Today we went up to Midi to get some fair weather shots. The crew for the day was Erik, Daniel and Bjarne. It was a good, cold and fairly slow day where we only did one run (a run from the top of Midi is around 2800 vertical meters) but we got the photos we where after and we skied some really good snow. The most intense moment was for sure when we got to track the Bosson glacier with zero visibility, but we made it spot on and where down in town for a good afternoon boulder session.

It’s been a good weekend and it was really cool that Erik and Daniel came by – Both are excellent company, Erik is a living ski motivation booster and Daniel is one of the best I know at documenting the action and the story as it unfolds. Daniel has been in Chamonix before with us, but for Erik it was the first town skiing the bigger lines and it was awesome sharing the experience with them both and to be able to show them a small part of what these mountains has to offer! 

Bjarne shooting on the Midi ridge

Erik Sunnerheim sliding in to the fog

Erik offering some suns – “Åre Edition”

Daniel is always happy, Bjarne on the rappel

Bjarne Sahlén leading the way

Erik Sunnerheim in couloir Cosmique

Daniel waiting while Bjarne is skiing

Erik with the couloir in the background

Bjarne Sahlén skiing some good snow

Daniel skiing powder in the trees 

Erik dropping in to a small couloir

Yesterday my friends Erik Sunnerheim and Daniel Rönnbäck arrived for a weekend of photo work. Erik, also known as “the Demon” in the Swedish ski community is one of the Swedes on the Freeride World Tour and Daniel is part of the new generation of action sport photographers. It was kind of a last minute call for the duo to come by Cham as they didn’t have a car, but finally they arrived late last night from Engelberg.

Today we went up to try to get some good shoots from the Chamonix backcountry and after looking at the raws it seems like we managed to get some good stuff.

The best thing though was that we had a really good day out with a morning on Grand Montets and the afternoon on Midi. We got some really good turns in and Erik later claimed that it was “one of the best ski days in his life”.  That coming from one of the best and most enthusiastic skiers I know makes me feel really happy. Chamonix showed its good side to us today so whatever happens tomorrow the weekend is already a great success.

Follow Daniel’s blog at: danielronnback.blogspot.com

Erik Sunnerheim having a look at what the Chamonix backcountry has to offer

Erik And Daniel

Erik and Daniel on the backside of Grand Montets

Erik skiing

Daniel showing the way

Daniel and Erik at work

Daniel being a photographer with style

(Photo: Erik Sunnerheim)

Erik and myself on top of Glacier Ronde (Photo: Erik Sunnerheim)

Me setting of (Photo: Erik Sunnerheim)

Mr photographer kicking ass

Myself in action (Photo: Erik Sunnerheim)

Erik and Daniel

Daniel catching up

Daniel and Erik on some glacier route finding

Happy after a full day out

I just got the word from a German friend that they have made a profile on me on Freeskiers.net, a big ski portal in the German speaking ski world!  

Check it out here: http://www.freeskiers.net/portal/Magazin/Report-Andreas-Fransson-Skialpinist-und-Lebenskuenstler.html (German only, but you can use translate.google.com).

Today was one of those days where we got rewarded for trying. It was snowing more or less the whole day yesterday, but we still just got a few centimeters down in the valley. After a long high-pressure it felt like there was a big risk of getting “dust on crust” skiing today but we felt like it was a good idea to check it out anyways. The wind had been from the north so we felt like the best chance of good skiing was on the Brevent side of the valley. I have no idea on how the skiing was elsewhere, but it did rock in Brevent.

I met Tony Lamiche in the morning at the lift station and we got five great runs together before he had to take of to pick up his daughter. As it was getting warm I also called it a day, and will end the day with a climbing session. 

Tony is a skier, climber and guide living in Chamonix during the winters. Check him out on: www.tonylamiche.info (french)

Tony Lamiche skiing some light powder

Tony opening up the Bellin couloir

Tony again, beyond ENSA… 

Tony working his guide skills with the rope… He put me on belay so could check the snow in one of the couloirs. In the end we bailed out and skied something else. Its always worth checking though. 

Today I went out with friend and guide Linus Kulstad for some Ice climbing. After a long cold spell it was a relatively warm day with perfect conditions and we went down past Les Houches to one of the big icefalls on the side of the road. With a quick approach, four pitches of really fun climbing and good company it felt like the perfect thing to do while waiting for the falling snow to (hopefully) create good skiing for tomorrow! 

Call me ignorant, but I don’t really know the name of this icefall. However we climbed a variation on the lookers left hand side. 

Myself setting of on the steep first pitch (Photo: Linus Kulstad)

Linus cruising up the second

Myself following the second pitch (Photo: Linus Kulstad)

Me on the third pitch (Photo: Linus Kulstad)

And me again topping put (Photo: Linus Kulstad)

Linus rappelling 

Today I went out on the mountain to ski for my self. I kind of like to get solo ski days once and a while where I don’t have to wait for no one and where I get to just get close to the ski experience with no distractions and let the thoughts flow for themselves.

I chose to go to Brevent as it’s the perfect place to get quality skiing and get long runs in the falline and I just happen to love the terrain there. I usually say that Brevent would be the worlds best ski resort if it was north facing, but unfortunately it isn’t. However, this year in this cold it kind of doesn’t matter.

The best thing about Brevent I think is that it’s easy to find good snow a long time after snowfall if you just spice it up a little bit. I did four top to bottom runs (I only stopped for taking the photosJ) and I got excellent snow for a couple of hundred meters in each one of those. I love the feeling of covering a 1500 meter vertical off-piste run in one go, rest in the lift and the keep at it for an afternoon. 

An unskied couloir in Brevent

The Brevent top gondola

My Salomon Rocker 2’s just before I drop in to one of my favorite faces in Brevent. I have rarely seen other tracks here. 

Bjarne Sahlén and JP Auclair chatting

And I’m taking pics of the mountains…