This fucking guy

[Boissal]

From my outsider's understanding of the current euro steep skiing scene, one of the trends in the last decade or so is to repeat lines that once required rappels without the ropework. Easy to see how this could be considered better style, in a free vs aid kinda way. Bonhomme seems to be one of the stronger players in that game nowadays and has skied some truly outrageous shit. But if dry skiing is your thing you're going to be doing a lot of sketching around no matter how good you are. This vid being a pretty prime example.

Go watch Vivan Bruchez/Seb Montaz's films Downside Up and Between the Lines for more of this kind of behaviour. Downside Up in particular is a real classic.

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/downsideup

This.
There aren't exactly tons of cherries left to pick in the Alps where people have been skiing everything that could conceivably be looked at as a ski run for 100+ years.
What's left requires some serious imagination. The alternative is to revisit old "aid" line and "free" them. Which involves massive amounts of shenanigans. This guy, Vivian, there's a whole bunch of people putting tracks down things that give me anxiety just hearing the name.

[Shorty_J]

Is that the normal place and orientation to carry an ice axe... like, barely secured and right by his neck?

[muted reborn]

I made a relatively big exposure mistake with thin snow over rocks today, luckily I didn't fall, first big dumb mistake like that in a long time - and it made me rethink a few things in my life. Now I read here I'm part of a new trend doing stuff like this on purpose! No worries then! Also with global warming coming up, this super fun and exciting trend is going to be normal skiing.

[John_B]

Is that the normal place and orientation to carry an ice axe... like, barely secured and right by his neck?

I believe the thinking is it is an easy place to retrieve the axe from if you need it.

[klauss]

Now I am understanding why Rax are so popular in cham?

Navarro's FWT run was a touch scratchy

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CZKZzGd..._web_copy_link

[Core Shot]

It’s a clothing on version of onlyfans.

Retards on parade.

[old goat]

Is that the normal place and orientation to carry an ice axe... like, barely secured and right by his neck?

Back in the day--when climbers wore knickers--the ice axe was carried vertically between the straps of the rucksack (that's what they called it back then).

[Afkpuz]

To me, if you follow the boot tracks below the guy (assuming those are boot tracks) there's what looks like to me a very skiable (in a Euro/likely mandatory rappel sort of way) couloir. 2:18 has a great view of it all the way below him.

Yeah, I can see it, looks like a pretty short field though, and there's something about the shape of that rollover that makes me think the other side isn't nearly so pleasant...

Re: general euro-ness upthread: I think the story of how these kinds of objectives came to exist is more interesting and compelling than the skiing required to achieve them. This, I think, is the point of diminishing returns. Everyone's "conquering the useless" all the time in the mountains on some level, but shit, dude, there's levels, and this fuckin' guy is on a level... then again I'm not a French Alpinist, what do I know?

[Boissal]

I believe the thinking is it is an easy place to retrieve the axe from if you need it.

It's surprisingly secure too, much better than fighting with the axe strapped to the pack. Only way it comes out is if you get upside down. When that happens you have other shit to worry about and getting stabbed in the neck by the axe might provide a merciful death

[old goat]

Yeah, I can see it, looks like a pretty short field though, and there's something about the shape of that rollover that makes me think the other side isn't nearly so pleasant...

Re: general euro-ness upthread: I think the story of how these kinds of objectives came to exist is more interesting and compelling than the skiing required to achieve them. This, I think, is the point of diminishing returns. Everyone's "conquering the useless" all the time in the mountains on some level, but shit, dude, there's levels, and this fuckin' guy is on a level... then again I'm not a French Alpinist, what do I know?

A Muslim goes to heaven if he dies in Jihad. A Viking goes to Valhalla if he dies with a sword in his hand. A Frenchman goes to heaven if he dies skiing, climbing, or behind the wheel of a car.

And definitely not if he dies in battle defending his country. (Sorry for the stale joke Boissal.)

[Shorty_J]

It's surprisingly secure too, much better than fighting with the axe strapped to the pack. Only way it comes out is if you get upside down. When that happens you have other shit to worry about and getting stabbed in the neck by the axe might provide a merciful death

Well the only reason I noticed it in this video is that it was sticking out to the side and moving around a little... at one point he stopped to reposition it.

I would definitely not want something like that moving around in that vicinity. But who knows.