for four days, working with trustees and doing cultivation visits. It has been very productive, but a pretty sedentary existence broken by the occasional 30 minute yoga sessions in my room at the Princeton Cub. Click on this text to access a New York Times article about the back-to-basics movement in the current yoga culture. There is a good profile of the company called Yoga To The People.

He's At It Again

Premiere alpinist, and speed soloist, Ueli Steck soloed the "Ginat Route" on Les Droites in record time. It is hard to believe that this steep, hard, 1000 meter route was climbed in 128 minutes! This short video is amazing ... and of course Chamonix and the Argentiere valley are visually stunning.

Ueli Steck Speed Soloing the Ginat on the Droites from Jonathan Griffith on Vimeo.

Haute Route 2011

With less than a year to go before we ski the famous Haute Route, consider this the first in a series of informational updates. If you click on this text you will access: detailed information on the route (day-byday itinerary), equipment lists, short tours to extend the classic passage, and a skiing and fitness list to help you determine whether you are physically where you need to be for the journey. GET PSYCHED.

Homage to the wooden days

Schuss from dave heath on Vimeo.

Enclosed is a great five minute video slideshow - set to fantastic music - with wonderful black and white images of the earlier days of the sport.

Ski Team Cuts

Click on the text to access this morning's article in the New York Times about the US Ski Team. The focus of the article was on the Executive Director and his salary, especially given the size of the non-profit he is running and the stressful economic times we are in. A complex issue, no doubt, however one gets the sense that we may be cutting off support for the next generation of medal winners to pay for administrative bonuses today. (While it doesn't necessarily say so in the article, I will make a conjecture that the cuts will disproportionately effect nordic ski racers.)

First Hike of the Season

I put all put two pairs of skis away. I kept a pair of waxless rock skis and a pair of all-terrain ski mountaineering boards handy ... to keep me covered in case of a freak snowstorm. So, this morning I got muddy doing a short hike up Owl's Head, even though it has been snowing lightly, I decided it was time to change my athletic focus. It is time to start planning an alpine adventure for the summer.

Video: the frendo spur

Maybe next time when I travel to Chamonix for some alpine adventures, I can bag this route. It looks like a superb mountaineering route, manageable in big boots, although pretty long for a day climb unless you are well acclimatized. Click on the text to access this 10 minute video of a classic mixed climb.

Hock's Last Day On Snow?

Unless I head over to Tuckermans Ravine with the NCSers at the beginning of May, this was probably it for my skiing. I hiked up the lower slopes of Whiteface for 20 minutes, and then skinned up about 1000' vertical. It was windy, chilly, and the snow was crusty, so the skiing was challenging ... still it was a lot more fun than running or getting all muddy on a hike!

News Flash: Chamonix to Zermatt

At 20h28 minutes & 5 seconds: The RECORD from Chamonix to Zermatt was beaten

Two french army members, Laurent FABRE and Yann GACHET arrived in Zermatt 43 minutes ahead of the previous record.

The best performance to date on the crossing Chamonix Zermatt (Haute Route) in ski touring. The patrol consisted of three members at the departure with one abandoning course at 3pm. Their progress was made more difficult by heavy amounts of snow slowing their efforts.

In spite of the challenges they have achieved their goal, made more incredible by the fact that for the average hiker/skier takes 8 days. Bravo to them and good rest.

NEW Record Chamonix-Zermatt, 20h.28m.05s

Quote of the Week

With the ice climbing and telemark season all but over, I thought it appropriate to do a quote related to skiing. In talking about ski mountaineering and telemarking that Sierra legend - Allan Bard (AKA The Great Bardini) - once reminded us that, “IT'S A TURN, NOT A RELIGION." I for one never feel bad about slipping in occasional parallel or stem-christies on my tele-gear; heck I really have no shame, and would resort to kick turns if it gets me down in one piece.

