43 years after the feat of the pioneers Anselme Baud and Patrick Vallenchant in 1977, Vivian Bruchez, Guillaume Pierrel, Tiphaine Duperier, Boris Langenstein and Tom Lafaille have skied down the north face of the Blanche de Peuterey.
Lhe north face of the Blanche de Peuterey is located on a difficult summit in the Italian part of the Mont-Blanc massif, between the Noire de Peuterey and the Grand Pilier d'Angle. For the native of Chamonix Vivian Bruchez, this descent was “a skier's dream, a kid's dream, a mountain and a face”. She really cared about her. It was therefore in the footsteps of Anselme Baud and Patrick Vallençant that five talented skiers set off on this vertiginous ridge.
Image credit Christian - http://www.camptocamp.org/images/328929/fr/arete-de-peuterey, CC BY-SA 2.0 fr, Link
A common project
It is Guillaume Pierrel who had the idea of this magnificent adventure. This aspiring high mountain guide had spotted a line that would avoid rappelling to reach the starting point. Athletes therefore simply installed a handrail. It “has not been used by everyone”! And she's the only girl on the team, Thiphaine Duperier who "made the trail!" ". The young aspiring guide “in Olympic form and all smiles,” led the way for most of the journey.
The photographer and mountaineer Boris Langenstein who had taken Thiphaine Duperier at over 8000 meters on the Naga Parbat in Pakistan, was also in the game. His ease and knowledge of the mountains were assets for the team. The youngest of the group was this "companion who keeps smiling even when the ice is hard as glass and the crampons sing on the ice"… The young skier and mountaineer of 19 years Tom lafaille, once again demonstrated that he deserved his place among the greats.
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A human experience
To Vivian Bruchez, this team downhill experience is the reason he loves skiing. “First for the aesthetics of a summit, then for the line, finally and above all for the companions of adventure. »A real human adventure that will mark the memories of all these adventurers, who followed in the footsteps of two other friends who had achieved the feat in 1977.
Patrick Vallencant has dedicated his life to mountain verticality, rock climbing, mountaineering and downhill skiing. This athlete and adventurer was a pioneer of extreme descents. In the Alps or in the Andes, he did not hesitate to brave slopes at 60 ° C considered impregnable… He unfortunately died in a sad accident on a school wall in the Cévennes. This fall from 40 meters was fatal to him. But Patrick is still a legend of the mountains today.
Anselme Baud is a teacher at the National Ski and Mountaineering School. He was the roping and downhill companion of Patrick Vallenchant for years. These two pioneers of extreme skiing have joined forces in the quest for physical performance and technical perfection. According to Anselme, Patrick was a “whole man, ready to sacrifice everything to achieve his goals. With him, in the city as in the mountains, it was all the time. He did not know the middle way ”.
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