MOUNTAIN LIFE - Coast Mountains | Fall / Winter 2017

114 MLCM FALL/WINTER 2017 words :: Peter Chrzanowski Why is Saudan so special? How has he earned the title ‘Skier of the Impossible?’ The main reason is that he is still alive. Peter Chrzanowski recalls a sporadic, 30-year friendship with the godfather of extreme skiing. Sylvain Saudan—the man, the name – has unexpectedly flowed in and out of my life for three decades. Most recently, in the spring of 2017, I hosted him for two weeks at my home in Pemberton. During his stay, I felt his passion for the details of his daily life routine and his gentle demeanour, along with his obsessive drive towards what he perceives as perfection. In the mountains of his European home, and around the globe, this drive has earned Saudan, now 80 years old, a hefty-yet-well-earned label: “Skier of the Impossible.” On his recent visit to the Coast Mountains, I even skied with Sylvain to the top of Blackcomb’s Couloir Extreme, a run that once bore his name. But to fully tell that story we must take a few steps back… First, we must ask, what made this man? Born on Sept 27, 1937 in Lausanne, Switzerland, the young Sylvain received his first skis at the age of six. In 1961, at age 25, he earned his title as Swiss ski instructor then became a full mountain guide in Aspen, Colorado in 1963. Saudan’s steep- skiing career started in 1967 as he pioneered first ski descents in the Alps of Europe with an unnamed couloir from Rothorn to Arosa (2,895 metres). He followed with another 45-degree-plus ski descent of the 3,451-metre “Piz Corvatsch” above Saint Moritz in Switzerland. These accomplishments turned some heads, however it was his first descent of the infamous Spencer Couloir in Chamonix, France in 1967 that truly gained the attention of the guide and mountaineering community. Up to that point, slopes in steepness of over 55 degrees were deemed impossible to ski. To confirm his descent and silence the disbelievers, a lightweight aircraft flew over and photographed his tracks. With this descent, Saudan leaped his first hurdle over the impossible, and was dubbed “skieur de l’impossible.” While also helping to pioneer the world’s first heli ski runs with Hans Gmoser in the Bugaboos of British Columbia in the 1970s, Sylvain Saudan continued ticking off challenging first descents; he skied 23 between 1967 and 1982. Besides their extraordinary steepness, these descents were complex ski mountaineer routes that pushed the limits of steep skiing and mountaineering simultaneously. Sylvain climbed many of the routes, but used helicopters to access others, a method that drove many in the high mountain guide community to ostracize him for “cheating.” As time went on, Saudan expanded his quest for big descents beyond the walls of the Alps. His next round of feats included the never repeated 4,400 vertical metre ski descent of Mount McKinley’s southwest face (6,178 metres and North America’s highest peak) and the 1982 descent from Pakistan’s Hidden Peak (6,068 metres) in the Karakorum. The latter ended his spectacular steep-skiing career and earned him an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records for the highest, steep descent ever. Saudan was also the first person to ski at over 8,000 metres and many of his descents have never been repeated. With a career such as this, it becomes clear why Saudan truly is the grandfather of the sport of steep skiing. To understand the seriousness, yet simplicity of the commitment of these lines, while also diving into the reasons for his commitment, we need to look no further than his own pragmatic view of these accomplishments: “You cannot let your skis run out on all those runs—or you will die.” SYLVAIN SAUDAN TRAIL BLAZER Up to that point, slopes in steepness of over 55 degrees were deemed impossible to ski. SKIEUR DE L’IMPOSSIBLE LEFT Old Man and the Steeps.Atop the Saudan Couloir. SIMON BEDFORD RIGHT Hopping in. COURTESY SAUDAN SYLVAIN/VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL