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Mountaineering.
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In the collective imagination, this word evokes adventure,
stories of heroic climbs on inaccessible peaks.
It is also associated with death,
the ultimate consequence of the many dangers that mountaineers face.
Through the prism of the general press, mountaineering is seen as an elitist and dangerous activity.
Indeed, when the media talk about mountaineering, it is usually to report a tragedy or an exploit.
But is this widely held image correct ?
Are mountaineers really just adrenaline-addicted supermen, selfishly risking their lives to climb the coveted summit?
What if mountaineering had another face, that of a little-known practice, more accessible than one might think ?
What if mountaineering had also a more and more feminine face ?
It is on the French Riviera that we will seek the answers to these questions.
At first glance, the Promenade des Anglais and its palm trees,
as well as Place Masséna,
don't look like places where we could meet a mountaineer.
And yet, the department of which Nice is capital
is called the Alpes-Maritimes.
Taking a step back from the coast,
we discover a diversity of landscapes that is unique in France.
Barely a stone's throw from the Mediterranean sea,
snow-capped mountains rise.
A true natural border with Italy, the Mercantour-Argentera mountain range
constitutes the southern end of the Alpine arc.
To reveal another face of mountaineering,
we will meet novices
Accompanied by mountain guides,
we will follow them throughout an initiation course
which will bring them from learning the basic techniques,
all the way to their first climbs in the Mercantour.
My name is Olga, i'm 30 years old
and in my professional life
I am an international salesperson in the medical field.
Before doing this mountaineering training,
I didn't have much sport in my life.
I must say that I come from a very flat country, from Belarus.
My first meeting with the mountains
dates from 5 years ago when i came to live in the french riviera.
I discovered the mountains through the hikes,
coastal hikes first, and after hikes in the hinterland.
I discovered mountaineering thanks to the one who became my husband since.
He is passionate about mountains and he shares this passion with everyone.
He told me that here, in the area, there is a mountain guides association
which organizes training for beginners.
I was very surprised, because for me mountaineering was a rather elitist sport
and besides, I did not have a clear image of how people became mountaineers.
I'm Mirela, I am a software engineer.
I used to go the mountains quite regularly, I did mostly hiking.
My main desire to discover mountaineering was especially to surpass myself.
To try to go beyond my fears.
See, you could go in now it makes a 0, and if you do an extra round, you have the 8.
Do you have a nice technique for doing the 8 knot ?
The one of the witch The witch, look !
What is it ? Go ahead. Ah darn, Hahaha
You take the witch, you strangle her, you stick her eye in,
and then you kill it and it becomes an 8, or a 0 ... No, it's a 0 !
Wait, you have to strangle the witch... That's it.
No but .. can you stop filming there ?
And here we start, we will see it together.
Belaying there is belaying in motion,
it's only the leader holding his partner directly by the strength of his arm.
There is no belay point, there is nothing there, ok ?
Our first day of training was a beautiful sunny day.
We went to the Baou de Saint-Jeannet, not far from the coast.
The first day of training consisted of learning basic techniques.
Handling ropes, how to tie knots,
how to tie up, how to use the camming devices,
how to adjust your harness, very simply, how to adjust your helmet.
Which may seem obvious but which has a great importance in mountaineering,
because these bases have to be automated
so you don't have to think about it and avoid wasting time during a real climb.
We spent four or five hours learning this theory and then we embarked on an easy route.
Take ! take ! take ! I can't take more, it's good.
Phew! I did it !
You are so beautiful in this landscape !
It was the first time i was roped with somebody.
We took turns leading the rope or being second climber.
The main thing was to learn to move forward together.
We arrived at the top of the Baou !
It's our first mountaineering summit !
Céline, engineer. Félix, teacher.
So, what made me want to try mountaineering, it's clearly our friends.
I had never climbed, I don't know, maybe six months or a year
before trying the experience.
We actually just started climbing indoors and a little outside.
We had made a very few outings and we have a friend who saw the training offer,
and we were motivated, so we signed up.
