*The tracks end ... Aiguille Croche © Stefan Laude*

I let the mail sit until I'm ready for the intrusion. If you sent me something and I haven't yet replied it's because I'm not ready for my state to be changed by whatever you sent. It could be years before you hear from me.

The letter from Matthias Giraud sat on my desk until curiosity demanded satisfaction and damn, it couldn't have happened at a better moment. The letter included a small print of the promo poster for a French outdoor action movie titled, "Pushing the Limits" that opened in forty theaters around France in 1994. By an accident of happenstance and the accidental death of our aerial cameraman, Francois Rickard, I replaced the lead actor while we were on location in Bolivia. It was a long, strange trip. On the poster Matthias sent was a hand-drawn ski line down the north face of Mont Blanc, the ski tracks ended at the edge of the massive serac above the Grands Mulets and below it, a stick figure wearing skis was flying beneath a parachute. From this image I presumed, before I began to read, that the writer had successfully executed a ski BASE jump off of the serac and I thought that was pretty radical.

In his letter, Matthias described having seen "Pushing the Limits" as a nine year-old boy. In fact, he'd seen it four times in the theater, attending until his mother refused to give him any more money for a ticket. So inspired by the actions and philosophy of the protagonist, Xigor Copeland, that he decided to live his life chasing those big dreams himself.

Growing up in the St Gervais-les-Bains/Megeve area of France, within sight of the Mont Blanc massif, afforded Matthias great access to the mountains and also meant he was surrounded by the montagnard spirit; his desires and his activities were always welcomed, never socially marginalized. He started his trajectory with ski racing, then freeskiing, eventually taking it to big mountain skiing, and then went further afield into surfing, skydiving and eventually BASE jumping. He suffered a particularly devastating accident in 2013 when he overrode his intuition, crashed into the cliff face of the Pointe d’Areu after opening, rag-dolled a couple of hundred feet but turned away from the cliff face before passing out under canopy. The parachute flew on its own, carrying his unconscious body miles away from the exit where it crashed into a forest, dumping Giraud another fifty feet into the dirt. After being rescued he was hospitalized, in a coma for three days, with a brain bleed and shattered femur. His son was born three weeks later.

There followed a long period of recovery, of existential longing and self-exploration, rehab, retraining, and a ferocious dedication to practicing fundamentals, and examining every possible detail that allows (or prevents) these jumps from happening successfully. Six years after the accident Matthias returned to the Pointe d’Areu, which, "is not the ideal mountain for base jumping ..." and successfully made the jump that almost took his life. Three months later he made the first ski BASE jump off the grand serac below the summit of Mont Blanc, which he climbed up and skied down in proper alpine style. In the years following he has made ski BASE jumps from the Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey and Mont Blanc du Tacul to name but two, as well as the big serac below the Dome du Gouter on Mont Blanc, which I soloed for a 16mm pilot of "Pushing the Limits". The uninitiated consider Matthias and the whole Super Frenchie persona a selfish, gifted and very fortunate adrenalin junkie but some of those who have heard him speak and more importantly those who know him recognize a sensitivity, intelligence, and fearless internal inquiry that would not be out of place in one of Plato's philosopher kings. He is charismatic, a natural leader, eloquent in speech and written word who writes first in English to simplify the concepts and get them out, translates into French because that language is more precise, and retranslates back to English to finalize the thesis; I quite appreciate this approach.

*Exit from the Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey © Stefan Laude*

The sensitivity and thoughtfulness apparent in private conversation belie the hubris required to imagine the projects he undertakes; first self-belief then overall belief. However, the aggression and fearlessness one might imagine to be necessary, enduring characteristics of a ski BASE jumper are only temporarily present. "Like all skiers, we go through these phases of arrogance. Nobody is born humble but you need to have a respectful, humble approach to maximize your survival. You never forget hitting a cliff, I think about it all the time ... the accident at Pointe d’Areu turned me inside out on all levels and it took me years to reconstruct myself and struggle with my emotions. This is a kind of special side to the mountains. You acquire so many intense experiences up there that the digestion period can be long and the moments you live will always stay intact in my opinion."

That last sentence describes perfectly how I live with all of the intense experiences I ever had in the mountains; they are intact.

Matthias and I first met in February 2020 at a coffee shop in Salt Lake City. The conversation was wide ranging, enthusiastically switching between English and French, and closed with the promise to stay in touch, which we have. In the mean time a documentary about him was released to great acclaim, a film that was initiated in 2007 by Matthias and fellow 24 year-old Chase Ogden but took an extended production timeline due to the accident. I missed the premiere and kick myself a little bit about that to this day. Regardless, the Universe finally agreed to out us in the same place at the same time once again and we sat down to record the conversation for which you may find links below. I don't believe either of us knew what to expect but certainly not a 3.5 hour long journey. Our talk led us to many topics and ideas we simply did not have time to address so there may very well be a second part. When the editor at BlackYak Europe began listening, looking for a logical place to cut the conversation into two parts he was so fascinated that he couldn't stop listening hence decided to release the podcast in its entirety.

The podcast Introduction:

From extreme mountaineering to training Hollywood's elite, Mark Twight's journey has been anything but straightforward. He has reinvented himself countless times, often more than he acknowledges, delving deep into his core to gradually accept himself. Facing and overcoming challenges can leave lasting marks, sometimes making one hard and unyielding, with little room for inspiration. However, maintaining sensitivity and staying in touch with one's ever-changing environment fosters dynamic growth rather than becoming rigid and static.

Tune into this enlightening and inspiring podcast episode where no emotion, no experience nor wisdom falls short.

Made For Missions podcast on Spotify

Made For Missions podcast on Apple

The Overall Madness

Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey - First Ski BASE Jump

Matthias Giraud, "How To Stick Your Landing" at TEDxBerkeley