Air Karakoram

In October 2019, Benjamin Védrines and Nicolas Jean climbed the northeast couloir (1,500 m, M3/M4, 65°) of Chamlang (7,321 m, Nepal) to an altitude of 7,240 meters, using alpine style with a bivouac. The young French team had initially aimed for the north pillar of this mountain, a favorite among top climbers. Although they had to abandon their ascent of the northeast couloir, their climb was selected for the Piolets d'Or "big list."

The north face of Chamlang, nearly 2,000 meters high and culminating at 7,200 meters, is one of the last great unclimbed faces in the Himalayas. Benjamin Védrines, who had scouted the face during a previous ascent of Chamlang in 2019 with Nicolas Jean via the northeast couloir, decided to tackle it with Charles Dubouloz, a very strong mountaineer but a novice at high altitude. Snow slides, suspended bivouacs, pitches of mixed climbing and vertical ice… The gamble paid off for the Frenchmen, who opened a new route, "À l'ombre du mensonge" (1,600m, 5+, m5+, 90°), after four intense days on the north face—a magnificent first ascent of a coveted summit, as a duo, in alpine style.

Benjamin Védrines and Nicolas Jean are continuing their ski touring projects. After exploring Nicolas Jean's stomping grounds – the Ubaye Valley – the two guides found themselves this time in Benjamin's backyard: the Écrins massif. From May 27th to 29th, they completed a rapid traverse of the massif from south to north, skiing down 10 steep slopes along the way. "An intense immersion, full of challenges, doubts, joys, and mysteries!" recounts Benjamin. This – yet another – traverse of the massif took them from the Gioberney chalet-hotel (Valgaudemar) to the Pied du Col (Haute-Romanche), traversing steep slopes over three days, "crossing some of the wildest landscapes in the Southern Alps." Three days during which they will have covered 11,000 meters of elevation gain and descended no less than 10 slopes rated in the 5, from the north face of the Sirac (5.4) to the north couloir of the Col Claire (5.1+).

Every summer, mountaineers and hikers take the paths of the Haut Vénéon valley to reach refuges and high alpine routes. Freedom of movement made possible thanks to the work of road menders, responsible for maintaining the trails. This documentary offers an immersion in their daily life in the town of Saint-Christophe-en-Oisans, which lists 250 kilometers of paths rich in history. Before the tourists from the peaks, it was in fact peasants, shepherds, peddlers or gatherers from Edelweiss who surveyed the Oisans massif.

The epic 1500km bivouac flight of Damien Lacaze and Antoine Girard, two French paragliders and mountaineers, through the heart of the Himalayas and the Karakoram ranges. This journey is actually a prelude and acclimatization for their attempt to climb Spantik (7027m) from the nearest town in two days, using only paragliders. Is it truly feasible? What are the limitations of such an ascent? Can they earn a living from it?

An adventure, an investigation, a quest ? Matthieu, mountain leader, continues his trekking experience with the Via Alpina, an 8 countries-crossing of the Alps from Trieste to Monaco. One thing in mind : What influence does hiking in the mountains have on us ? Between Matthieu's personal journey and the testimonials of hikers met on the way, a whole new world is unveiled. Far from being just an outdoor activity in a dream-like scenery, trekking becomes an awareness tool driving us to rethink our way of living.

Benjamin Védrines and Nicolas Jean are tackling their first 8000-meter summit, Broad Peak in Pakistan. Their goal is to climb without the usual altitude camps, and to achieve the ascent from base camp to summit in one day, in “a single push”. The icing on the cake for Benjamin would be to break the speed record for climbing an 8000 meters peak, and to take off from the summit with his paraglider!