Alpine Mag | International Magazine

GMHM at 50: Twelve Milestones in the History of the French Army’s Elite Mountaineering Unit

by Jocelyn Chavy

...

The best trail running photos from the Red Bull Illume 2026 contest

by Alpine

...

Meru Central: A masterful ski descent by Tiphaine Duperier and Boris Langenstein

by Zoé Charef | 6 Nov 2026

...

GMHM at 50: Twelve Milestones in the History of the French Army’s Elite Mountaineering Unit

by Jocelyn Chavy | 3 Nov 2026

...

Meru Central: A masterful ski descent by Tiphaine Duperier and Boris Langenstein

by Zoé Charef

They reckoned their chances of success were just three in ten. Yet on 18 October, Tiphaine Duperier and Boris Langenstein completed the first ski descent of the south-west face of Meru Central (6,310m), in the Indian Himalaya. A line of more than 1,500 metres, with slopes reaching 50°, skied from top to bottom after finding their way through a chaotic glacier. Another outstanding achievement for...

The best trail running photos from the Red Bull Illume 2026 contest

by Alpine

A foot wrecked by 100 miles in the rain, two runners lost on the shore of a lake in the middle of the Australian desert, a runner floating above a sea of clouds in the Pyrenees: here are the 20 finalists in the Trail category of The Illume Awards 2026, the international adventure photography contest. From Zegama to the Grand Canyon, from legendary races to spontaneous runs behind the house,...

“We Are Still a Long Way from the Limits of Human Climbing” Aidan Roberts, 9A Boulder Climber

by Jocelyn Chavy

...

Himlung avalanche: “The heavy toll paid by Nepalis could have been avoided”

by Paul Grobel

...

What our subscribers are reading

SUBSCRIBE NOW

Avalanche on Himlung: Sixteen Casualties at a Base Camp That Was Already Hit in 2014

by Jocelyn Chavy

...

Thierry Renault: A Tribute to a Master of Style

by Jocelyn Chavy

...

Eiger: Fay Manners and Roger Schäli Open Solar Eclipse, a New 33-Pitch Route on the North Face

by Jocelyn Chavy

...

Soline Kentzel, first woman to complete the free ascent of Darbellay on Petit Clocher du Portalet in Switzerland

by Jocelyn Chavy

...

News

Laura Rogora: The Exception That Proves History?

by Jean-Marc Chenevier

At just 25, Italian climber Laura Rogora has a record on rock that ranks her among the very best performers, men and women alike. With her ascent of Bibliographie at Céüse this summer, a 9b+...

Logan’s Other Summit #2: The Undertow

by Ulysse Lefebvre

Deep in Logan’s magnificent vastness, the world below seems to fade away. But memories come back in waves. Little by little, the expedition becomes a space where grief seeks its place, in the...

Logan’s Other Summit #1: Journey to the End of My Night

by Ulysse Lefebvre

I remain haunted by the apparent futility of mountaineering. In a world in disarray, where the search for meaning is a daily struggle, it is a brutal admission. Paradoxically, it took a personal...

French freerider Juliette Willmann killed in Patagonia avalanche

by Ulysse Lefebvre

Chamonix-based freeride skier Juliette Willmann, 29, was killed in an avalanche on Tuesday 29 September on Cerro Crestón, near El Chaltén in Argentina. Her husband, Pierre-Idris Mehdi, was found...

Avalanche on Himlung: Sixteen Casualties at a Base Camp That Was Already Hit in 2014

by Jocelyn Chavy

An avalanche swept through the base camp of Himlung Himal, 7,126 metres, in Nepal’s upper Naar Phu valley on 27 September. Four Nepalese workers have been found dead and twelve people remain...

Adam Ondra climbs legendary routes in the Dolomites

by Jocelyn Chavy

In his new video, Adam Ondra focuses primarily on two generations of extreme climbing on the immense south face of the Marmolada, the jewel of the Dolomites. The Czech climber begins with the “Fish”...

