American Ski Mountaineer Rescued by Helicopter with 200-Foot Steel Cable from Steep Couloir Near Mont Blanc It was me. I fell in a no-fall zone. What had begun as a beautiful day in a gorgeous amphitheater of Dolomite-style couloirs near 4,810-meter (15,780-foot) Mont Blanc ended with broken bones and an intense helicopter rescue. We had a strong crew of ski mountaineers, two from Italy and one from France, and set off on a nice morning from […] Backcountry Martin Kuprianowicz | March 9, 2025 1 Comment
Single-Engine Plane Crashes Near Chamonix, France, and Locals Build Jump over Wreckage When life gives you lemons… On Friday, February 28, a two-seater, single-engine civilian aircraft made an emergency landing in the Mont Blanc massif. The maneuver carried out by the pilot and his passenger took place on a glacier of the Mont-Blanc massif, below the Aiguille du Midi, as a last-ditch effort after a malfunction forced the pilot to conduct an […] Martin Kuprianowicz | March 3, 2025 0 Comments
A Look Behind the Scenes of the Natural Selection Tour DUELS Match in Andermatt, Switzerland Andermatt is more than a Swiss ski village. It’s an alpine fortress. The mountains rise like walls around it, sealing in a world of deep snow and untapped lines from all sides. The air is crisp; the streets narrow and charming. Every street is older than most cities in the Western Hemisphere and each holds its own story. It is […] Martin Kuprianowicz | February 27, 2025 0 Comments
Where the Three Rivers Meet It could have been an old truck’s exhaust backfiring, we didn’t know. What it really sounded like was a gunshot, but we wouldn’t admit that. We only saw one other vehicle in the area on the way in. It was already dark when we decided to spend the night at the rusty, abandoned windmill and cattle tank. We were on […] Martin Kuprianowicz | February 27, 2025 0 Comments
How Taking a Wilderness First Responder Course Made Me a More Valuable Ski Partner On New Year’s Eve last season, I watched my uncle break his femur right in front of me on Alta’s High Rustler, a steep, double-black diamond slope not very far from the base of the Utah ski area. I’m glad it was only a femur because when I saw him slam on the cat track in front of me after […] Brains Martin Kuprianowicz | February 20, 2025 1 Comment
Monoman: The Tragic Last Run of a Chamonix Icon The Monte Bianco Skyway is an engineering marvel. The rotating cable car, offering 360-degree panoramic views as it soars from the quaint Italian ski village of Courmayeur, accesses the high glaciers of the Mont Blanc Massif at over 3,400 meters (11,300 feet), just on the other side of the tunnel running from Chamonix. It gives direct access to some of […] Industry News Martin Kuprianowicz | February 18, 2025 2 Comments
YETI Natural Selection Ski Unveils 2025 Roster, Bringing Freeride Skiing to the Next Level YETI Natural Selection Ski has announced its highly anticipated 2025 rider lineup, featuring some of the world’s best freeskiers set to compete in Alaska’s legendary terrain. This marks the first ski-specific edition of the Natural Selection Tour, founded by Travis Rice, and brings together Olympians, X Games medalists, and Freeride World Tour champions for a groundbreaking competition. The stacked roster […] Industry News Martin Kuprianowicz | February 4, 2025 0 Comments
Airolo, Swiss Alps, Report: An Unexpectedly Mind-Blowing Powder Day in Italian-Speaking Switzerland https://www.youtube.com/shorts/YXrNYaJufDg This report is from Sunday, January 26, 2025 30 minutes south of Andermatt the entire vibe changes. You move from German to Italian-speaking Switzerland, more cafes start popping up, strangers act a little warmer and friendlier, and the overall pace of life just seems to slow…down… Ahhh, yes. Related: Andermatt, Switzerland, Report: Is This Just Another One of Those Ski […] Trip Report Martin Kuprianowicz | January 30, 2025 0 Comments
Martin Kuprianowicz
Backcountry
Brains
Industry News
Trip Report