Andreas Fransson - Life from a different angle

I?m at Copenhagen airport at the moment on my way to Björkliden in the north of Sweden for Haglöfs yearly event ? Haglöfs Arctic Weekend.

It will be a weekend full of happenings, clinics, lectures, small adventures and lots of skiing of course. I used to spend a lot of time in the Riksgränsen area a few years back and it always feels like coming back home when I visit the mountains up north.

Read friend and fellow Haglöfs team member Johanna Stålnacke?s write-up on the weekend at: alpinepassion.blogspot.com

Just got the word that freeskier.com have posted a profile on me! Check it out at: http://freeskier.com/stories/profile-andreas-fransson-talks-motivation-chamonix-fear-and-going-solo? 

He just put up some photos from the weekend?s photo shoot - http://danielronnback.blogspot.com/2012/02/chamonix.html

I just came back from a two-day ski tour around Dents du Midi in Switzerland with Bjarne Sahlén.  We had planned to ski one of the awesome couloirs on the north side, but snow conditions where really tricky. First, on the south side we had to abandon our objective because of wind loading, and then, when we dropped in to our back up run it was also extremely wind loaded ? so the only reasonable thing was to walk back up and call it a day.

It?s weird though, that many times when I back of something I feel like a bigger accomplishment than when I get something done. Especially this time when backing of was a much bigger hazel than skiing down, that makes me even more proud of our decision. But looking back we still had two great days in perfect weather, a kick ass dinner as well as some really good turns. We might even have some good material to make another small webisode.

Keep an eye at Bjarne?s video blog as well; it?s loaded with lots of great films from the mountains ? endlessflow.posterous.com

Today we went up to Midi to get some fair weather shots. The crew for the day was Erik, Daniel and Bjarne. It was a good, cold and fairly slow day where we only did one run (a run from the top of Midi is around 2800 vertical meters) but we got the photos we where after and we skied some really good snow. The most intense moment was for sure when we got to track the Bosson glacier with zero visibility, but we made it spot on and where down in town for a good afternoon boulder session.

It?s been a good weekend and it was really cool that Erik and Daniel came by - Both are excellent company, Erik is a living ski motivation booster and Daniel is one of the best I know at documenting the action and the story as it unfolds. Daniel has been in Chamonix before with us, but for Erik it was the first town skiing the bigger lines and it was awesome sharing the experience with them both and to be able to show them a small part of what these mountains has to offer! 

Yesterday my friends Erik Sunnerheim and Daniel Rönnbäck arrived for a weekend of photo work. Erik, also known as ?the Demon? in the Swedish ski community is one of the Swedes on the Freeride World Tour and Daniel is part of the new generation of action sport photographers. It was kind of a last minute call for the duo to come by Cham as they didn?t have a car, but finally they arrived late last night from Engelberg.

Today we went up to try to get some good shoots from the Chamonix backcountry and after looking at the raws it seems like we managed to get some good stuff.

The best thing though was that we had a really good day out with a morning on Grand Montets and the afternoon on Midi. We got some really good turns in and Erik later claimed that it was ?one of the best ski days in his life?.  That coming from one of the best and most enthusiastic skiers I know makes me feel really happy. Chamonix showed its good side to us today so whatever happens tomorrow the weekend is already a great success.

Follow Daniel?s blog at: danielronnback.blogspot.com

I just got the word from a German friend that they have made a profile on me on Freeskiers.net, a big ski portal in the German speaking ski world!  

Check it out here: http://www.freeskiers.net/portal/Magazin/Report-Andreas-Fransson-Skialpinist-und-Lebenskuenstler.html (German only, but you can use translate.google.com).

Today was one of those days where we got rewarded for trying. It was snowing more or less the whole day yesterday, but we still just got a few centimeters down in the valley. After a long high-pressure it felt like there was a big risk of getting ?dust on crust? skiing today but we felt like it was a good idea to check it out anyways. The wind had been from the north so we felt like the best chance of good skiing was on the Brevent side of the valley. I have no idea on how the skiing was elsewhere, but it did rock in Brevent.

I met Tony Lamiche in the morning at the lift station and we got five great runs together before he had to take of to pick up his daughter. As it was getting warm I also called it a day, and will end the day with a climbing session. 

Tony is a skier, climber and guide living in Chamonix during the winters. Check him out on: www.tonylamiche.info (french)