Thierry Renault: A Tribute to a Master of Style

by Jocelyn Chavy

From the 1980s through the 1990s, Thierry Renault was one of France’s finest alpinists. He was also, quite simply, one of its best climbers: third at Bardonecchia in 1985, Renault freed major...

Eiger: Fay Manners and Roger Schäli Open Solar Eclipse, a New 33-Pitch Route on the North Face

by Jocelyn Chavy

Between July 27 and August 13, Fay Manners and Roger Schäli established Solar Eclipse, a new 900-metre, 33-pitch route on the north face of the Eiger. They spent eighteen days working on the...

Soline Kentzel, first woman to complete the free ascent of Darbellay on Petit Clocher du Portalet in Switzerland

by Jocelyn Chavy

After Golden Gate on El Capitan, Le Voyage at Annot and a solo ascent of The Nose, Soline Kentzel has added another historic line to her résumé. The French climber has just completed La Darbellay on...

Vidéos

See all vidéos >

Adam Ondra climbs legendary routes in the Dolomites

...

American Climber Connor Herson repeats Bon Voyage 9a/E12 in Annot, France

...

The Dark Wizard, Dean Potter, the Yosemite legendary climber, a new HBO serie

...

Freeski Master Candide Thovex leading the way in Tignes

...

A guide’s book : Pierre Idris Mehdi, mountain guide in Chamonix

...

French Esteban Daligault climbs “Bon Voyage” 9a E12

...

Opinion

See all >

Farewell Guillaume Pierrel

Guillaume Pierrel has died in the mountains. Writing those words feels almost impossible. Guillaume was a friend. He was swept away by an avalanche in Pakistan. He was a mountain guide, skier, climber, and filmmaker. In just a few years, he had become one of the most remarkable figures in steep skiing. But listing his achievements, however impressive, does not truly convey who he was. Behind his...

Farewell Andy

I remember Andy Lewis perched on a ledge of the Jonte cliffs in the south of France, back when highlining had ceased to be just a climbers’ pastime and had become a world of its own. It was the mid-2010s, a time when the world wasn’t doing so badly: the two war criminals, Putin and Netanyahu, were already there, but a certain Barack Obama was keeping them in check. In Millau, France, a historic...

Alone to the North Pole: 40 Years Since Jean-Louis Étienne’s Historic Feat

Forty years ago, on May 11, 1986, Jean-Louis Étienne reached the geographic North Pole alone, after 63 days of walking and more than a thousand kilometers across the pack ice. Hauling his sled, pushing forward no matter what, through pressure ridges shaped by the wind, extreme cold — minus 52 degrees Celsius! — and the drift of the frozen Arctic Ocean. And then, at the end of this “inner pole” —...

Ice as resistance to the modern world

It’s not a scoop, but it jumped out at me during this immersion in a place that has nothing to offer but its ice. No trails, no view that carries, no wall that climbs. No game, no crystals. Not a moped, not a bistro. Nothing but ice. And avalanches over it when the conditions are not suitable, 99% of the time. Nothing slams, nothing shines. It’s a modest ice but one that must be...

Cow-boy Ben

Could it be a lonely cowboy lost in his scotch behind the bar of a Chamonix saloon? Or perhaps an adrenaline junkie having a bad trip? A high-level athlete in the middle of a descent? From Mont Blanc, of course. For a few more seconds. Too many. Or could it be the relentless gaze of the mountaineer, and more recently ridge climber, on the Matterhorn, the Eiger, and the Grandes Jorasses? Read...

Everest in 5 days, including xenon gas and testosterone

Everest has fallen. It was literally taken over by four soldiers dressed in black, in their attempt at speed ascent: Garth Miller, Alastair Carns, Anthony Stazicker, and Kev Godlington. In the race for Everest and novelty, Lukas Furtenbach has set the bar very high. A few weeks ago, we told you how the Austrian guide planned to take four clients to the summit of Everest (8848 m) in seven days,...