We recognize a good piton, you will see if this one is good,
when we hit it it makes a noise more and more acute, we say he sings.
It does "ton ton ton ton ton".
That means that it is good. If it sounds hollow, it's bad. Felix ?
You don't want to do it ? Yes we do, you don't have to push it all at once.
Ah well, I put two shots and it's in ! We bet ?
Ah yes, he sings !
And he also sings. Go ahead, make music !
Impressive. Anyway, do it seriously.
And there normally... Here.
Come on Arthur, do it !
Yeaaaahhhhhhh!
Wooooooh!
Fine, Céline !
And you have to force yourself to face the void. No, it's true.
At first, I thought I was doing well ... Come on, it's ok !
Since a while ago I was telling to myself it's ok, I am doing it right ...
Its good ? You see, she did everything facing the void, she did it easily.
Ah yes it was an easy ride ! Come on, well left. Far left.
Facing the void ? ah yes, facing the void.
My name is Fiona and I am a landscaper.
It was a bit complicated at first to belay on cams
and to trust... to trust yourself in fact.
At the beginning you think a lot about not falling.
On the left, the mantle a little on the left. Yes but on the left there is no foot hold.
That's the goal of the game, you have to put your feet flat a little.
Ah, it's 3+ huh! Yes, well. Said like that ...
He is funny...
Ah he was pretty serious, Maurice! (Maurice's pilar is the name of the route)
If you fall, please don't crash on the ground, don't spoil the picnic.
Okay...
Because otherwise it ruins my picnic. Yes, I understand.
My god if we come back alive, it will be awesome.
Camille, 28, corporate lawyer.
In fact I did not measure at all that it was necessary to know so many things.
And measure so many parameters.
And suddenly, I lost it completely.
Although it was simple things, I completely panicked.
So even in the evening after that day, I couldn't stop crying, it was horrible.
So I had to get back to reminding myself why I wanted
to do this mountaineering training.
At first it was super fun, we did the stuff, we knew how to do it
and once on the route it was scary.
Yes, that's it, down below everything was fine and then when you have to do it up there...
Come on.
Come down well, that you are well settled. Come on, it's ok.
This cam is awesome.
For the second day of training, we met again a month later.
It was february and we climbed an icefall.
Then, the experience was completely different compared to the first day.
I must admit that I rather suffered.
So, imagine a beautiful winter day.
It's pretty cold, you are in the shade, there is an icefall,
and you have to climb it. The main difficulty was to master
the crampons and the ice axes, and understanding how to climb using both.
So you rope up, you put on your crampons, you take your ice axes,
and here you are in front of a wall of ice, and the goal is to go up there.
In theory, it sounds easy enough.
And you throw yourself at it with a lot of energy. But after the first steps,
I understood that it would not be easy at all.
I experienced a lot of emotions, I asked myself questions.
Why am i here, what am i doing here, why am i not at home in my bed ?
But in the end, at the end of the day, on the way home,
I was pretty happy because it was a first real challenge.
I was very happy and proud of myself.
You have to extend your arm, Mirela. Extend, yes.
You have to hurt the ice ! I can admit
that it was not necessarily the outing where I was brilliant,
but i did it.
I'm too scared, frankly.
It's good Mirela.
Yes, perfect. Well done !
Finally !
It's over, right?
The icefall was really great.
We had a great weather. Even the approach walk was really pretty.
The icefall was crazy, it was huge. It was very very beautiful.
The guides first sat the ropes on all the routes,
then we were able to top rope them.
I found it rather hard physically, especially I think because we are tense.
Suddenly your muscles tighten well, but it was great.
It's great to be able to do ice climbing like that top roping with mountain guides,
because clearly I would never have climbed an icefall on my own.
Sometimes the little shapes break. Yes, yes, I try.
What I really liked during this day was the pedagogy of the guides
who were teaching us. In fact they encouraged us,
they told us what was good to do, not good, improvements we could make.
Come on, it's ok Camille.
Hit harder, hurt the ice! Go hard !
