thom space

Garmsich to Chamonix 6 1/2 hours, viamichlin, it took us 24 hours. things don’t always go according to plan.

On the way we tried to ski at Verbier however they received so much snow that the entire mountain was closed with the prospect of remaining closed. So we detoured though Valle d’Aosta toward the ski area of Courmayeur situated on the south end of the Mount Blanc masif and the entrance of theMount Blanc Tunnel. french skiing is fun. When we arrived we found a room atle dahu in the town of Argentier.

Argentier is the original “ski town”, there have been ski bums coming here for years. Argentier is still the place to be if your aspirations of alpine skiing are bigger than your bank account, if you want be a ski bum in Europe come here. We ate at the The Stone Bar. There we met Micha Black and a crew of people from TGR films who directed us toward the Grand Montet for the next day of skiing. The Grand Montet has runs which are more than 6000 vertical feet and we were going to be there with more than a foot of fresh powder. We skied first tracks for six runs on the Hearse lift at speeds that I thought were only attainable in movies, it is fun to ski like rock stars.

The next day we were planning on skiingValle’e Blanche off of the summit of the Aiguille du Midi with our friends Kai and Tim who were on their way to meet us from Interlaken where they had taken a ski break on there way over from Garmisch. We were, however, greeted with a phone call of the worst kind that night as we were preparing for their arrival. We were informed that Kai had been killed in an avalanche early in the day as he and Tim were skiing off of the the Shilthorn and into the town of Gimmilwald. We decided to still ski the next day as a tribute to the life that Kai loved to lead, we were met by another foot of fresh snow and what may be the most meaningful day of skiing of my life. It is rare that we truly reflect on the reasons why we do what we do, and what it means to us individually. I learned that the reason I ski is the same reason I choose to live each day, because, it is an adventure, an ever changing journey filled with the unexpected, it is joy, the joy of being alive, of feeling life flowing though your veins, it is the fear of death, there to remind you that life is beautiful and fleeting.

lead the life you love.