French Alpinist Vivian Bruchez Becomes First to Climb and Ski All 82 of the Alps’ 4,000-Meter Peaks French mountain guide and ski mountaineer Vivian Bruchez has become the first person to climb and ski all 82 summits over 4,000 meters (13,00 feet) in the Alps—a feat that has taken more than two decades, dozens of partners, and an unwavering commitment to both athleticism and alpine ethics. On June 20, Bruchez summited Pointe Marguerite (4,065 meters, 13,337 feet) […] Climbing Martin Kuprianowicz | June 24, 2025 0 Comments
New Speed Records Set on Mont Blanc by French Athletes Benjamin Vedrines and Elise Poncet In a historic week for high-speed alpine ascents, two French athletes have claimed new Fastest Known Times (FKTs) for skiing ascents and descents of Mont Blanc, Western Europe’s highest peak. On May 24, 32-year-old French mountaineer Benjamin Vedrines completed a blistering round-trip from Chamonix to the 4,809-meter (15,777-foot) summit of Mont Blanc and back in 4 hours, 54 minutes, and […] Climbing Martin Kuprianowicz | May 30, 2025 0 Comments
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
Top 9 Must Ski Destinations Around the World Who doesn’t love a good destination ski trip? Anticipation levels are sky-high while planning your travel, from finding accommodation to checking out local dining options. The immediate thrill when arriving in a unique winter paradise accompanied by friends, family, or your own good fortune. There are not many feelings quite like it. Each year, TripAdvisor puts together a list of the […] Industry News John Cunningham | March 16, 2025 1 Comment
[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
SnowBrains Podcast Ep. 80 | Anna DeMonte – Ski Mountaineer & Mont Blanc Women’s Ski FKT Record Holder This episode of the SnowBrains podcast is brought to you by Club Med. Anna DeMonte is a ski mountaineering athlete who, in June 2024, captured the Women’s Ski Fastest Known Time (FKT) on 15,766′ Mont Blanc in Chamonix, France. 9,000′ vertical backcountry days are normal for her, and recently, she has been averaging over 25,000′ of human-powered vertical a week. The […] Podcasts Podcast | March 4, 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
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
5 of the Most Dangerous Ski Areas in the World Lifts can provide the public access to terrain that might not be advisable for the majority. While there are hundreds of locations around the globe with obvious dangers, here are a few examples that stand out among the rest. La Grave, France Made famous in the US in the 90s by the likes of Doug Coombs (who met his untimely […] Brains Christopher Leach | June 29, 2024 4 Comments
American Athlete Anna DeMonte Sets New Record Time for Summiting Mont Blanc, France, on Skis American runner and ski mountaineer Anna DeMonte set a new fastest known time (FKT) for a woman on skis on Mont Blanc, France. She completed the round trip to the summit and back in seven hours and 29 minutes on June 5, 2024. This was just four minutes slower than the running FKT set by Hillary Gerardi. Anna De Monte […] Industry News Leander Walchshöfer | June 19, 2024 2 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
British Adventurer Aims To Summit Mont Blanc, France, in 1830s Gear Lise Wortley, British Adventurer aims to climb Mont Blanc, France, in 1830s gear. Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe at 15,766 feet, has been summited numerous times. But the first woman to reach the top, at least under her own power, was in 1838. Her name was Henriette d’Angeville and she was 43 years old […] Climbing Ben Davies | May 6, 2024 0 Comments