No, right it doesn't work, you can't do it. Put it better in the axis, your right foot.
At first, it was hard to plant the ice axe and to trust your feet.
You say no, but... The ice axe will never hold.
And from down below someone yells at you : it holds !
Well then you do it and in fact it holds. And gradually, you trust yourself more and more.
I think it is at this point where I had a little click.
Telling me that i was actually going to finish it. To finish this mountaineering training after all.
I misunderstood, I thought I had to go down. I was stuck then...
What did you think ? That we had to go.
She thought we had to go back. While there is still daylight...
You took your headlamp anyway, did you ? That's true. Here, you see.
It was on the last one that I gained confidence in my feet.
Frankly, great, I overcame my fears, it's great !
I climbed the routes that I wanted. They have a good psychology.
And look how beautiful she is.
They encourage you and everything is cool, You're glad you did it.
A good moment. Yeah, really.
The icefall, it was wonderful.
That's true, it was the first time that I was climbing on ice only.
It was very fun. It is both beautiful in texture,
to see a little through but not too much. Half opaque but not too much.
It was the first time I put on crampons to climb on a wall of ice.
It was quite impressive. It was very interesting.
For an first time, it was really good. We could see during a day,
what it was and it served us well afterwards.
So, for the accident,
actually we were seeing pieces of ice falling regularly.
Especially when preparing the routes, to break what was dangerous for us.
Ice ! Warning !
There are big ones there. Be careful, it's falling on the right !
There were already lots of pieces of ice falling, but we were careful.
He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Because it fell right on his head. Without helmet,
the noise it made was like he had a helmet, actually. We thought it was a piece of ice
falling on a helmet.
And already the impact was violent. So when we saw that he didn't wear a helmet...
Yes Nico ? Yes, Toto,
A block of ice fell right on my face. I forgot my helmet.
So I had to call for rescue. Rescuers... the chopper will come.
It happened very very quickly. Well, i think even him,
he didn't realize that he was bleeding at first.
He was helping someone and then, ten seconds later,
we were putting him aside and he was holding his head.
You could see that his head was bleeding, so we had to call for help.
It was quite interesting to see the mountain rescue response.
Yesterday... Saturday, it's Saturday today. It is Saturday ? Ok, where do you live ?
Valdeblore. Ok and what do you do for a living ?
I am a mountain guide and I run the gîte. Take a piece of rope,
we're going to attach him and make a disengageable.
I'm going to mobilize him a little bit, so that he goes to the winching area.
So it's going to take a quarter of an hour or so, but i will do it by myself.
Ok copy that, no worries.
Whenever you don't have your helmet, it's the day you take one on the head.
For sure, you wear it every day of your life... The day you don't have it...
My name is Jérémy Fino, I am 31 years old.
I am a CRS (french police) in the mountain rescue, the CRS Alpes.
And I am specifically assigned to the Nice detachment,
for the rescue in the Mercantour mountain range.
The mountains are an accident-prone environment,
more than the activities. It is an environment
where there are objective risks, and it has to with the frequency,
the time we spend out there.
Here, I don't feel like we're dealing with a lot of carelessness or mistakes.
I would even say that it is a minority. It's really more ...
These are disciplines where you can hurt yourself, but just as you can hurt yourself
by going mountain biking or trail running.
Sure, there are a little more risks to twist your ankle while going mountaineering
than playing on your computer.
Already, before an accident, there are times when the situation is out of control,
that you no longer know what you are doing. Do not go as far as the accident
to call for help, actually.
Sometimes people call us a little early, there has been no accident yet.
They are technically stuck and they feel a bit guilty, they are embarrassed when we arrive.
But I prefer to go get people unharmed because they can't go further anymore,
rather than going to pick up two bodies or two injured people at the foot of a cliff.
What is important is also to know, it sounds silly,
but to know where you are. That everyone in a group
knows where he is in the mountain, and on which route.
Because that also happens, There is a leader who hurts himself
and he is no longer able to call for help. There are people who don't know where they are !
