Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast
Results 1 to 25 of 46
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2015
    Posts
    321

    Born in Chamonix (Tof Henry)

    Not sure if this has been posted up yet, but a super cool new release about Cham skiing/style/progression starring Tof Henry and some insanely impressive steep skiing.


    Name:  Screen Shot 2018-11-27 at 6.12.11 PM.png
Views: 2231
Size:  221.4 KB
    https://vimeo.com/302645996

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    OR
    Posts
    1,937
    spicy! mono board is back

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Location
    Zurich, Switzerland
    Posts
    420
    I liked it but it did not kick me out of the socks as la liste did - and the comparison was made everywhere...

    Now that you expectations are reset: watch it, it is definitely worth the time.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Movin' On
    Posts
    3,716
    Direct link-

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Posts
    3,189
    I liked it and thought the Nobis comparison was spot on... Thanks for posting...

    Sent from my SM-G955U using TGR Forums mobile app

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Montucky
    Posts
    2,004
    Better article in Nov. Pow Mag about Tof, great companion to this piece imo


    Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Chamonix
    Posts
    625
    I lent Tof my 21cm ice screw in the queue for the Midi before he went to ski the north face of the Aiguille du Plan with Mikko and Jesper, and well over six months later he STILL hasn't given it back.

    Until he gives back my ice screw, I cannot endorse any project of his.

    Film looks rad though, because that's just who Tof is.

    But give me back my ice screw, dick.
    Short stories about snow and rock, and pictures, too

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Posts
    551
    Speaking of ice screws, what happens if more rappels(abseil, is that the right word?) are required than anticipated and not enough ice screws were brought? No price on safety but it must get a little pricey leaving ice screws all over the mountains. I'm assuming you never get them back? Always am amazed at how casual they can be above exposure and then getting to the crux. No problem, insert screw rappel and go.

    Loved the first scene of the skiing under the cables. Between the pov and the heli, or drone footage you could really see the line. And then looking down to a very green Chamonix village.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Chamonix
    Posts
    625
    Quote Originally Posted by Fred Pabst View Post
    Speaking of ice screws, what happens if more rappels(abseil, is that the right word?) are required than anticipated and not enough ice screws were brought?
    Naked V-thread.

    Drive a 21cm screw twice into the ice to form a triangle shape, insert one end of rappel rope and thread through as for an abolokov anchor, tie to other rappel rope, rappel as normal. Pull side of rope with the knot on, leaving nothing but air in your anchor. Cool trick.
    Short stories about snow and rock, and pictures, too

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    ID
    Posts
    902
    Quote Originally Posted by peds View Post
    Naked V-thread.

    Drive a 21cm screw twice into the ice to form a triangle shape, insert one end of rappel rope and thread through as for an abolokov anchor, tie to other rappel rope, rappel as normal. Pull side of rope with the knot on, leaving nothing but air in your anchor. Cool trick.
    Jong question: you need a second rope because pulling a single through the v-thread would heat the ice and degrade the strength? I thought the ice had so little friction in it that you could pull the the rope through without issue.
    In other words, if your single rope is long enough for the rap, can you just use one pulled to its midpoint?

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Chamonix
    Posts
    625
    Oh yeah, of course you can. If you only need to rap 15m then two halves of your 30m glacier rope is fine, no bother. You won't be melting glacier ice by pulling through a few meters of string. Some of the videos people have made of chipping away at their V-threads and weight testing them, seeing how much abuse they can take before they fail, are really quite reassuring.
    It's just a question of speed and convenience really... is it quicker to pull through half of a 60m rope, or is it worth just leaving 50cm of anchor tat instead, and tying that over the midpoint of your rope? Whatever is easiest and quickest for any given situation.
    Short stories about snow and rock, and pictures, too

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    ID
    Posts
    902
    Quote Originally Posted by peds View Post
    Oh yeah, of course you can. If you only need to rap 15m then two halves of your 30m glacier rope is fine, no bother. You won't be melting glacier ice by pulling through a few meters of string. Some of the videos people have made of chipping away at their V-threads and weight testing them, seeing how much abuse they can take before they fail, are really quite reassuring.
    It's just a question of speed and convenience really... is it quicker to pull through half of a 60m rope, or is it worth just leaving 50cm of anchor tat instead, and tying that over the midpoint of your rope? Whatever is easiest and quickest for any given situation.
    Roger. Thanks.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Posts
    1,491
    Powder article was pretty enlightening/frightening. Doesn't seem sustainable, but that's pretty much the story for anybody "pushing it" in Cham I guess.

    I met Tof at a party in Farrelones a few years back. In that instance he seemed super laid back, and pretty quiet. Still, for whatever reason it was clear that he was the raddest dude at the party, not because of any overt grandstanding (the picture the article paints) - the guy just has an air about him. The word I would've used to describe him then - "focused", makes more sense given what was going on for him outside of skiing at that time.

