Towards the end of winter 2012/2013, eight skiers from the Arc'teryx freeski team met up near Davos to discover the previously unknown Vereina Valley in Graubünden at the first Wilderness Camp. The focus of this wilderness camp was to master first ascents and ascents together in a lonely mountain world and to exchange ideas about the different philosophies of freeriding and backcountry skiing. Hanna Finkel was part of the Arc'teryx Wilderness Camp and reports on her experiences, the lines she skied and her adventures.
Project Wilderness Camp
To put it in Christina Lusti's words: "...Lets set a bunch of athletes free, playing the terrain, what was beautiful. And then come back at the end of the day and share stories and photos and experiences, that we had trough the day and that were pretty unique..." It would be hard to summarize better what we experienced during the three days of the Arc'teryx Wilderness Camp, when we accepted the invitation of Peter Gujan, a Swiss mountain guide and farmer, to his deserted Vereina Valley... But let's start from the beginning... As it was already very late in the season, namely mid-April, a cab took us to the end of the "civilized" Monbiel Valley early in the morning on the first day of our adventure. At the point where the last farmed mountain pastures end, our cell phone reception finally broke down and from then on was only available on the peaks of the surrounding mountains. In order to be able to contact the outside world over the next few days, we had to hike to one of the surrounding mountain peaks. There were more than enough of these peaks in the area around our base camp. And these peaks were to become the target of our activities over the coming days and throughout the camp: Namely, to ski and document lots of first lines from there. The camp was a small alpine settlement made of stone, which we enlarged a little with our tents due to a lack of space. The Wilderness Camp was about much more than just first lines and breathtaking ski runs. The focus of the Arc'teryx Athletes Camp was to gather experiences together, share experiences and learn from each other. It was a give and take of skiing experiences. Being together in the stone hut high up in the Vereina Valley worked well and harmoniously. Above all because it wasn't just the endless topic of skiing that the conversations between ski athletes revolved around. This time, the fat lines and steep slopes were quickly ticked off and questions about the protagonists' "normal lives" took center stage. At a quiet hour in the evening, over a glass of tea and dinner together, à la original Swiss cheese fondue, exciting conversations about lifestyles, dreams and desires that for once had nothing to do with skiing and winter were sparked off as if by magic. We felt comfortable and connected quickly!
Choose your line
"...Playing the terrain!"" This was also what the Wilderness Camp was all about in the end. In the deserted Vereina Valley, we had an enormous variety of downhill options at our disposal. Everyone could choose their lines and descents to suit their taste, this deserted area had so much untouched and impressive terrain to offer. While some skiers set off early in the morning and endured an extremely long and strenuous ascent to get to their preferred line, others set off a little later with the same euphoria, didn't tackle too many vertical meters and were just as enthusiastic afterwards when talking about their line.
Click through all of Baschi Bender's pictures in the photo gallery
The full story in the video
Fortunately or fortunately, all of these turns and the whole thing around them were documented visually on the side. You can see the result in the video. The short film shows quite well how we fared up there in the deserted Vereina Valley! And tells the story of Peter Gujan, who had the idea of camping up there and skiing the slopes. Have fun watching it!
