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Jean-Guillaume Charrier - host et producer of the show Adrenaline on the TV channel of the French magazine L’Equipe just aired the Aiguille Croche Ski BASE jump.

Jean-Guillaume was all fired up on the idea and the location. Nico Favre at Wildrush was kind enough to provide the images.

I will be back in France on May 20th to get another ski BASE jump in if the mountain cooperate! Until then, I will be spending time in Lake Tahoe, Southwest Colorado, Utah, Washington, Oregon, Iceland, Norway before ending back to the motherland.

This season is going well so far and I am super stoked. Also, make sure to grab the lastest issue of Snow Magazine and check out the story on Megeve, France - my home resort. Just got a full page in Skiing Magazine with photographer Grant Gunderson (February issue) and another one in Kiteboarder Magazine (March Issue) with Richard Hallman. Stay posted for more news!

L’Equipe TV:  http://www.lequipemag.fr/EquipeMag/Xtrem/adrenaline-petite-lecon-d-escalade-20100128_160002.html

Skipass just posted an interview and the video of the first descent and ski-BASE off Aiguille Croche in Megeve, France.

Check it out by opening the link below. I am back in Utah now and getting ready to go skiing in the backcountry. I will be leaving for Oregon and Washington in a few days. The traveling circus is back on the road!

Skipass: http://www.skipass.com/articles/saison-09-10/46264-premiere-en-ski-base.php

Nico Favre and his brother Benoit from the French video production Wild Rush and I bagged the first descent and ski BASE off Aiguille Croche in the Alps on the 26th! Nico is editing the video and it will be available on Skipass.com very soon.
 
The day started very well with a beautiful blue sky. We did a first interview with the Aiguille Croche in the background. Afterwards, we had to take a big cable car to cross the valley to get to the other side and take the lift to access the correct side of the mountain. We take 2 chairlifts and arrive at the cable car and it tries to take off 5 times and comes back in the hangar. The guy tells us we have to take a shuttle.

After taking another lift, we get to the shuttle but all the people rushed into it, Both camera guys are in and the driver tells me: “sorry, no more room”. Thankfully, a guy is behind the shuttle and gives me a ride to the other side of the valley with his little Renault. The sky is getting a little milky by now and we start losing the light now. No wind is picking up however.

So, we take one more gondola, 2 chairlifts and the last lift to the top of Mt Joly is closed so we decided to skin up with our skis. But, the camera guys’ skins are old and keep coming off their skis. They end up boot packing up and we are already 1hr30min behind schedule.

We get to the top of Mt Joly from where we can climb the ridge to get above the face and we realize that the snow conditions will not allow us to travel fast and that there are 2 long uphill sections on the ridge. After another 2 hrs, we finally get to the spot. I find the top of the line and the camera crew is getting set up but by now it is 2 pm and the light is completely flat which means that we can’t see the hazards and shape of the slope very well which makes skiing the line very challenging.

To add to the challenge, the snow conditions were pretty unstable but just stable enough if you want to ski light and fast.

The camera is rolling. I give the guys the 30 second check and drop in. The snow is sloughing all over the place and I ski lightly so it doesn’t turn into an avalanche. I am getting into a tight chute and my skis are fighting the crust. I quickly realize that falling is not an option and it is turning into a you fall, you die situation.

I try to breathe and relax but the other issue is that I don’t really know where the edge of the cliff band is since I am blind skiing the line. Finally, I feel like I am getting closer and start pointing it. All of the sudden, that’s it, I am in the air and 600ft off the ground and all the slough from the top is falling next to me!

I am going so fast that the air is grabbing my skis and trying to flip me on my stomach but I manage to pull my chute and stay stable. Finally, the parachute opens and I am screaming like a madman and fly back towards the cliff to get a good look at it. It was just too incredible to just fly away!

But, it was time to think about a landing zone and I found a spot between little evergreens - smooth landing. I look at the cliff one more time to soak in the experience and call my family to let them know I am safe as well as my girlfriend.

It feels good to be alive one more time and to do another first. This was probably one of the most terrifying lines of my life and one of the most fulfilling and magical moments.

Nico Favre calls me on the radio, he is fired up, got the shot and it is sick!

So, in a nutshell, this was my experience! I want to do it again but we only had one day to make it happen since the weather turned bad again and the snow is now pretty bad.

After that, I came home to hang out with my family and drink champagne! It felt really good to be home again, conqueer my home mountain after cheating death across America and hanging with the whole family for the first time in 6 years. Good times for sure!
 
I am back in Utah on the 30th and will get back on the road towards Mt Baker and Mt Hood around January 5th. If the snow is good, Grant Gunderson and I found a nice drop at Baker but it will be minus parachute.
 
I hope you all had a great Christmas and I already wish you a happy new year! The video link will follow very soon!

I just got back in Salt Lake City, UT after being on the road for about 3 and 1/2 weeks It is nice to be home. Alta is open so it is time to go up and make some turns.
While traveling through Oregon, on my way to go ski some powder at Mt Hood Meadows, I got a call from Kate Siber. Kate writes for several magazines such as Ski, Skiing, as well as many others and she wanted to do an interview for Outside Magazine’s online blog. We spent about 1 hour on the phone talking about skiing, BASE jumping, Shane and of course what’s next on my list. Open the link below and check it out!

