By: randosteve|Posted on: March 3, 2011|Posted in: Inspire, People | 21 comments

Some pretty cool stuff from Xavier de le Rue.

21 comments on “Xavier de le Rue: Sluff and Ice”

  1. nate brown says:
    March 3, 2011 at 7:07 am

    The dude tomahawked down an ice climb! I thought americans were the only ones who did not make the connections between the climbing and the skiing when “ski-mountaineering”. Add a clown suit–the youth are doomed if this is “cool”. At the end of the clip, he said “the pilot must have thought I was pretty stupid” hahahahaha

  2. randosteve says:
    March 3, 2011 at 7:54 am

    nate…if anything, it’s cool in an entertaining sort of way…no?

    and hey, if xavier wants to try to send the ice line is some sicko couloir (i can kinda see his line…no?)…right on. i’m sure some people might think the things you do are just as crazy…it’s all a matter of perspective.

    yeah, it would suck if he got hurt and had to have some major extrication rescue ensue because of it, but i just don’t see that here. the heli was right there. and yeah, it’s was a kodak moment, but that’s the path he’s chosen to take. no harm done.

    tough crowd.

  3. 528 says:
    March 3, 2011 at 8:59 am

    Nate, shelve your lame holier-than-thou attitude! You’ve never blown it in the mountains before big guy? So the guy tomahawked down a line… oh well. The rest of the footage on that clip was excellent and I think it’s rad to watch someone pushing the boundaries of the sport.

  4. nate brown says:
    March 3, 2011 at 12:31 pm

    528,

    post up your real name bro. Yeah I’ve definetly blown it in the mountains. I have some deep regret for one incident in particular. An incident that caused a lot of remorse for a lot of people. Thanks for the barb.

    I never said the guy does’nt rip, or push the boundaries. However, any climber would tell you that falling down an ice climb un-protected is not cool.

    Tough crowd indeed

  5. randosteve says:
    March 3, 2011 at 1:36 pm

    Nate…he was riding, not climbing. And don’t you think the line between ice climb and ski run might be a little blurry?

  6. Bryan says:
    March 3, 2011 at 4:52 pm

    that dude seriously rips, wait till next seasons movies come out he’ll probably slay that “ice climb” switch.

  7. Forrest Gladding says:
    March 3, 2011 at 5:01 pm

    Nate Brown, relax some. Just wait to you see the footage of him making the line when he attempts it again. I guess progression is a thing to look down upon??? If a dude makes the effort to climb up there and ride something others have not done, more power to him. Why all the hate? Is it because he snowboards??? Xavier continues to amaze me. Some of his climbs and descents in Deeper should at least garner your respect.

  8. Forrest Gladding says:
    March 3, 2011 at 5:02 pm

    PS, my kids think this is cool, guess I should bust out the clown suits on them too.

  9. nate brown says:
    March 3, 2011 at 5:21 pm

    Forest,

    I snowboard. This has nothing to do with snowboarding. I hope he “sends” it next time. The point I was trying to make is the difference between skiing, and climbing. When I say skiing, I mean riding whatever tool you choose.

    I propose a litmus:

    If you can tomahawk down your line and live, it is a ski line.

    If you die tomahawking, it is a “climb”.

    According to this test, I am wrong, and the dude was riding a ski line. Randosteve is right, it is kind of blurry.

    It is hard not to notice the similarities between the last minute of this video and the previous video steve posted where everyone lampooned the guy falling off the summit.

  10. gmon says:
    March 3, 2011 at 5:51 pm

    We teach our kids and aspiring mountaineers to respect the mountains, and preach responsibility. I am not so sure that the line shown at the end of the sponsored video teaches respect for the mountains. What it shows is a young man, who is a complete badass, pushing the limits of risk and perhaps reasonableness. Nothing necessarily wrong with it, but the reality is that xavier may not live all that long, history predicts that. at times, guys like xavier don’t necessarily consider the effects of their death on others. those types of thoughts don’t come to you until you are older. I have no problem with the line, but suspect anyone could argue the sponsorship and helicopter at the ready breeds irresponsibility. It is a fine line, yes, but I have to imagine that the pilot of the helicopter figured it was 50/50 that he was going to witness carnage. Perhaps some of this is what Nate means. Either way, not so sure he should be attacked for it.

