Today was a fantasy. I hopped in the zodiak to scope terrain and from that point on it was sensory over load. On One side of the bay was a mountain called “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” On the other side one of the most outrages mountains scape’s I have ever seen towered over head. Before my imagination got the best of me, Doug Stoup points to the peak in foreground and says, “that’s Mt Francois and it is 9600 ft high.” My scale had never been so off. Louri (Expedition leader) then tells me out of his 80+ trips down here he has only seen the mountain a few times and that today is a 1 and a thousand days. It was clear to me that today was a day to get after something real. It would be a “two axe” day.
Mt Francois. I think it has only been climbed once. Doug Stoup sat in a storm for 3 weeks trying to get it.
We set our site on the smallest thing I could find that we could get to, had limited ice danger and a clean out run. You can see our objective in the far edge of the photo. It is really hard to make a call like this with very little info. It is a roll of the dice that sets a crew of 8 in motion and will use up the better part of the day.
We learned on our first day that we want to be on faces that get at least 5 hours of light and that we want to be dropping in just before the face goes into the shade. Too early and the face is hard. Too late and it will refreeze with in ten minutes of the sun leaving the face. You can see the triangle we want to ride. We had know idea if the bergschrund was clean or if the glacier was navigable.
“Pic a spot, any spot” I kept telling myself. It was all epic.
3 hours into our mission we have confirmation that it goes clean. It looks super steep, which means it is even steeper. We are really freaked out if this is going to be ride-able or not. Conditions will have to be perfect, not to soft, not to hard to hit something like this. To get to the face we start on the far left side and traverse just under the bergschrund so we do not have any seracs above us.
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One of the scariest parts is strapping in on a steep face like this. The bottom 1/3 is the steepest part but the snow is perfect and I am able to drop into this face with total confidence and fire a line that two hours ago had me shaking in my boots. That is the benefit of climbing what you ride. pic Xavier.
Xavier and were finally rewarded for all the time we put in last spring in Chamonix. With out that session we would not be so locked in here. In my wildest dreams I could not have imagined riding a face this sick in Antarctica. It is one for the top of the trophy case.
Amazing stuff Jeremy.
Jeremy,
WOW man…I look forward to your blog updates. So stoked for you and your adventures. Keep them coming.
Jones.
Straight mega hero, you are Jeremy.
i cant see the last pic!!!!
this is epic!!!! great man
Reading this, it seems like it was similar to the first time you saw Alaska. Thanks for sharing these phots and enjoy your thanksgiving!
The second to last pic blows my mind! Is that what heaven looks like? As always, thanks for sharing, unbelievably inspiring!
Beautiful and scary face!
Insane Jeremy !!!! It all looks so brilliant. Great work and thanks for the prompt updates. Your website is now the most visited in our household…for obvious reasons. Pet a penguin for me. fawcett
Amazing! Look forward to your blog up dates Thanks!! I can’t even begin to imagine!
Sweet Jesus - simply stunning. I’ve never considered Antarctica from a riding perspective.
Hi Jeremy, that´s awesome. Would be cool if you let me know when you are in Canada next time. Would love to see you riding. I am in Banff. Cheers
Love the photos and the blog read.
It’s great to see you pushing the limits, and being to conscious of the environment at the same time. Splitboarding hasn’t found its respectful place yet, so as a fellow BC addict, thank you for showing us what is possible. Enjoy your journey, your respect and appreciation for what you do shows, and is an example for all of us aspiring to reach the same heights.
This is beyond bad ass. Jonsey, you’re killing it. I’m so excited for Deeper.
Jeremy Jones
You make me jealous and happy at the same time. Jealous because you ride so epic-it pushes me to ride bigger and badder lines when i can. But happy because of what you have done to our most favorite hobby/sport/lifestyle. You are truly the top of the top when it comes to snowboarding.
Thats it Thats All
NorCal4ever
Contact me when you ride squaw-i would like to see how a true champion ride in person-your videos do not show how truly FAST you are! Thanks for being such an influence!
Live the Dream
Jeremy, this is truly phenomenal.
Inspiring stuff.
Just awesome :D.
It’s awesome… I’m sure it’s even bigger than it looks by the pics
Thanks for sharing
Take care & enjoy
Amazing stuff!
Just watched the new “deeper” trailer - amazing! Can’t wait for the movie!
Gabe
J, heading up to Squaw for first days of the season. Thanks for the epic inspiration as usual.
Amazing photos.
One day i’m gonna go on an adventure like this. One day.
For the time being I’m gonna be exploring backcountry in Europe. Not quite the same, but should be able to find some fun stuff.
Great post Jeremy.
Can someone fix the last image? Looks like it was pasted out of an email
Very nice, I sure will be coming back more often. I bookmarked your site also, thank you.