Life is good in Chamonix! I just won the the first stop of the Freeride World Tour. It was a crazy day. The face received two feet of new snow and many of the first riders broke off big slabs, exposing hard snow underneath. I changed my line minutes before I headed up the bootpack to the start. It was a tough decision: ski the more impressive side of the venue in icy conditions or try to build a line on the other side of the venue with perfect conditions. I decided that skiing powder would be a lot more fun. Luckily, I chose well and won. I’m super psyched.

I was so excited about the new snow, but was also a little nervous that it did not have enough time to set up. The week before the competition the weather was really warm and then the temperature dropped to -1 degrees F, creating bulletproof conditions. The new snow was really light and I was pretty sure I would still feel the hard layer underneath. I was also worried that the new snow didn’t have enough time to bond to the hard surface, creating a potential for avalanches.

Left Side of the Competition Face with Two Feet of Fresh Snow. Beautiful!

The face was controlled the night before the competition with little movement. The guides assured the riders that the snow was very good. We were told that when the guides skied the face, they did not feel the hard surface underneath. Great news. I chose a line that would push my limits and be a ton of fun. I was ready for the competition.

Sunrise on the competition face in Chamonix.

The men started first. As the first male competitor dropped into the face, the riders watching realized that the information we were given was not accurate for all aspects of the venue. The first five riders broke off big slabs that exposed the bulletproof layer that was there from the week before. The line I wanted ski had a fracture of one foot above my first air and the landing looked like ice in my binoculars. I was really bummed to see that the conditions were exactly as I thought they would be, not great. I was forced to find another line with only an hour to my start time. As I was scouting, I was also watching a lot of the men really struggle to ski the face. The snow looked inconsistent and many of the men were falling.

I found a line that I liked until I watched Seb Mitchaud ski. Seb skied the ramp I was planning on going down. He is one of the best skiers in the world and made the skiing look really difficult. I was pretty sure if Seb was struggling that I would be in trouble. I was sick about it. I kept searching for a line on the left side of the venue. As I was observing, I noticed the general public ripping down the powder field next to the right side of the venue, which is north facing and protected from the sun. The snow looked amazing! I knew the snow would be really good on the skier’s right side of the venue, but I was having a hard time finding a line that would flow well.

Skier’s right side of the venue, north facing, and covered in two feet of powder.

I couldn’t make a decision. The snow would be excellent on the right side of the face, but lines on left side were more impressive. I was convinced that the winning line would be on the skier’s left side of the venue. I kept going back and fourth on where to ski. I talked to many of the girls, who all seemed to want to ski the exact same line as I did on the right side. Finally, I decided that my skiing would look more impressive in good conditions. I decided to go for the good snow! The only problem was that if I was going to go to the good snow, and not the most impressive zone, I would have to find something big to jump off. I found the biggest feature with the softest snow and decided to go for it.

Looking for the biggest feature with the softest snow.

I headed up to the top of the mountain and started the hour bootpack to start No. 1. The bootpack was super gnarly. When I arrived to the top, I realized I wouldn’t be able to access my line from start 1. I asked the starter if I could start farther down the ridge. He said absolutely not. I would have to leave from the starting gate. The problem was that if I left from the starting gate, I would have to ski uphill to get to the line I had chosen. I was freaking out. I hadn’t inspected anything else from the starting gate. I didn’t really know what was below start gate 1. All I knew was that the snow was terrible and the starting gate was over huge exposure.

I didn’t know what to do. I could’ve cried. The rescue team at the top saw how worried I was and came up with a plan. They stomped out a ramp for me, and with enough speed out of the starting gate I would be able to ski uphill and make it to the ridge I needed to be on to access my line. It was so nice of them. I was psyched.

I had two minutes to get ready. Before I had my boots buckled the starter told me to go. I pushed out of the gate and skied right up the packed-out ramp. It worked! I headed over to far right side of the venue to find the entrance to my line. As soon as I got to the ridge, I knew I had made the right choice. The soft snow was billowing around my waist and felt bottomless. I traversed the ridge to my first air, approximately 25 feet, and sent it. The landing was unreal. It felt like landing on feathers. The snow flew over my head as I skied to my next air.

