Sylvain Saudan, a legend in backcountry skiing, passed away Sunday, July 14, of a heart attack according to his wife via ledauphine.com. Born in 1936, Sylvain Saudan helped pave the way for modern backcountry skiing. From inventing ski techniques to helping spark the design of modern skis, and skiing what was considered impossible at the time, Saudan was an integral part of the ski culture throughout his life.
Remember when your parents used to ask you, โIf everyone was jumping off a bridge would you?โ yet Saudan asks himself, โIf everyone is too scared to attempt a ski descent, why wouldnโt you?โ The Swiss backcountry legend has claimed 23 first descents throughout his career. One of the most groundbreaking was his first descent of the Spencer Couloir on Mont Blanc in 1967. At a steep 55-degree slope angle, this couloir was largely considered unskiable at the time. After Saudan proved it could be done, others started to push themselves to ski in steeper, more consequential terrain. He also claimed the title of the first to ski a peak over 8,000 meters, bagging Pakistanโs Hidden Peak and skiing a 3,000-meter descent at an average 50-degree slope. Being that exposed for that long is not for the faint of heart. But it was most certainly for Sylvain Saudan.
He liked to ski what is considered โno fall zones,โ in other words if you fall, you die. This takes some creative thinking and pure grit to get out alive. When skiing Mount Hood for the first time off the top, Saudan chose the East-facing Newton Clark headwall for his descent, purposely seeking out the difficult way down. During this descent, he made an error and chose the wrong chute to drop into. Realizing he was above large cliff exposure, he had to think fast and hike out of the chute using just the edges of his skis and his poles. After a presumably mentally and physically exhausting 30-minute hike out, Saudan successfully skied the rest of the line.
Sylvain Saudan once said, โIf you can ski on rocks, then you can ski on any snow,โ according to Oldschoolersโ Facebook page.
The sport of skiing got a whole lot more than just steep first ascents from Sylvain Saudan. While figuring out how to navigate these steep slopes, Saudan invented a new way of turning on skis. Similar to a jump turn, but with more stability, he introduced โwindshield wiper turns.โ These particular turns are performed by planting one pole downhill and essentially jump-turning 180 degrees while keeping your ski tails firmly planted in the ground to maximize anchor points. He also skied on short, wide metal skis that he developed himself which paved the way to modern powder skis. No doubt these were easier to execute a windshield wiper turn-on without catching your downhill pole.
The impact Sylvain Saudan had on skiing and ski culture cannot be denied. Skiing pitches that approached 60-degree angles throughout his lifetime, he pushed the limit of what was possible on skis and proved to others it could be done. One of the bravest and gnarliest skiers to ever do it, his legend will live on in his first descent records and ski culture as a whole.
Skiing on rocks! lol Great write-up!