Dear Summer Father Christmas…

Dear Summer Father Christmas,

I would like to thank you for the great 3 days tour we made in MontBlanc range last week. I really enjoyed the time spent overthere.

Do you know that friends come very soon  from all over Europe to visit the area? Here is my request for this Summer Christmas : I really wish we could enjoy the same wonderful sunny weather, wind excepted.

We promise to be very kind during the whole Summer : Any accident, any television/video game, we will practise as much as possible what we’ve been teached this year with the Mountain Academy.

Thank you in advance,

Aude

Greetings from Buoux!

(Who did say that weather was rainy, grey and sad at the moment in France?)

Rainbow power!!

Denise & Aude

             Denise, warming up in sunny slabs.          Aude, discovering famous Buoux’ holes.

Goodbye Cogne!

The third stage of Mountain Academy is over We’re back at our homes, immersing into everyday duties… But it doesn’t mean we forgot about you, oh no! We’ve still got a plenty of content coming – pictures, reports and videos. All of that just needs a bit of editing So stay with us and visit the blog soon as we’re gonna post them on a regular basis.

Denise, Milos, Florian, Klemen, Isabel, Clarence, Luka and Bojan saying goodbye to Cogne

A very busy rest day…

Wednesday, rest day. With 3 climbing days in the bag and still 2 climbing days to go, it’s perhaps not such a bad idea to have a rest day. It turns out to be a windy, rather cold day. Some of the mountain guides go out, though, for a reconnaissance of the ice lines for the next days. All of the young participants stay inside to dedicate time to the communication part of the programme. Also, there is a small workshop about how to sharpen your ice axes and crampons. But in the late afternoon we really need to get out, get some fresh air; we go for a walk around the village or a run in the snow. After all, we don’t feel that tired yet…  When we get back to the albergo, it’s pretty busy with MHW staff and athletes, and journalists. What’s our pick for tomorrow? [by Sang]

I love climbing ;)

One more gift for you. Short & funny video the Mountain Academy team shot for St. Valentine’s Day last Tuesday. Enjoy!

Cogne: The beginning!

On Saturday all the candidates met up in Geneva, coming from various countries in Europe to head over to the third stage of The Mountain Academy 2. The plan was working like a Swiss watch until we heard that Bojan, one of the 9 candidates, missed his flight the same morning. It was bound to happen at one point so not a big deal as he joined us later the same day. We drove east-bound – 3 countries in just a few hours – Switzerland, through to Chamonix, France then towards final destination Cogne, Italy. But before that we stopped at Mountain Hardwear’s headquarters to get some gear for the trip. With temperatures of about -15 degrees celcius we figured down jackets, gloves and other necessities would be handy for the week…

Introducing Tim Emmett

This is it guys! The competition’s over and some of you were absolutely right Our special guest for the ice climbing week is Tim Emmett – British extreme athlete and Mountain Hardwear ambassador. What’s most inspiring about Tim is how versatile his climbing skills are. Apart from being one of the pioneers of deep water soloing Tim also sends difficult trad routes in the UK and climbs those crazy icefalls like e.g. Helmcken Falls in Canada.

Tim Emmett

Time between studying…

Even though I spent most of the winter time with studying, I managed to refresh myself by winter activities. Not only the perfect weather condition pushed me right “out of the door” to get mind and body into the shape for following stage of Mountain Academy

I cant wait for this Ice climbing stage…ice conditions looks perfect and I hope that the weather will be atleast as good as last two stages

So this is my winter !

Powder runs…

Warming up for stage 3

Warming up for stage 3 of The Mountain Academy in Rjukan, Norway. My new Dry-Q equipment from Mountain Hardwear does a great job of keeping me dry

Sabotorfossen, WI5

Summer like winter :)

I’d to say goodbye to Argentine summer

“Valle Encantado” (Bariloche)

and their incredible surroundings