SAMAYA X VINCENT LATHUILE - FREERIDE AND BIVOUAC IN ALASKA

SAMAYA X VINCENT LATHUILE - FREERIDE AND BIVOUAC IN ALASKA

 

 

SAMAYA x VINCENT LATHUILE

FREERIDE AND BIVOUAC IN ALASKA

 

 
After an expedition to Svalbard, a dozen mountain-born friends set off again to spend 10 days in Alaska in April 2023. With 6 nights' bivouacking, big storms and great faces, Vincent Lathuile is the spokesman for the fine team, telling us all about their adventure.
 
After Norway, why did you choose Alaska for your latest expedition?
Vincent Lathuile: As freeride rando enthusiasts who live in the mountains, we've all been to snowboard film festivals and dreamed of going to places like Alaska, where the incredible snow holds up even on 50° slopes. We'd already been to Svalbard in Norway 4 years ago, and what appealed to us was finding remote places with beautiful scenery, where we'd meet as few people as possible. Alaska was therefore perfect for our new expedition.
 
What was it like to set up a real base camp in the heart of this white landscape?
VL: When we got there, we first did a bit of scouting to find out where we wanted to ski the next few days and where we could set up our bivouac. We thought we'd be alone out there, so we were surprised to realize that in Alaska, the locals practice cross-country skiing in the mountains, not necessarily on dedicated trails like back home. So we decided to go deep into the valley to set up our bivouac. We received the weather forecast via satellite and on the first evening, we rushed to set up our base camp because we could see the storm coming from afar.
 
How did you cope with the storm?
VL: The next morning, after weathering the storm and facing the wind, we were delighted to see that even though the snow had covered everything outside, our Samaya 2.0 and the Basecamp had held up, despite gusts of over 100 km/h. It was extraordinary because we had a real home base with the camp we had formed. We each slept in our two-seater tents, and all meal times and waiting times for favorable slots were spent with 11 of us in the Basecamp, which offered us a real place to live and share, with plenty of warmth and space.

 

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After these adventures, can you tell us about your ascents and ski faces?
VL: In terms of the expeditions and the summits themselves, we enjoyed 4 days of great weather and therefore 4 days of magnificent skiing. It was exceptional. We had great conditions, and found some really magical couloirs. We were a bit apprehensive about the snow because we were in an unfamiliar area, with snow qualities different from what we're used to, so we made a few cuts before taking the plunge. We had chosen a valley without a glacier to limit the risk of crevasses. We quickly realized that the snow was very particular, very windy, with wind-blown peaks. In the end, things went very well. As we were a big group, we split into 2 teams, each on a beautiful couloir, which enabled us to capture a lot of footage so we could make a film later.