It's good enough, if everyone knows where he is, it's good enough.
The CRS Alpes (french police) is a unit based in Grenoble,
which groups the detachments
of High Mountain CRS from Grenoble, Albertville, Briançon and Nice.
Each unit performs mountain rescue on its department, in its mountain range,
every other week, alternating with the PGHM (military police).
This is a practice that took place in Aiglun, there were 12 staff involved.
The theme was a rope party on a route of the Paroi dérobée, the steepest wall in Aiglun.
Pretty basic alert, a fall of the lead climber who hurts himself on the impact,
to the arm and ankle.
Sir, can you hear me?
Ah. We are... R9 We have 2 rope length left, we have the topo in front of us.
But he fell, my buddy fell, i think he must have either sprained,
either fractures, his wrist hurts and the ankle too.
But the thing is that we don't know what to do, he can't climb anymore
and it's too steep, we can't abseil down.
Ah yes, and there is a roof over us there. It's not a problem ?
There is a big overhang, a big roof above us. They will come with a helicopter ?
So it was : drop of the team and equipment at the top.
The rope party is blocked at two rope lengths from the exit of the route, the wall is 300m high.
So, a rescuer goes down on contact by attaching static rope.
And the, from above we use a thermal winch with a stem system,
which allows for clearance from the wall, to prevent the ropes and the victims
to rub on the rock.
Adjust it so that it's clean.
Cécile, for info, At the top we are ready for the ascent.
Fab from Ludo, down here everything is ok.
Copy that, Ludo.
Winch running !
Received Ludo, we wait for your instructions.
The victim is 5m below me, we continue the traction.
Ok, stop pulling, he is at my level.
We continue the traction.
Traction, we continue.
Traction, on one meter.
There, we will disengage you a little bit.
Go further down.
Hop, go.
Go ahead, take a little rope, Ju.
It's good, the chopper can winch him now.
In fact, all the people we drop at the hospital
or at the parking lot, next to their car,
after a rescue and who thank us and smile at us.
That, and then the letters we receive at the detachment, people who thank us.
Sometimes it's a rescue that we forgot, because it was not particularly striking.
For us it was not something exceptional, but for them,
we got them out of trouble and for them it was something quite moving.
They send us chocolates, or nothing, but just a letter to thank us.
It's all these little signs of affection
and gratitude, even if we don't do it for that,
but it’s really pleasing, it's cool.
For the third outing,
we climbed a multi-pitch route.
At the Sainte-Victoire mountain, not far from Aix-en-Provence (near Marseille).
It was my first multi-pitch and it was my first encounter with the void.
There is a first step, after there is the beautiful white plate up there,
we go to the right of the big pine.
What was complicated for me, in this multi-pitch,
was to accept that there is no escape.
You are in the middle of the way, a lot of void below you,
and several rope lengths left above you.
And the only thing you have to do is move up.
You can go now Sandrine ! Yes...
I have a lot of slack on the other hand... It happens ! Woah, a lot of slack...
You quibble ! You quibble !
The first rope length was... Very interesting for me.
There were a few tears, a few crises. There were a few moments when...
I thought it was the end.
Some moments when I just wanted to go down and go home watch a movie.
Here we go again.
It will be fine.
The main lesson that I learned during this outing
is that you have to be always on the move, you have to be efficient, you have to move on
to avoid waste time.
Because time passes much faster than you think.
When you're in action, you lose track of time a bit.
We did a lot of outings with Stéphane Benoist.
And Stéphane is not someone who will be there to console you, to tell you
"but no, don't worry, you will get there".
No, it's someone who will move you.
So for sure, an outing with Stéphane, you will finish it.
For me, that's it. and that's exactly what i needed.
He is an extraordinary person, that's it.
Can I go ? Ah well yes, we are waiting for you !
It's about time
With a smile ! We’ll have to wait a little bit for a smile,
because I'm not there yet. Take !
And once we got to the top, it was magnificient because we had a beautiful sunset.
It was really beautiful, it was worth it.