There was so much snow on top of my second air that I lost all of my speed before I reached the takeoff. I was forced to jump off the right side of the drop. It was still a good-size air, but not what I had planned on. By this time I was having a lot of fun. I ripped huge pow turns, face shots and all, to my last air. It was a small drop. I knew that to make it look impressive, I would have to hit it with a lot of speed. I sent it, maybe with too much speed. It was the only firm landing I had my entire run. My back slap was quick and I was up ripping powder turns again. I skied into the finish covered in snow with a huge smile on my face. My run was so much fun!

Ok so this isn’t me, it’s Matt Annets, but this is how I felt in the finish arena.

The awards ceremony was held on the mountain right after all the riders finished competing. The announcer started with 7th place Jaclyn Paaso, 6th Crystal Wright, 5th Janette Harigin, 4th Lorainne Huber, 3rd Janina Kuzma. I was going to be on the podium. Next the announcer called both myself and Eva Walkner to the podium. We joined Janina and with a drum roll he announced, “And in first place, from the United States of America … Jess McMillan.” I screamed! I had just won in Chamonix! The best part of it all was that I had a ton of fun while skiing my line. All in all a fantastic day!

• More coverage of Chamonix Freeride 2010
• Podcast with Jess McMillan

Jess McMillan is a Cloudveil Inspired Mountain Ambassador. She placed third on the Freeride World Tour in 2009 and second in 2008. Last month she won the Canadian Freeskiing Championship in Revelstoke, B.C.

It takes a few planes, trains, and automobiles to get to Las Leñas, but it is worth it. Leñas received 9 feet of snow last week and the coverage is really good.  The only problem is that there seems to be a giant fan blowing full blast on the Andes.  And this is what it feels like.

Despite the gail force winds, the Las Leñas Big Mountain Competition is going off. I was disappointed to hear that it is for men only, but Griffin Post and Drew Stoecklein are representing for the USA. Griffin skied into second and Drew fourth yesterday. The boys have one more run today, hopefully for the win! ]]> http://www.mountainmurmur.com/2009/08/27/skis-back-on-my-feet/feed/ 0 http://www.mountainmurmur.com/2009/08/26/searching-for-serendipity/ http://www.mountainmurmur.com/2009/08/26/searching-for-serendipity/#comments Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:36:39 +0000 Chuck Fryberger http://www.themountainculture.com/?p=2432 If I had to distill my experience in South Africa down to a single word that sums up the whole season, that word would be Searching.

So much searching, in fact, that my legs are still sore after a week of rest. This season I was excited to search out and discover something new and cool. I wanted to find and complete a boulder problem that was not only at my limit, but had some thing about it that I had never experienced before. Whether a crazy new move or a type of feature I had never climbed… I wanted to just keep searching until I found what I was looking for.

I was able to complete several new problems this season, including the first ascent of an absolute classic I named Spudd Webb in honor of the height-challenged NBA player who could still slam dunk. Despite the fact that it was an amazing, near perfect boulder problem, it was not at the limit of my ability. The ’slam dunk’ move is one of the coolest moves I’ve ever done, but this didn’t feel like the climax of my trip.

Spudd Webb, First Ascent.

There were several problems I tried this season that were too hard for me. The notorious project at the Roadside area (we were calling it the Air Star Project) has once again throttled another season of the worlds best boulderers. Had I been able to complete this amazing line, this would have surely fulfilled my vision, but after prolonged attempts and watching other great climbers attempt the line I’m pretty sure this problem is in the V14 – V16 range.

Sadly, the hardest climb I did all season was not of an extremely high quality. Vice President is a direct finish to an existing problem called The Vice, and though it’s harder than The Vice, the two-move gut-wrenching power crux is not the graceful, fluid, gymnastic climbing I had fanticized about. Another hard climb I succeeded on was Green Mamba, given 8B or V13, and though I sent this climb relatively quickly it still felt unfulfilling. I was seeking something that I had to struggle with and really break through some barrier to overcome.

