mountains and athleticism
by Joe Grant A couple of weeks ago, my friend Jed Brown messaged me to see if I was available to celebrate his birthday by having a barbecue on the summit of the Maiden. The Maiden is a formation in the Boulder flatirons, an arresting slither of rock located on the southern side of the…
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Chamonix is one of the places for outdoor sports. Mostly well know for Alpinism, has been developed during the last decade for other sports as trail running, paragliding, mountain bike, slakline, BASE and wing suit jumping… With easy access from airport and routes this valley has been from longtime a temporal living place for many…
Read MoreSome times when we are on mountains we have not the possibility to find a good place for a sure abseiling anchorage. When we have not rocks to place a belay or we have not many equipment we can recourse to other techniques for abseiling or roping down a mate. When is compact snow we can use a…
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“Free climbing is a specific rock climbing term that was created in contrast with aid climbing. It refers to climbs in which climbing protection such as ropes, tri-cams, nuts, and other aid-climbing equipment, may be used to protect against injury during falls, but cannot be used in ascending the climb. The term free climbing originally meant “free from aid”. The White House post…
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By Joe Grant. In the trail running off-season this winter, I’ve been riding my fat-bike a lot on dirt and snow. One of the challenges I’ve found with winter riding is keep my feet warm. Compared to running, my feet get very little stimulation on the bike so it’s hard to generate much heat to…
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Mountaineering has always been a harsh world, traditionalist and of surnames, where the word “change” has been taboo and “ethics” a god that no one had a clear image. A world of strong egos where secrecy was as strong as the fellowship of the “roped party”. It was a world where the projects were going…
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A friday evening the headlights of a van light up the routes of the mediterranean coast to the east. Some hours before the eyes of a fireman and a policeman shine when they see the a sunny weather forecast on the Alps, some hours after, the backpack is always ready, they start driving from the Catalan…
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All of us has been vibrating with the images of alpinists as Ueli Steck, Steve House, Mark Twight, Jean Cristophe Lafaille, Cristophe Proffit and many more who with them images and books has been inspiring us. I will not talk about this heroes, I will talk about other heroes, who nobody knows if you don’t…
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a 1000m rock wall in your right falls directly to the sea, in front of you, a 20km ridge line is meandering joining the 8 summits of Ersfjord in Kvaloya. With 20km and 3000m of elevation, this route from Skamtinden to Store Blåmannen, with some IV class steeps is one of the most famous in Kvaloya…
Read MoreJulien Irilli, born in Annecy (France) realized a proliferated summer in tha alps. In two months time he leave his marks on the North wall of the Jorasses and Matterhorn and the Supercouloir in Mont Blanc de Tacul, climbing (really fast) in solo and paragliding the descents. Julien is a polyvalent athlete, climbing and paragliding guide, He…
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