Today I had a great ski day with Bjarne, Carl and Martin. The two later was coming by Chamonix for the day and I wanted them to get a good impression of the area… After runs down the Bellin, a secret variation beyond Ensa as well as a finish down the Cosmique I think they understood how good Cham can be. We did not meet any other people for the whole day… Its so great to be up among the mountains with friends after the heavy times we have had… 

Carl Hård af Segerstad skiing down the Bellin

The Cham aiguilles from Brevent

Car, Bjarne and Martin

Myself skiing

And again

Bjarne

Martin

Me Rappin

And skiing

And again

and again

and again

Carl in the Cosmique

A ski boot with wings and flowers was standing on top of Felix’s coffin. The church in Chamonix was full to the brim with family and friends from all over the world. It was a beautiful service worthy a great friend and center point in Chamonix. He will be remembered and missed by many! 

This night we had Felix’s memorial party. It was a warm evening with lots of tears, smiles and laughter among friends and family. It was a full house with plenty to eat and drink; lots of great people on a limited amount of space. I think Felix would have liked it… 

I have to start with this one made by dear friend Felix Hentz who left us only a few days ago. It hadn’t been snowing for a while in Chamonix and Felix came up with this funny idea. Check it out: 

This Land is Your Land from Felix Hentz on Vimeo.

This is my first steep ski after my accident the year before. A very rare repetition of Col de Aiguille Verte Direct. 

Andreas Fransson skiing Col de L´Aiguille Verte from Bjarne Sahlen on Vimeo.

This is a cruise of one of Chamonix’s classics with friends…

Les Courtes from Bjarne Sahlen on Vimeo.

Skiing the Jager couloir in January is my coldest ski – ever!

Andreas Fransson and Morgan Sahlén skiing the Jager Couloir from Bjarne Sahlen on Vimeo.

This is actually material from 2010, but the edit was made 2011. Its from one of my best skis in my life and a rare first descent in Chamonix. 

First Ski Descent in Chamonix by Andreas Fransson, from Bjarne Sahlen on Vimeo.

Here is an edit from the summer of 2010 that came out the following year. Its from a photo shoot in the Swedish mountains in the north for my sponsor Haglöfs. 

Haglöfs – Trekking Our Way from David Kvart on Vimeo.

We are not only skiing in Cham… This is from one of our bouldering sessions

Bouldering in Médonnet from Bjarne Sahlen on Vimeo.

Xavier de le Rue and myself are taking on the mythical north face of Aiguille du Plan… But the snow was sketchy… 

Andreas Fransson and Xavier de le Rue on Aiguille du Plan from Bjarne Sahlen on Vimeo.

The north face of Aiguille du Midi, the Mallory. Skied on my first day in Cham after a long stay in Sweden… 

Mallory by Andreas Fransson from Bjarne Sahlen on Vimeo.

An interview for Swedish television… (in Swedish)

Here is the film from our Denali trip last spring… A great adventure! 

First ski descent on Denali south face by Andreas Fransson from Bjarne Sahlen on Vimeo.

And the following are the films from our South America adventure… A three month trip trough Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Chile. 

Adventure through the Andes. Ecuador – episode 1. from Bjarne Sahlen on Vimeo.

Adventure through the Andes. Peru – episode # 2. from Bjarne Sahlen on Vimeo.

Adventure through the Andes. Bolivia – episode # 3. from Bjarne Sahlen on Vimeo.

Adventure through the Andes. Episode # 4, Argentina – Mercedario from Bjarne Sahlen on Vimeo.

Adventure through the Andes. Episode # 5, Argentina – Aconcagua from Bjarne Sahlen on Vimeo.

And last, but not least, the full movie from the Timeline sessions – This is my winter! 

This is my winter film entier avec Xavier de Le Rue, Mathieu Crepel…

Today I finally got back on my skis. After a well needed sleep in I phoned Nicklas Hansen to see if he was up for some skiing. We went to Grand Montets and was lucky to time everything perfectly.  The sun came with great visibility and  there where few tracks.  It was a wonderful day and it felt great to be out there again after Felix’s accident. He used to say that he wanted to keep on doing what we love even if something would happen to him. This one, and many more to come, where for you…

As always I didn’t bother taking any photos when it was really good skiing, but I still post some from the day…

Nicklas Hansen skiing some great snow

Hanna Fisher in the Phillipe couloir

We met good friend and guide Jimmy Halvardsson up on the mountain. If you want one of the best guides in Cham, go out in to the mountains with this guy… www.ascentdescent.com 

Here is a quick interview with me that popped up on outsideonline.se (Swedish only).

There exist a language that no one can speak. It exists in the construct between us humans and the world. It binds us together and shows us the way in every intersection of our path.  On every crossroad in life we will have to make a choice where to go while time is pushing us from behind. The beast of reality is breathing us in the neck and even to not make a choice is a choice made.

Don Juan, the old master of life, would say that all the paths are leading to the same place and that choosing the one with heart is making all the difference. I say he is right and that all of us, at some point, will have to sit down and relearn this language.

It’s easy to intellectualize everything we do and reason back and forth with words. But the foundation of every argument will be wrong from the start, as the signpost pointing at the thing is not the thing itself. Words and thoughts can never be substitutes to anything important.

They can definitely sort out practicalities in everyday life, but they cannot show us who we really are, nor can they communicate anything new to our life experience.  They cannot show us real happiness, peace, love or any of the experimental adventures streaming out in the reality we call life. At the most they can subjectively communicate a reality that we have already experienced with others with similar experience. But they have a really hard time expanding our consciousness. They cannot teach us anything new, anything that we have not yet lived, and for all of us that think a lot; in the end old thoughts and words are the only things we have left to think about.

While being and sensing this world we might not be able to put everything in to words (life is all to complex to be taken down to a linear reality) but we will be capable of listen to what our heart have to say of every bump and turn in the road.

We, then, get to connect with everything that is bringing meaning to life. We see things for what they really are and it will be easy to know the choices to be made, even though it make take mountains of courage to carry them out.

Life teaches me that I have to move away from reason to find what’s bringing real importance and joy. Life has thought me that at the end of every argument there is always a but, always a division.

The mountains have thought me that statistics doesn’t count – it’s our own doing that is creating its own effects. They have also thought me that my “gut feeling” is my strongest connection to reality.

I believe it’s the gut feeling that Don Juan is talking about. The gut feeling that everyone living in the mountains have to learn to trust. I believe we can take this same feeling and use it in everyday life. The mountains are there to form us to the better and I think this is one of their greatest gifts to us.

The hard thing though is that there is often a conflict between our gut feeling, our reason and our ego. Material and personal ego winnings often comes in conflict with our feelings of right and wrong, good or bad. We can always reason ourselves to salvation, in whatever situation we encounter – although deep down we know we are simply fooling ourselves.

The language that no one can speak is there at the base of the conflict vs. peace in life. Different people might put it in to different words, but it is still ruling our existence as the construct of the whole.

I want to remind myself that there are some very important things that are ruling our existence. These things can’t be thought, reasoned, spelled, said nor argued about. Still, they rule our lives – whether it’s in the mountains, in our everyday lives or elsewhere.