One day, myself, Nalle, Kevin, Sarah and I went out to explore a new zone called The Base Camp. These boulders looked great and there was one line that stood out among all the others. A group of motivated Germans were there, including Flo and Axel, who spent the whole season in Rocklands. As it happens, they had seen the same line as I did and were planning to try to climb it. They had already spent some time making the landing safe so I stood back and allowed them to work on the moves and try to send the problem first. After about an hour I checked back and none of them had topped it out, so I put on my shoes and helped them find the beta for the top of the climb, a difficult though very small move from a micro-crimp to the top of the boulder. A fall from this move could be dangerous so it was important to have all the pads and all the spotters ready in case you miss this powerful and balancy move.

In a group of motivated climbers, it’s always exciting to see who will get the first ascent of a new problem. Since the Germans had put in most of the effort in making the landing safe, I let them take a few tries, and just as I was about to put my shoes on, Flo stepped up and with a massive scream he stuck the crux second move, powered through the middle section, and dug deep to latch the top of one of the best new problems of the season – Serendipity. The problem got its second ascent just minutes later, when on my first try from the start I also found my way to the top.

Serendipity, at the Base Camp Area.

To be honest, the second ascent of this problem was likely the experience of the trip for me. It came the closest to matching my vision of what I had set out for, and thinking back on it, there are few places in the world where this kind of boulder problem exists.

Shortly after climbing Serendipity, I heard my friend Nalle had managed to rediscover an area he had seen the previous season. Nalle’s goals were similar to mine – he wanted to do something new, hard, and special. This line he found eventually became Livin’ Large… which I blogged about previously.

Filming Rocklands with the Red One.

Though I continued looking for my own lines, I was happy to focus on filming Nalle on his project and supporting his efforts to succeed on his project. Though Nalle gets the credit for the athletic skill to ascend the problem, I was psyched to have the opportunity to capture the ascent in cinema-quality 4K video on my new video camera.

Another meaningful event during the season was our visit to the Elizabethfontaine Primary School, which is located right in the middle of Rocklands. This Spring we put on movie screenings of my last film, Pure, and we also did an event where Kevin Jorgeson gave an excellent slideshow. Kevin got to see the school for the first time on the trip and he was psyched to have participated in the fundraising. In addition to donating money to the school, we also had a couple hundred toothbrushes and some warm winter hats from Cloudveil that we gave to the teachers in order to distribute to the kids.

This season, we were able to donate even more than we did last year, and with the exchange rate of South African Rand being quite favorable, our donation of 12,000 Rand will help the school on their next project: building a kindergarten. Lots of the kids in the area would benefit from having a grade prior to first grade, where they can learn some basic skills and get up to speed before starting school.

As always, the school looked neat and well-kept. We were treated to a performance of a new dance routine from some of the older students, and they showed us a new garden they had planted recently to be able to grow vegetables to use in the school kitchen. Many of the children wanted to be able to have cabbage soup, but the school could not afford it, so now they have a small, productive cabbage patch that also helps teach the kids about basic farming practices.

Our efforts with the school have not gone unnoticed, and I’m happy to report that other climbers have started to get involved as well. One great idea that recently was implemented was the placement of a donation box in the campground, where departing climbers can leave their unwanted spare change instead of taking it home and forgetting about it. Guy Holwill was working on this project and it’s really great for me to see the virus expanding.

This season there was a lot of talk about new access restrictions, permits, closures, impact, and all the other stuff that starts coming up just before an area starts getting shut down. Doing some positive things for the community is a great way to balance the negative impact climbers have on the environment, and ultimately I think my work with the school will be longer-lasting and more important than any first ascent I may accomplish.

The Enercon e-126 wind turbine.

I just read that the world’s largest wind turbine has been installed in Germany, and the estimated production of the generator is over 7,000 kWh. How much is that?

I asked Sarah how many Kilowatt Hours the new climbing gym in Boulder uses, and she said it was designed to use about 14 kWh.

This means that the Enercon turbine could, by itself, power 500 large commercial buildings … especially those that are designed to be effecient.

The turbine also has adjustable blades that better cope with varying wind speeds, allowing it to operate efficiently in a variety of conditions. It was also designed to cause minimum harm to bird life, an over-hyped ‘downside’ of wind generation. Last time I checked, the Exxon Valdez caused a bit of harm to wildlife too.

