How to Stay Alive in Steep Terrain: Lessons From a Life in Chamonix Ross Hewitt has been skiing steep lines in Chamonix for nearly 30 years. He has not just survived, but endured. In a place where mistakes often prove fatal, he’s found a way to consistently keep the most important aspect of free skiing intact: himself. By all accounts, the odds aren’t in your favor. The slopes of the Mont Blanc Massif, […] Deep Dive Martin Kuprianowicz | May 29, 2025 0 Comments
The Women Speed Riders of Chamonix Speed riding is essentially skiing but with wings. You clip into your skis, strap on a small glider, and take off. The glider or ‘wing,’ as it is referred, lifts, the skis carve, and gravity does the rest. It’s fast. It’s light. And when done right, it looks like flight sculpted in real time; the ability to glide only inches […] Martin Kuprianowicz | April 28, 2025 0 Comments
La Sapinière: Convalescing in Style at the Chamonix Chalet Hotel with the Best View of Mont Blanc in Town An image of a beautiful young blonde woman with big breasts wearing nothing but bright-red ski boots and clinging to the side of a snowy cliffside flashed across the projector screen in the panoramic breakfast hall of the La Sapinière Hotel, just up the grassy hill from downtown Chamonix. “There’s nothing wrong with this!” Gary Bigham blurted to the audience […] Featured Article Martin Kuprianowicz | April 7, 2025 0 Comments
Snowboarder Dies in Crevasse Fall on Vallée Blanche in Chamonix, France A snowboarder in his fifties died on Monday, March 17, after falling into a crevasse while descending the Vallée Blanche near Chamonix. The man was riding with a professionally guided group when a snow bridge collapsed beneath him, sending him nearly 30 meters (100 feet) into the glacier below, according to Chamonix.net. Related: American Ski Mountaineer Rescued by Helicopter with […] SnowBrains | March 21, 2025 0 Comments
[VIDEO] Speed Flyer Captures Footage of Harrowing Crash into Crevasse in Chamonix, France, and Shares Warning on Mental Fatigue View this post on Instagram A post shared by Matt Johnston (@mattsgram92) A recent video circulating on social media shows a speed flyer crashing into steep terrain after misjudging his glide path—an incident that pilot Matt Johnson says could have easily ended much worse. The crash occurred in February, but Johnson, who walked away with minimal injuries, shared the video […] Crash Martin Kuprianowicz | March 14, 2025 0 Comments
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
Seriously Injured Austrian Mountaineer Pulled in Dramatic 4-Hour Rescue from 82-Foot Crevasse on Glacier Near Chamonix, France A dramatic high-altitude rescue unfolded in the French Alps on February 22, 2025, after a 47-year-old experienced Austrian mountaineer from the Innsbruck-Land district fell into a deep crevasse during a demanding climb near Chamonix. The accident occurred at around 8 a.m. on the Aiguille de Blaitière, a 11,555-foot (3,522-meter) peak in the Mont Blanc Massif. The man, who was accompanied […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | February 27, 2025 0 Comments
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
Seasoned Mountain Guide Killed in Avalanche Near Chamonix, France A seasoned mountain guide was found dead late Tuesday night, February 4, after an avalanche buried him while backcountry skiing near the Les Houches ski resort in Haute-Savoie in France. The 59-year-old had set out alone on the slopes of Mont Lachat, an area he knew well. An alarm was raised by concerned friends around 4:30 p.m. when he failed to […] Avalanche Julia Schneemann | February 5, 2025 0 Comments
British Skier Killed by Massive Avalanche Over 3,000 Feet Long in Chamonix, France A 55-year-old British man was killed after a massive avalanche swept him away in the French Alps on Tuesday, January 28. According to local authorities, the slide occurred in an off-piste area of the Grands Montets ski resort in the Chamonix Valley, near Mont Blanc. The avalanche, described as “very large,” measured over 3,300 feet (1,000 meters) long and 1,300 […] Avalanche AvyBrains | January 29, 2025 0 Comments
[VIDEO] ‘Octopus’ – Splitboarding 8 Couloirs in 24 Hours in Chamonix with Nick Russell and Pica Herry Jones Pro Team rider Julien ‘Pica’ Herry finds a unique Chamonix adventure in “Octopus,” a film that follows Pica and friends (Laurent Bibollet, Nick Russell, and Manu Gross) as they climb and ride eight couloirs in a single push. With a passion for linking up terrain in creative ways, the crew goes dawn-to-dark on the Aiguille de la Glière, riding […] Backcountry SnowBrains | January 21, 2025 0 Comments
