SAMAYA x SÉBASTIEN VARLET
DISCOVERING NEW FACES IN SVALBARD
In May 2023, Sébastien Varlet flies off to Svalbard, the land of blue and white, in search of immaculate faces for his next film, to be released at festivals this autumn. For Samaya, he looks back on a month away from it all, battling the cold and drawing new lines.
Sébastien Varlet: Some friends and I set off for Svalbard in search of new lines and new mountains. We were very attracted by this place, which is really beautiful, where there's nothing but white and blue. We worked on the project for 4-5 months before we left, scouting out places we could go depending on snow conditions and difficulty of access. We decided to head for the Fridtjovbreen glacier, where we got in touch with local guides who explained all the risks and dangers of the area.
SV: There were quite a few things we had to take into account. First, the cold. The average was between -15°C and -20°C, so we had to make sure we were well protected against the wind to avoid frostbite. Then there's the polar bear. This is a very important factor, because you're on his territory and you don't want to come across him. In our planning, we knew we had 23 days of good weather. But the weather is very uncertain, it changes all the time. We had a window of opportunity, so we decided to leave for 6 days on our own. We had defined the slopes we wanted to do, the mountains we wanted to go to, with the topos. We got a lot of inspiration from photos and views from the plane. We really went to see lines that nobody had ever skied before.
SV: The slopes are quite steep and falls can lead to injury, and you don't want to get hurt there. We had to deal with wind, ice and cold, and everything went very well.
SV: Partly. We had chosen a first line facing the ocean, all pretty, really all frozen because it was so exposed to the wind. After this beautiful line, we set up camp right next to what we wanted to do the next day. We set up our tents on a glacier, about three quarters of an hour from the coast, far from the polar bears. It took a lot of energy to set up camp, as it was very, very cold. We put all our gear in the sleeping bags so it wouldn't freeze. After a very cold night and rounds around the camp to make sure no bears approached, we moved on to the second and most beautiful day of the trip. We returned at midnight, to ride amidst the gold-tinted mountains. On the third day, we set off on the face we absolutely wanted to do for the film. We waited for the right light, but unfortunately the sky began to cloud over and bad weather was on its way, so we decided to turn back. A few days later, when the weather was again favorable, we tried to go back, but 60 centimeters of fresh snow had fallen, which meant a high avalanche risk, so we didn't go for it.
SV: Why not! We know we made the right decision. In any case, we were really happy to find ourselves in the middle of these magnificent mountains, and to have been able to draw some beautiful lines. It's an unusual destination, and it's the first time we've brought back "big ski" from a place like this.