    Can't wait to watch the film.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Truckee & Nor Cal
    Posts
    15,621
    Quote Originally Posted by peds View Post
    Naked V-thread.

    Drive a 21cm screw twice into the ice to form a triangle shape, insert one end of rappel rope and thread through as for an abolokov anchor, tie to other rappel rope, rappel as normal. Pull side of rope with the knot on, leaving nothing but air in your anchor. Cool trick.
    Clever... way outside my element, but clever.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    Aspen
    Posts
    3,058
    Great film, crazy level of commitment, balls and skill. Heitz and Candide push the limits in similar ways with their pursuits and just operate at a different level.

    I saw Tof, Nate and crew around Cham at the end of March, stoked and chilling after a big day. The aura was definitely there.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    vernon
    Posts
    2,977
    That was rad.
    www.skevikskis.com Check em out!

  17. #17
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Location
    Zurich, Switzerland
    Posts
    420
    The powder article is available online now: https://www.powder.com/stories/featu...PxJE1IyFUdOSTM

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    SLC burbs
    Posts
    4,186
    The biggest difference I saw with La Liste was the attitude towards the mere mortals who are trying to get after it in the steeps and don't have the balls to sent it super-G style. These guys seem really dismissive of anyone who isn't doing things in what they consider the proper style. That seemed to extend to the pioneers of steep skiing who went after all these lines in bad conditions and that really bothers me. In La Liste Jeremy spends a fair amount of time framing his project as an evolution of / building on what the old timers started but he never once shits on what they did. He seems to get all emotional when he repeats one of the lines (can't remember which) in great conditions some 30 years after the first descent and he comments endlessly on how badass the first generation of steep skiers was. Very different vibe with Tof and his bros and no amount of soul reggae and platitudes is gonna wash that off. Cham locals though. Having grown up in one of the "inferior" resorts in the next valley over I can't say the attitude is all that surprising.

    TLDR - great visuals, badass skiing, just enough spray to make it a distant #2 as far as movies about people who are flying more than they're skiing.

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    ne pennsylvania
    Posts
    4,860
    special breed.

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Gaperville, CO
    Posts
    5,845
    ^^ . Well written -- very much along my reaction.

    Personally found La Liste skiing more inspiring as well.

  21. #21
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    closer
    Posts
    5,672
    OK.
    Reminds me of the "next generation" article a few years back. I wonder how long he will last.....

    Sent from my BLA-L29 using TGR Forums mobile app
    It's a war of the mind and we're armed to the teeth.

  22. #22
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    Cascades
    Posts
    666
    Quote Originally Posted by Boissal View Post
    TLDR - great visuals, badass skiing, just enough spray to make it a distant #2 as far as movies about people who are flying more than they're skiing.
    #2 to”la liste” or something else?

  23. #23
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    SLC burbs
    Posts
    4,186
    Quote Originally Posted by TripleT View Post
    #2 to”la liste” or something else?
    Yeah #2 to La Liste which to me set an impossibly high bar on all fronts. I think the skiing is better, not necessarily more badass but always on bigger more opened and aesthetic faces. The videography is out of this world, the music is good, and the whole story holds together well. Jeremy (and Sam Anthamatten and pretty much anyone interviewed in the movie) seems like a psyched down to earth kid who doesn't have a shred of arrogance to himself. He obviously scares the shit out of himself a bunch and doesn't hide it.

    It was funny to see that neither of these guys were satisfied with their skiing of the Gervasutti and couldn't make it look good. Guess good conditions just don't happen in a 1000m ice funnel. Who'd have thought.

  24. #24
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    SW CO
    Posts
    5,588
    #3 in my mind. Vivian Bruchez "Downside Up" is #2 after "La Liste" IMHO. [Edit I see your caveat about "flying more than skiing" now -- so I guess Downside Up doesn't really qualify]

    But they're just different movies. La Liste was about a project -- skiing a set of steep lines really fast; Born in Cham was about a skier playing in his home mountain range. Different approaches, and I don't know if the hype or comparisons were fair. To me, Tof Henry's style (and the movie) seems like a middle ground between pushing the limits of steep skiing and skiing steep lines fast. If you believe the sentiment of the movie (and I'm not saying I do), Tof wasn't out to scare himself or really push the limits of skiing -- he was just trying to ride lines in his style. At least, that's my take as an outsider. I'm sure other people with insider knowledge (peds, etc) would have a different perspective.

    Also, I'd be curiuos to see the budget differences between La Liste and Born in Cham. My guess is most of the filming for La Liste was professionally done via heli while Born in Cham was mostly self-filmed via drone and Go Pro.
    "Alpine rock and steep, deep powder are what I seek, and I will always find solace there." - Bean Bowers

    photos

  25. #25
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Posts
    694
    I liked it.

    Made me second guess my career as an SRE/programmer. If I had just moved to cham when I was 18 (when I was thinking about it) I could have been dead already.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •