The spiritual challenge of skiing. I recently returned from a skiing holiday in New Zealand. Queenstown, to be exact. While I was away from my job as a psychologist on Sunday, is something that came across strongly to me is the challenge of skiing in mind. It is necessary to focus on timing and technique. I felt I was not even for one second, otherwise I would fall and came worse.

is the highlight of the week for me, by far, hiking and skiing, where I started with two friends. The afternoon of the second day of skiing we decided to walk on top of the highest mountains and ski powder snow, about 1K near the ski village. The bus will take us back. Very few people have tried this race like no seats, it is up to you to do the above. But I remembered it throughout the day and almost called me to do. That is my Everest. While I expect a physical challenge – it is that – especially the part of him walking. The hiking and skiing became more of a mental challenge. And by doing so – I get glare, especially during the walk. This is a case from one foot to the other mountain road. I could not afford, look down the mountain because it was too steep, or the way she wanted, or how on earth I’m going skiing, or the amount of energy I had. The focus of pure I need is rare – I can not afford mistakes. I was totally in the moment. I never was the amount of interest ever seen in my entire life. We have four breaks on the way to the top of the mountain, where we break the snow just as important as increasing cos he gave us a chance to get back physically and mentally.

Above, we have known for a few moments and a few pictures and I was on a video of a huge blast and we all look the same. This is to say the universe in such a way to go out there and stop.

The ski area is charming. I am very careful not to make mistakes in deep snow. But I am also very excited by aware’m experience and especially see it as a task to complete and verify.

At the foot of the hill after the race he was pure excitement when I found my two friends. I know almost two days, but today, I felt like I really got a bond with them and they just know better, if only very few words are used. It is quite, quite fun.

And it challenges the concept of skiing.

I heard about Fredrik Ericsson’s death from my buddy Jarkko Henttonen. It was sad to hear that Fredrik “Frippe” Ericsson had died on K2 in Pakistan, which is the second highest peak in the world. According to several sources Fredrik joined Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner on the way to the summit of K2. For unknown reason Ericsson fell 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) and was killed. Kaltenbrunner aborted the summit attempt.

Weather forecast on K2 was stated to be excellent. It was clear when Fredrik Ericsson left for the summit, but suddenly a very strong storm moved in. Fredrik, Austrian Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and other climbers were already near the top, but something went wrong and Fredrik fell.

According to Austria Press Agency (APA), German climber Ralf Dujmovits (Kaltenbrunner’s husband), who had initially made the K2 climb, confirmed there had been a serious accident. Gerlinde was able to return to Camp IV, and is already coming down from K2.

Conditions on the mountain have not been easy. The team has reported numerous avalanches.

According to Wikipedia, Fredrik Ericsson was born in Sweden on 1975. During the summer of 2003 Ericsson climbed and skied the 7495 meters high Peak Communism in Tajikistan. In 2004 he became the first Swede to ski descend the  8000-meters peak when he skied from the central summit of Shisha Pangma (8012m) in Tibet. In 2005 Ericsson and his Norwegian friend Jörgen Aamot made an attempt to ski the coveted Laila Peak (6069m) in Pakistan were forced to turn back due to bad weather condition. Same year they also skied from the summit of Gasherbrum II (8035m). Ericsson returned to the Himalayas in 2007 to attempt Dhaulagiri (8167m) in Nepal. Massive amount of snow and dangerous conditions forced him to turn around at 8000 meters from where he skied 3000 vertical meters down to base camp.

This is a sad day. Fredrik Ericsson was attempting to ski world’s three highest peaks: Mount Everest, K2 and Kanchenjunga. I still remember how excited and enthusiastic Fredrik Ericsson and Trey Cook were when I received Trey’s email from Peshawar. They were really looking forward to climb and ski K2. We agreed to publish several stories with stunning photos from K2, and I was eager to hear all the news from Fredrik and Trey, but it all went different.

Our thoughts go out to Fredrik Ericsson’s family and friends.

This is a guest post from our friend James of Untamedborders.com. James is a real deal. He skis where most of us will never even have a chance to ski. When James is not guiding people around Central Asia he can be found either in Peshawar drinking tea, in Amsterdam with his girlfriend or in London where he is slowly coming to terms with owning a flat with negative equity.

“Skiing the high snowy mountains of Afghanistan would be a dream come true for many backcountry skiers, but as we all know, it is not possible as long as the fighting keeps going on in the country.” – Marko, Homeboy ski.

At the time Marko was writing this in the Autumn of 2009, Afghanistan had already seen a number of skiers on its slopes and was preparing the ground work to accept its first batch of foreign back country skiers. As with many things about Afghanistan, the public perception of the country is often very different to actual life on the ground.

Picture taken by Chad Dear, March 2010

Ever since the International forces ousted the Taliban regime in 2001, intrepid foreign workers have been heading to the slopes near Kabul for some escapism during the winter months and today a small group now regularly use the slopes of the Salang Pass for few runs each week. In the winter of 2009 the Bamian valley in Central Afghanistan has had its first injection of a US$1.5 million investment to boost its fledgling tourism industry. Local guides have been trained to show how the region, most famous for its giant standing Buddhas which were destroyed by the Taliban 9 years ago, can be a year round tourist attraction. Two American ski consultants spent last winter there and can confirm that the slopes of Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush range is one of the worlds finest backcountry ski areas. Already the prospect of ski tourism has attracted some media interest and it seems that against all odds Afghanistan can be a ski destination.

The development plan in Bamian is to first attract foreign workers from Kabul and wealthier Afghanis before trying to attract foreign tourists in 3-5 years time but Untamed Borders, a travel company from the UK, is already advertising places for Afghanistan’s first ski tour in March 2011.