  11. 528 says:
    March 3, 2011 at 10:00 pm

    Nate Brown- my name is Nick Stayner. Why does it matter?
    If my remark stung personally, it wasn’t intended and I’m sorry. Certainly wasn’t referring to any situation in particular, just the attitude espoused in your post.

    This is a silly argument man! Why does it matter if it’s a ski route or a climbing route? So you can judge the guy? Why are you so concerned with who’s right and wrong?
    Anyway, sorry if I offended you.

  12. 528 says:
    March 3, 2011 at 10:03 pm

    And cool footage BTW Steve. I hope you keep posting stuff like this on here from time to time. Part of why I love visiting this site is because I never know what the next post may hold!

  13. Matt Kinney says:
    March 3, 2011 at 11:08 pm

    Denali and Foraker used to be climbing routes, till someone skied them. Same with Everest come to think about it. The sport continues to progress. Folks will look silly trying. Some may die trying. Eventually someone will get it done.

    Cheers from AK

  14. ptor says:
    March 4, 2011 at 1:37 am

    What’s the big deal anyways? There was no real exposure and smooth runout with no crevasses. It was a good calculated idea for someone with a heli, helmet and other armour except that the ice was covered in rocks so he was doomed from the start and as such not such a good choice in timing to attempt it. Right on Xavier, pretty darn good riding for a sideways skier 😉

  15. Matthieu Giraud says:
    March 4, 2011 at 3:00 am

    Guys, thanks for sharing your point of view, it might seems to you Xavier is charging without studying the consequences of what is doing. We should have maybe insisted on how he did check the ice, outrun and so on before thinking it was doable. We would have had to skip some other lines from the edit as it would have been too long. However, we wouldn’t have shown the clip if that line wasn’t doable. Before this went out Xavier went back and rode it clean in one try after checking again the conditions. He’s pushing the limits, no doubts, he’s checking the conditions and risks, no doubts on that neither. Xavier turns back on faces & lines more than you would believe, sometime only on guts feeling. Hope that reassure you on Xavier’s approach. He’s neither a clown or a stuntman.
    Cheers,
    Matthieu

  16. ty says:
    March 4, 2011 at 9:35 am

    nice try….looks like its hard to send near vertical water ice…who would have thought?

  17. Smokey says:
    March 4, 2011 at 1:25 pm

    CMC route on Moran skied my Coombs et al…classic rock climb where paradigms shifted about what a ski route was after it was skied. Good on Xavier and others for this progression…

  18. J freeze says:
    March 4, 2011 at 10:21 pm

    Looks like every hill on the North coast, (ie northern Ohio). guess it takes a frog with an “X” in his name to make blue ice a “progression of the sport”.

  19. More From Xavier de le Rue In The Dolomites | TetonAT.com says:
    March 7, 2011 at 1:53 pm

    […] In the line when you wreck hard at the end of the Alps video…to me, it looked like you lost your edge before you were ready to straight-line it…as […]

  20. Stefan Mitrovich says:
    March 10, 2011 at 6:45 pm

    Agreed with Ptor. Smooth runout with a big bowl of powder at the base of the ice. You’re there, youre committed and its not that much more to the bottom. Just have to ride through and land safely. Heli and camera crew there also to assist. Would you downclimb that if you came across it at the bottom of your run? Some would, some wouldnt. Dont really know until youre in the situation.

  21. Rocky Vertone says:
    December 6, 2011 at 10:05 pm

    Bummer about this battle of comments going down here. Check out the video of Xavier on that same route. Pretty cool.

    http://www.timelinemissions.com/this-is-my-winter-2/