Chamonix, France, Report: The World-Famous Vallée Blanche Report from Sunday, January 12, 2025 We had plans to ski a classic 6,000-foot descent in Italy from Hellbronner but the mountains squashed those for us. Avalanche. Morning before. Fucked up the whole run. SO we had to pivot our plans. A few of our party wanted to backtrack and ski some south-facing runs into Italy—a few of which I […] Conditions Report Martin Kuprianowicz | January 15, 2025 0 Comments
Cable Car Construction Halted After Crane Collapse at Les Grands Montets in Chamonix, France The redevelopment of the cable car to the summit of Les Grands Montets in Chamonix, France, has hit a major setback. On Wednesday, October 2, around 12:45 p.m., the crane positioned at the top of the construction site at an altitude of 3,300 meters (10,827 feet) suffered a critical failure when the boom of the crane collapsed, tumbling onto a […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | October 15, 2024 0 Comments
Jack Kuenzle Sets Fastest Known Time Skiing Round-Trip from Chamonix to Mont Blanc, FR Jack Kuenzle is a prominent figure in the world of mountain running and endurance sports and is known for his record-breaking performances in various challenges. He has garnered attention for his remarkable speed and endurance in highly demanding terrains, often setting new records in events that test both physical and mental limits. On Wednesday, June 5, Kuenzle set another impressive […] Industry News Brent Thomas | June 10, 2024 0 Comments
Switzerland’s Daniel Yule Goes from Zero to Hero at the Slalom World Cup in Chamonix, France Switzerland’s Daniel Yule wrote skiing history today, Sunday, February 4, 2024, when the Slalom skier skied from 30th place in run 1 to win the Slalom World Cup in Chamonix, France. A FIS Slalom race is held in two runs, with the combined time counting. Only the top 30 fastest skiers from run 1 qualify for run 2. Typically the […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | February 4, 2024 0 Comments
FIS Cancels Men’s Speed World Cup Events at Chamonix, France, Due to Warm Weather The International Ski & Snowboard Federation (‘FIS’) announced on Saturday, January 27, that the speed events scheduled for February 2 and 3 in Chamonix, France, will be canceled. The Slalom event, scheduled for Sunday, February 4, may still go ahead at this stage. The Kandahar Alpine Ski World Cup in the shadow of the Mont Blanc has been a staple […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | January 29, 2024 0 Comments
Conditions Report: Skiing La Vallée Blanche, Chamonix, France Report from January 13, 2024 La Vallée Blanche La Vallée Blanche is arguably the most famous off-piste ski run in the world. Starting atop the Aiguille du Midi, average people take 4-6 hours to ski the 22 km (13.5 mile) glacier run with a 9,000-foot descent. If you have any questions or have never skied it, it is necessary to […] Conditions Report Brett Ploss | January 22, 2024 0 Comments
Chamonix, France, Conditions Report: Sunny Skies at Brévent and Flégère Report from January 12, 2024 Chamonix The Chamonix region in France includes five main ski areas. La Balme, Les Grands Montets, Brévent, Flégère, and Les Houches. Unlike most places in Europe, Chamonix does not have a mega resort where all resorts in the area are connected by lifts. Although from town Brévent/Flégère are connected and the closest areas to the […] Conditions Report Brett Ploss | January 21, 2024 0 Comments
[UPDATED] Chamonix Legend Tof Henry, 38, Killed in Chile Skiing Accident Chamonix skier Tof Henry, 38, has been killed in a tragic accident at the summit of the Puntiagudo volcano in Chile. Recognized for his speed and skill in mountain sports, his passing has resonated deeply within the skiing and mountaineering community. Henry died on Wednesday, October 11, 2023, on the 8,179-foot (2493-meter) volcano in Chile’s Los Lagos region, reports Radio […] Industry News SnowBrains | October 13, 2023 1 Comment
Fire-Ravaged Trams at Chamonix, France, to be Replaced in 2024 Lift-served access to the summit of Les Grands Montets ski area in the Chamonix Valley is slated to finally return in 2024 after a disastrous fire disabled service in 2018. As reported by Snowbrains at the time, the mid-station fire destroyed the structure that connected both the cable car from the valley floor in Argentière to mid-mountain, and the […] Industry News Christopher Leach | July 5, 2023 0 Comments