Untamed Borders is a small niche travel company that organises guides and trips to Pakistan and Afghanistan. They want to use their experience, knowledge and long lasting relationships in Afghanistan to allow back country skiers a unique experience that will be as much a cultural exploration as a skiing trip. Their itinerary intends to allow the guests to follow the routes pioneered by the ex-pat workers in the Salang Pass and then to use the services of the newly trained local guides in the Bamian region. They will also encourage the skiers to bring extra second hand ski equipment to help stock the fledgling local ski rental business of Bamian.

Picture taken by Chad Dear, March 2010

It seems incredible that peaceful pockets can exist in Afghanistan. However, one of the things that has driven the violence in Afghanistan is the fact the country is made up of many different ethnic and religious groups who are often distrustful of each other. Bamian is the home of the Hazara. The Hazara are descendants of an army left as a garrison by Genghis Khan and have mongaloid, oriental faces. They are also Shia muslims in a country dominated by Sunnis. Over the years they have persecuted and neglected by various governments and it is only since the US and ISAF forces have been in the country that schools, hospitals and roads have been built here. This is why the security situation there is far removed from the Pashtun led insurgency you see on the news in the southern provinces.

Untamed Borders use guides that have worked in Afghanistan since 1997 and have a deep understanding of the risks involved in travel to the country and where it is possible to travel safely and why. They have many friends in all the places on the trip who give them up to the minute information on what is really going on.

The question still remains whether Afghanistan, a country with poor infrastructure, no ski lifts and possibly crucially, where alcohol is illegal, can really attract skiers from Europe and America that are used to their creature comforts. However, it is clear that it will not be for a lack of opportunity should the brave wish to make the trip.

This is just in. Our friend and HBS contributor Jarkko Henttonen called us and gave a great story tip.

Fred Syversen goes big again and crashes hard

The man who did the accidental world record on cliff dropping two season ago, Fred Syversen, has the ability to  make some buzz. Fred  has the reputation to  go all or nothing every time he skis.

Check out this epic cartwheel crash in the video clip  below. This happened during a Missing Link film shoot in northern Norwegian location called Tamokdalen. The line in question and the fall is shown from 1:45 to the very end of the clip.

I though I would break every bone in my body, Fred Syversen admits

Norwegian magazine vg.no tells us a few details in their article about the accident:

The accident happened on friday the 7th of May while skiing a line Fred himself called “hairy”  - a narrow and steep chute including a “three stager” cliff drop. Before the first mandatory air the helicopter filming above sprayed so much snow around that Fred couldn’t see anything. “This is a line where falling is absolutely out of question. Therefore, the helicopter coming so near should never happen! It was a total whiteout. So, I fell anyway and now I am very lucky to have no further damage”, explains Syversen when watching the video of the fall first time.

Again, Fred survived with relatively few injuries – bruised shoulder and hand combined with some scratches on his face.

Fred says that the high speed might have saved him from more serious injuries. At speed the momentum goes more forward than just hard down. However, Fred still admits that he was afraid of breaking every bone in his body (Note: And we believe that!). In the end of the fall, entering the “runout” zone, Fred also had some good luck when avoiding the sharp rocks lurking in both sides of his path.

Fred Syversen looks forward for a quick recovery – another freeride competition in June?

After all Fred doesn’t blame the helicopter pilot for the accident. Everyone who was on the filming team has spoken out about what happened.

“What is happening (in the video) is that I try to stop desperately because of not seeing anything in the snow cloud. Eventually I realize that I just can’t stop and choose to take the downhill option…”

After landing the first drop Fred started a dramatic series  of  cartwheels for several hundred meters until he finally stopped. First Fred was afraid of dislocating his shoulder but a check in hospital excluded this. Fred is still out of skiing for a while to heal the shoulder and hand. But he looks forward to be back in a freeride camp in Stryn, Norway held on the 10th of June.

We hope fast recovery for Fred and wish all the luck in the future too. Seems like being a professional freerider requires quite a lot of it – and a built of a tank in addition!

Ski photo by Aadne Olsrud, other photos are screenshots from the video. Ps. I just chatted with Aadne. He was on the accident site and picked up Fred on his snowmobile after the fall and drove him to the heli. I’ll try to talk with him soon and ask some more questions!

K2 Base Camp, Pakistan – After arriving in Islamabad on 30 May, Fredrik Ericsson and Trey Cook were told of unusually deep snow conditions on the Baltoro glacier. The team changed their plan and decided to approach the peak via the Gondoro-la with an attempt on Laila Peak which would enable them to acclimatize and allow the deep snow to consolidate.

Photo: www.FredrikEricsson.com

Ericsson and Cook travelled from Islamabad to Hushe via Skardu where the trek into Laila Peak base camp began. As reported the team found the deepest snow in the Gondogoro valley in at least 15 years. The team attempted a ski descent of Laila Peak but were turned back 300 meters from the summit by deep, unstable snow. However, Ericsson did enjoy a 1000 vertical meter descent on Laila’s pristine, 45-degree northwest face.
 
Following their attempt to ski Laila Peak, Ericsson and Cook and 18 porters took three days to cross the Gondogoro-la pass, swing through Concordia and arrive at K2 base camp.

Photo: www.FredrikEricsson.com

The team reports that conditions on K2 are favorable and will be heading up the Cesen Route tomorrow to Camp 1 for an early round of acclimatizion and to scope the route.
 
To learn more of the team’s adventure check out their Ski K2 blog at www.FredrikEricsson.com or Facebook site Fredrik Ericsson – Ski Mountaineering.