The interior of Movement Climbing and Fitness in Boulder, Colorado.

I’m finally beginning to feel human again after a long season in Rocklands. I’ll have some other posts from the bouldering mecca of the southern hemisphere in the coming days, including an update from the Elizabethfontaine Primary School, where we were able to make another donation this season.

Give the recent chilly weather, we thought a ski post would be appropriate. –Eds.

I leave for South America in 10 days. It has finally starting snowing down there and I am getting super stoked to ski some powder. Before any big skiing trip I immerse myself in skiing videos and photos. So I thought I would also stoke everyone else out with photos from last year.

Las Lenas

It has been 13 years since I stood on top of the Grand Teton.  I have a list of excuses why, but so does everyone else.  Earlier this summer, I was visiting with a childhood friend who had never climbed the Grand.  As a Jackson Hole local, he felt that standing on top of the Grand was a right of passage.  After a few glasses of wine, I decided we should do it for our birthdays because they are only a few days a part. As the set date, August 6, grew closer, I started to get nervous about my commitment.  It had been a long time since I was up there.  Would I remember the route?  Was I qualified to take my friends up?  With doubt on my mind, Eric and I decided we better do a trial run.

Grand Teton with a Fresh Coat of Paint.

The Owen-Spalding is the easiest route to climb to the summit when conditions are good, meaning dry. The route is named after William Owen and Frank Spalding who along with Frank Peterson and John Shive first climbed it August 11, 1898. After talking to many friends and Exum guides, I learned that OS route was finally dry and good to go. Eric, my husband, and I decided the OS route would be the best choice for us because we are not exactly mountaineers. Yes we are familiar with climbing gear and know how to use it, but we would never claim to be bad-ass mountaineers. We enjoy being in the mountains.

I asked a friend if he would take us up, but he thought Eric and I would have more fun if we figured it out ourselves. So I bought the book, A Climber’s Guide to the Teton Range, and photo copied the description and photos of the route. My buddy gave me a list of the gear we would need and Eric were off on our adventure.

Sunrise in the Meadows.

We started hiking a 3:45 am. The sunrise in the Meadows was incredible; the rays bouncing off the Middle Teton were breath-taking. It was one of those moments when you feel lucky to be alive and witness such beauty. From the Meadows we hiked to Lower Saddle which sits at 11, 600+ feet. Exum has a base camp set up in the Lower Saddle. We met an Exum guide on the way up. He was really nice and invited us in to warm up giving us a lay of the land before we headed to the Upper Saddle. We reached the Upper Saddle by 10:00.

The “Belly Roll” and the “Belly Crawl” are the first obstacles to catch your attention. According to, A Climber’s Guide to the Grand Tetons, it is where most parties rope up. If you talk to some Jackson Hole locals there is no need to rope up and it is possible to free climb the entire route. When Eric and I saw 18 inch wide ledge and the 2000 foot verticle drop, we decided to rope up. There was a traffic jam at the “Belly Crawl.” This was not surprising being August first and the route was finally dry. We sat at the “Belly Crawl” station for almost an hour and half. I was freezing. The clouds were rolling in and out and the wind was chilly.

Once we were through the “Belly Crawl,” we climbed up the “Double Chimney” to the “Cat Walk.” The “Cat Walk” is a very exposed 150 foot series of ascending slabs. It was, in my opinion, the easiest part of the route. It was really easy to walk along, but it can be deadly when icy. From the “Cat Walk” we climbed “Sargent’s Chimney” and then scrabbled to the top.

Eric Seymour and me at the top of the Grand.

We were so lucky. We were the only people at the summit for 20 minutes.

Top of the Grand!

It is easy to let your guard down once you have reached the summit, but it’s not truly over until you are drinking a beer at Dornan’s. The descent involves a 120 foot rappel. The rappel is much faster than down climbing because you are able to avoid down climbing the “Catwalk, Double Chimney, Belly Crawl, and Belly Roll.” Not too mention it is really fun. Eric and I had doubled checked with many people to make sure the rope we brought was long enough for the 120 foot rappel. We have a few friends who haven’t had a long enough rope and had to be very creative when they reached the end of their rope. At the belay station our fears of not having the right length of rope surfaced. There were two other climber’s from Montana at the belay station who also had the same reservations. So we decided to attach our ropes creating a 140 meter rope. We were confident this would plenty of rope for the rappel. Eric dropped off first.