Video: ski mountaineering race

Click on this text to access an excellent video of the national ski mountaineering championships in Jackson Hole. These folks look a notch below the Euros, however clearly they are studs! I am hoping to take some of our students to a northeastern ski randonee event next year. Of course, our students have not ended their season as the "hardcore" head off to Tuckermans Ravine on April 29-May 2nd, looking to ski over the Headwall.

Peruvian Glacier Collapse Causes Tsunami

Click on this text to access a link to an article and short video coverage of this recent event in the Cordillera Blanca.

Red Bull Nordix

Click on this text to access an exciting video ... a cross between a cross country sprint and ski cross. This is incredibly exciting, and I can well imagine it moves from end of season fun race to the Olympics. I think this would be Dave's forte!

Get Psyched Lucy!

Last year on the NCS nordic team, Adam was something of an older mentor for Lucy. He graduated and went to Proctor Academy, although he has still kept in touch. Several weeks ago Adam and Taylor (another ex-NCS racer) skied the 55K Norwegian Birkebeiner. This race has long steep climbs that must be done with a 3.5 kg pack. For many years we have talked about doing it as a father-daughter trip when she is an NCS 9th grader ... now that she knows that these two have completed the course she is all fired up for 2013.

Green Mountain Manifesto

Alpinists at the top of the food chain have a long history of "putting their money where their mouth is," so to speak. Messner derided us for bolting because we were keeping our courage in a rucksack in his seminal essay, "The Murder of the Impossible." Chouinard urged us on to ethical purity, and challenged us to take our Valley techniques and use them in the big, hard, dangerous mountains of the world in his essay "Coonyards Mouth Off." Doug Robinson said leave the pitons home, and just take a rack of nuts in, "The Whole Art of Natural Protection." Recently Steve House has weighed in on the current alpine climbing scene, click on this text to access his essay.

Last Day In Alta

It is going to be a beautiful day of spring skiing with temperatures in the 60s. The Camp and School Ski reunion has gone well, and after a full day on the slopes, and a good meal at the Alta Lodge we will take the red-eye back East. Catching the morning sun on the South Ridge of Mount Superior takes your breath away.

A Slice of History

I have enclosed the historic British documentary about the climbing of Everest in 1953. As we all know Hillary and Tenzing were successful, however this documentary is a must see for it is the archetype of the nationalistic, expedition style climbing that followed. Moreover, this is the documentary format on which all subsequent expedition slideshows, lectures, books, and movies was patterned after.

Hilarious Video

If you have ever skied Alta, and have used the rope tow to get to over to Albion Basin you have to click on this text and watch this 59 second video. Enjoy.

Steep and Deep

Nick and Larry took their telemark gear, and led our more adventurous alumni onto the faces and chutes, just as fast as they were opened by ski patrol. I stuck to the "groomers" and they were fantastic. The quads are burning, so it ia off to the hot tub.

Alta Ski Reunion

Yesterday's ravels started at 2:30 AM as we drove to Burlington. However, 12 hours later we were taking advantage of the late afternoon free skiing on the Sunnyside chairlift. Conditions are fantastic as they have gotten 51 inches of new snow in the last 72 hours. Indeed, we were quite anxious as the road to the canyon was not open as we boarded our flight at JFK.

Video: hard winter routes

This superb video covers Ueli Steck - speed record holder for the three great north faces of the Alps - and his recent climbing trip to Scotland. The footage gives you an up close view of what today's hardmen are capable of ... drips of ice, dry tooling, long runouts, and hoar frost. This style of ice climbing makes climbing thick frozen waterfalls look kind of tame!

Video: NCS Ski Hill

Today our ski hill shut down. However, I did laps for almost an hour up-and-down the hill, so there is still plenty of snow cover. The slopes were covered but the snow along the rope tow had melted out. There is still 10K of good nordic skiing out on the Porter Mountain loop, the backcountry will be good for at least several weeks to come, yet it was clear that this is the beginning of the end!

Left Wing Journalism

As always click on the image to enlarge the photograph.