Outside Magazine: http://outside-blog.away.com/blog/2009/11/pro-skier-and-ski-base-jumper-matthias-giraud-26-was-the-the-first-to-ski-and-base-jump-off-mt-hood-tellurides-aja.html

Once again, I have to rub it in! MT BAKER WAS SICK! Probably the best first day of the season at a ski area I have ever had in my life… ESPN just posted story on Grant and I skiing Mt Baker on November 12th. Make sure the check out the slideshow on the link below.

After Mt Baker, I headed straight south to Portland to ski Mt Hood with Randy Boverman and once again, the NW snow conditions were not disappointing. This is a great start for the season, let’s cross our fingers and hope it will last!

More news to come and more pictures so stay posted!

ESPN: http://espn.go.com/action/freeskiing/blog/_/post/4667543

Mt Hood Meadows: http://www.skihood.com/Photos-and-Videos.aspx?media=9#4117805633

November 10th, I get a text from Grant: “yes, I want to ski. Wasted at a bar… call me tomorrow”.
On the 11th, I call Grant and it is game on. Mt Baker has 67inches of fresh and we are fired up. Drew Stoecklein is flying in the same day from Boise, ID and the madness is on.

I arrived on the 11th at night, woke up at 5am and headed to the hill and I couldn’t believe my eyes. Mt Baker generally gets no sunlight from November to March. I, personally, have NEVER seen sun at Mt Baker in the last 2 years. We had a perfect blue sky and 4 ft of fresh powder on top of the rest that fell before.

Grant fired the camera and we got EPIC shots. Skiing with Drew was a great experience too - humble, passionate, and fun.

Here are a couple links below for Grant’s shots and an article from Skiing Magazine.

I just arrived in Portland and I am about to pick up my new Smith, Elan and Dabello gear at The Ski Chalet. Great store with a very prefessional staff. So, come over and check out their gear. I heard Mt Hood got snow too… time to go back to work…

Mt Baker: http://www.mtbaker.us/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=8092

Skiing Magazine: http://www.skinet.com/skiing/resorts/2009/11/mt-baker-opens-with-a-hefty-base 

Just arrived in Seattle to hang out for a few days before heading down to Portland and make some turns at Mt Hood which got DUMPED on! My new skis are ready to rock and I can’t wait to start flying on snow.

I just created a Twitter account so follow me and stay posted on a life of endless fun!

Twitter: www.twitter.com/matthiasgiraud

A few days ago, we got a nice dump in the mountains around Salt Lake City. A couple days later, the snow settled nicely and we had 2ft of fresh on top of Mt Baldy. So, I decided to take my gear and boot pack to the top on October 6th to make the first turns of the season!
Check out the link below on the Freestyle Watches blog to know more about it!

Freestyle USA: http://www.freestyleusa.com/team/blog/2009/10/12/monday-blues-breaker/

I got back from Boise, ID not too long ago to shoot the new I/O Bio catalogue. I/O is a yound company with a very promising future. Their products are made from the finest merino wool but they were able to combine it with amazing style, cool colors while creating innovative pieces.

I have been skiing and BASE jumping with I/O Bio products for the last 3 seasons and I have been sold on the products since day one.

I traveled to the French Alps last season and wore the same I/O Bio Merino piece for 2 weeks straight. I traveled with it, slept with it, skied with it, partied with it everyday and guess what? No smell and the feel was the same. The quality speaks for itself so try it out and check out the new products on their website.

Inside/ Outside, you decide… A great company with a great concept ready to explode!

I/O Bio Merino: www.io-bio.com

The last 3 months have been pretty hectic! Multiple trips to Idaho to get some video segments off the Perrine Bridge and pictures (photoshoot with Karl Weatherly, TV commercials and Documentaries), wingsuit flying at Snake River Skydiving and shooting a BASE jump/ wingsuit story with National Geographic TV hasn’t left me much time to focus on my blog!

And, to make summer go even faster, the Outdoor Retailer Tradeshow was right in the middle of it all! It was a great opportunity however to catch up with sponsors, keeping them updated on our projects, and also checking out the Spring Summer 2010 products. But, before Spring comes, it is time for Fall and of course WINTER - THE BEST SEASON!

For the last few seasons, Elan has been focusing on developing its freeskiing segment. With a strong background in racing and being one of the biggest manufacturers in the world it was only a matter of time for the company to come up with unique Big mountain, Park and Backcountry products.

For the last 3 years, I have been on the M999 in 193cm. This year my weapons of choice will be the 999 Alu, 1010 Alu and the Boomerang in 190cm for big mountain/ BC and the Slingshot in 185cm for playing around. And, I have to tell you that I am very excited about these new toys!

I got to ski the Boomerang at the end of last season and I didn’t want to ski anything else. Light, responsive, precise, playfull and can still hold an edge on hard snow. It is definitely a great everyday ski out here in the West!

Check the following links to see the 0910 products. You won’t be disappointed! In the meantime, keep doing your leg squads and riding your mountain bike because ski season is right around the corner! Finally, stay posted for the time/date of the National Geographic TV piece. Happy September!

Elan 09/10 Freeride Series: http://www.elanskis.com/pcc.asp#xpath=/products/freeride#xpathid=#lang=usa

Elan 09/10 Freestyle Series: http://www.elanskis.com/pcc.asp#xpath=/products/freestyle#xpathid=#lang=usa