Eric Seymour

Yah! Free Fall!

The two ropes together was more than enough, but better safe than sorry. After the rappel we headed back down to the lower saddle. From the lower saddle, it is a long walk out.

Eric and I had great day. I think my favorite quote of the day was, “Wow Jess! That was really intense! I didn’t think we were going to do so much rock climbing.” And this from the guy who likes to run 100 foot waterfalls!

Today is Jess McMillan’s Birthday! Happy Birthday, Jess!

Craig’s Ambassador Bio-I’ve been a climber most of my life, but in 2002 while climbing with a friend in Rocky Mountain National Park, I was dropped 100 feet due to a miscommunication. The fall resulted in the loss of my right leg, a fused back and numerous other life long injuries. After about two years of rehab, I was back to climbing at about the same levels of pre-accident, and in 2005 became the first amputee to climb El Capitan in under 24 hours. I love to ski and mountain bike with my family when I’m not scaling rocks.

CLICK HERE to watch the video on DenverPost.com

Check out all of the incredible members of Cloudveil’s Outdoor Ambassador Team here.

Cody Gets Hit With a Traffic Cone.

Rocklands season is awesome, and one of the people who cant seem to stay away is Cody Roth. This season, he added several new lines to the area, including the big ships-prow feature in the video frame above. In addition to climbing hard he’s also the number one coffee man in the campsite. He even brought a milk-foamer from Austria to make proper cappucino.

Cody as Camp Host.

The weather is awesome, too. Two days of rain in the last six weeks. I’m climbing a lot now and only pulling out the camera when something big is happening. Yesterday, I added a low start to a problem Nalle put up and named it ‘The Original Method.’ Then, Nalle re-named his problem ‘The method that was used prior to the original method’.

Poll question: can you re-name a problem you put up?

Cody on Fields of Joy.

I called dab but then we had to go to a Lekker Braii with Team Austria and so the debate ended in favor of beverages and flame-grilled meats.

Cheers from South Africa.

Cloudveil athlete Chuck Fryberger is a climber and filmmaker. Check out his film, Pure, and his Web site ChuckFryberger.com.

My goal this summer is summit all of the major peaks in the Teton range. The weather is finally getting nice in Jackson and it’s time to start bagging some peaks. I decided to start out with one of the easier peaks to summit, the Middle Teton, to get myself into shape.

Approaching the Meadows at the base of the Middle Teton

The Middle Teton is basically a long hike.

I am accustomed to summitting in running shoes. There is still a lot of snow in the Tetons, so I brought along an ice axe just in case. And the best part of climbing up is glissading down the snow fields on the way down. I’m really glad I brought my ice axe. Without it, I would not have made the summit. In hindsight, crampons would’ve been nice to have as well.

Eric and I summitted at 11:45 a.m. and had the summit all to ourselves. It was beautiful up there.

The snow made it a little more difficult to go up, but made the going down a lot more fun.

Next up Teewinot. …

Jess McMillan is a Cloudveil athlete, a champion freeskier and badass kayaker. She calls Jackson Hole home.

The season is off to a great start here in Rocklands (South Africa). I’ve been ramping up my bouldering and would like to try to tick off some hard problems this season. Jamie sent Shosholoza last Friday, which is great for him to be able to send such a world-class problem. I’m struggling to get coverage of all the climbing going on down here but it’s really fun to be surrounded by energy and talent.

There’s some rain in the forecast which brings the streak of good weather to a close, should it hit tomorrow as predicted.

Nalle did a great First Ascent at a new area we’re developing called the Beverage Sector. Hard V12 I’d say for this one. The crux move is like a mirror image of Slashface. There are some more good problems to be done and I look forward to some more filming.

The photo here is a frame from the video.

Happy sending!

Chuck Fryberger is a filmmaker, climber and humantarian, in addition to being a Cloudveil Athlete. To see his work in a Cloudveil publication, check out his blog.