Europe has always seemed like a pipe dream, something so far away and way too expensive to ever seem possible. It was with great surprise and excitement that I found out that a project I had worked on with Crest Pictures and Friends, Freerider was chosen to be a part of the FreeRide Film Festival. With word of this I had tickets to go to Saint Lary, France to attend and another two weeks to check out the Alps.
The plane landed in Paris, France as the morning sun crested over the horizon for the next 48 hours I would take a whirlwind tour seeing touristy areas like the Luv, Effiel Tower and the Notre Dame before heading to the South of France. Once in the small country town of Saint Lary which is nestled in the Pyranees mountains I tried new foods, saw different films and celebrated a culture I have been fortunate to be a part of. It was a honor to have our film along side big budget films like All.I.Can, This is my Winter and Art of Flight.
With a train ticket in hand I decided to head east to Chamonix just as a front was approaching, that night I watched an almost full moon illuminate over towns before I made it to my resting point the Geneva Airport where I would take a bus to Cham the next day. Once I made it to Chamonix it was nuking snow and the drought they had been experiencing was officially over. I stayed with a Cham legend named Gary Bigham who was filled with stories of the valley and introducing people like Glen Plake to the mountains he called home. By my second day there the weather had warmed up and it started raining at the resort. There was a moment that I loaded a 75 person tram with 4 other people and decided I needed to head further east for colder weather and to meet up with a old friend.
I was able to hitch a ride with Caroline George, another First Ascent athlete over a pass and into Switzerland where I boarded a train and made my way to Bad Ragaz. While in Switzerland I checked out Davos and partied with my friend Guy Newman having a blast in one of the most expensive places in the world. The forecasts were looking optimistic so we decided to head further East to meet up with Lea and Lorenzo in Innsbruck, Austria and ski Saint Anton Am Alburg.
Our first day at Saint Anton was amazing with over 50cms of new snow and no competition for fresh tracks as we rode bell to bell, while I couldn’t see the terrain it was powder. That night we said goodbye to Guy and Lea and Lorenzo showed me around the streets on Innsbruck before getting some rest in preparation for another long day at the resort.
The next day we watched the sunrise and Lorenzo and I said goodbye to Lea and heading West on the Auto bond to Saint Anton. The conditions were great and before we knew it the clouds had lifted. I was stoked we had bluebird and powder conditions. It was one of the best resort days of my life and I owe a huge thanks to Lorenzo for showing me around before saying goodbye and hoping on a train to the Geneva Airport.
The storm had hit hard and the Airport was filled with travelers carrying snowboard and ski bags and here I was leaving for Oslo, Norway.
My last day of travel was a whirlwind day in Oslo with friend and local Arild where I tried local food, hiked the trails and checked out the bustling city.
The trip was only 3 weeks long but I was able to experience so much and I owe many thanks.
Thank You
Kathy and Robert Christensen, All my peeps at Eddie Bauer, Bruno Delay, Guy Newman, Lorenzo, Lea Hart, Gary Bigham, Blitz, Arild and everyone else who made this a possibility.
Thank you for reading and If you enjoyed reading this and want to see more ski tours abroad check out this link