No doubt most of us Fossils occasionally pull our hair out (what little there is), when contemplating the machinations of our grownup children. Well Jon is about ready to graduate from college with a journalism degree, and while he has a great portfolio of published work, his current passion seems to be writing for "lefties, commies, anarchists, pinkos, and socialists." His stuff is good, but unfortunately I do not see him making any money doing this. Click on this text to access Jon's most recent article published in Z magazine. At the moment he is also part way through researching an article tentatively titled, "Reds Inside the Blue Line: anti-capitalists in Essex County."

57

In the past 6-7 months the Fossil blog has had over 2,000 viewings, and we have had readers from 57 different countries. From America to Thailand, and from Austria to United Arab Emirates folks know that this is the place to get your climbing and skiing fix satisfied.

Sunrise Service

Happy Easter. The Keene Valley church has a long tradition of having an outdoor, sunrise service on Easter, and then all congregating at the Noonmark for breakfast. It was a spectacular morning, warmer than most years. As you can see the view while singing Psalms and listening to the sermon is spectacular.

Olympic Trails Still Looking Good

The nordic center is closed, however the coverage is still quite good. I did a classical 7.5K ski at 6 PM and the temperatures were still in the mid-70s and so I went out in a T-shirt and shorts. One concession to the onset of Spring is that I have benched the racing and skating gear for the rest of the season ... waxless and backcountry gear seem the way to go for the next couple of weeks. (Oh, and that's Pitchoff in the background.)

Haute Route 2011

The Delta Phi team got to together for some skiing and planning at Killington. The temperatures were balmy - almost 80 degrees - and spirits were just as high as we locked in the March dates for next year's ski mountaineering traverse from Chamonix to Zermatt. We also spent some time talking about the relative merits of AT versus telemark gear. We missed Ted, and the gathering was calmer and more rational because of it, although we fully expect him to be leading the charge up Pigne de Arolla next year. A BIG THANKS TO DAVE FOR HOSTING US.

Pre-Easter Ski Tour

Brian - I call him the coach - from High Peaks Cyclery toured up the Whiteface toll road with his son Colin. After the summit, they post-holed down to the alpine runs, and skied down to the car.

Pierra Menta

Click on this text to access a video about the 2010 Pierra Menta ski mountaineering race. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Pierra Menta, one of the grand dames of ski mountaineering races. The Pierra Menta, The Italian Trofeo Mezzalama and the Swiss Patrol des Glaciers make up the great three traverse competitions in the alps. Vast experience, time and training are necessary to bag this hat trick otherwise known as "le grandes tros de ski de montange."
Founded in 1985 and run over four days in the beautiful Areches Beaufort region in France surrounded by the mountain massifs the Vanois, the Areches and the Mont Blanc, the Pierra Menta covers roughly 18-25 kilometers per day and a total of 10,000 meters (32,800 feet) of elevation gain and descent. This year from March 11-14th 200 teams of two (15 female) will tackle 7:00am starts, three to six hour days with hundreds of kick-turns through evergreen forests and up steep couloirs. Due to high demand a category for "espoirs" or up and coming racers born in 87-89 will also be included.

This year the course will boast a special route at the base of the celebrated peak the Pierra Menta as well as the return of the famed day three stage, the Grand Mont. Thousands of spectators wake early on Saturday morning to ride the lift and skin up the back side of the Grand Mont (elevation 2620 meters) to watch the racers climb the technical ridge and ski down the other side. Racers will summit the peak twice during the third stage. The spectators line the route and some return each day creating a cross between a Tour du France and American tailgate atmosphere. Veteran fans come equipped with vin chaud (hot wine) and stoves for making fondue and raclette. The roar of the crowd is an encouraging sound to racers after tackling the difficult climb.
Last year the event was part of the World Cup circuit and only teams of the same nation were accepted, however this year they are returning to the former format and mixed teams are encouraged allowing for new strategic partnerships. The intermingling of nations allows for some exciting pairings notably the favored duo of Spanish racer Kilian Jornet and Swiss national Florent Trolliet, and French star Laticia Roux and Spanish talent Miriea Mira Valera.