For me mountaineering is
linked very closely with the idea of beauty.
Because every outing allows you to discover breathtaking landscapes,
of incredible beauty.
And the mountain is never the same.
You can do the same route in winter, summer, autumn and spring,
and it's going to be a different outing each time.
Really it pays for all the effort, the view you have on the summit,
For our fourth outing, we finally went doing a real mountaineering route.
We went to do the route of the Eperon de Cessole at the Malinvern.
The approach walk was a bit hard for me.
I was having trouble breathing and I found it hard to move forward
at the pace that the rest of the group was going. So i tried to catch up,
but it made me stop, take a break to catch my breath.
While the guide explained to me that it is better to move slowly,
but with a permanent rhythm.
Often we go faster by going slowly than by going fast.
At the bottom of the edges, we removed the snowshoes.
We left the sticks, we got a little lighter.
And we got equipped, and here we had to start climbing.
Good, Olga !
Wearing multiple layers, which somehow limits movement.
I had to adapt to that. And having a backpack that weighs a bit.
So they call it the spur of Cessole, but it's more of a ridge.
The crampons, for the moment, no. We'll have to see after, because
we go up some couloirs from time to time, so it's possible that we push
without the crampons. Because we will be able to belay properly.
The Malinvern, by the spur of Cessole, it's mixed climbing.
That means you have to climb on cliffs and you have to climb on snow.
You have to adapt, change your technique
fairly quickly depending on what you're up against. And it's not easy.
Meaning that you have to manage everything with lots of layers of clothes,
that limits flexibility. And with big gloves,
with which you have to go get the holds, which is not very obvious.
And with the big mountaineering boots, which are much less sensitive
than climbing shoes, of course.
Is it up there, the end ? Ohhhhh...
The arrival at the summit, somehow it was a victory.
There it is, the snow !
Summit !
Yeaaaah! Summit !
But at the same time, at the top, you don't stay long.
We had a little time to eat a bite, to have a hot drink.
But after, it's not won, we still have to get down.
And then I learned that the descent is not much easier than the climb.
We went down a fairly steep couloir
and the weather started to get worse.
So we were a little bit in a hurry, we had to move fast
but we had to move safely. Luckily we were on time,
we were at the parking lot when it started to snow.
And then a nice snowstorm came.
Mountaineering is discovery.
The discovery of incredible landscapes,
the discovery of oneself, of one's limits,
and our ability to exceed our limits.
Because down the mountain, you look at the top and you say no, never.
I will never get there, especially going through all these ridges,
with all this equipment.
I am a girl, I never did mountaineering.
But after six hours on the route,
You realise that it is possible.
I think for mountaineering, you need some mental strength.
I think anyone can do it, that's for sure. You should know that there will be some walking,
especially uphill. So you have to manage your breath a little bit.
That is from a physical point of view, but it is mostly a mental sport for me.
What this training taught me about me is that frankly, actually, we can.
Everything is in your head, and everything is possible.
Everything is possible if you do it rationally.
I am strong !
What's the matter ? You told me it's not vertiginous...
Oh no, it's not vertiginous. Ah no, it's not even high for real !
If we look at it like this .. That's it, look !
No but, it always seems more vertiginous from a distance.
Follow in the footsteps. We go up the couloir,
and then do you see the hollow there ? This is the ridge that we will climb,
and visibly, it is not vertiginous. Visibly !
That's what they say, I don't believe it much but...
My favorite outing was the Caïre Archas, it was really beautiful.
There was snow, there was an extraordinary couloir.
We climbed up with ice axes, it was great.
It's true that there is a sort of security that you have
when you are roped up with the guide. Maybe he will hold you a little harder,
when you don't feel reassured. Or he will tell you to put your hand there, or there.
So maybe there is a little more experience which reassures somehow.
There was a time when i got a little scared,
because Stéphane had not understood that I was a little bit behind.
And there was a tight rope, he was on the other side, diagonal from me,
and between me and him you had to walk around.
Because in fact there was a void. And at that time, Stéphane was pulling on the rope.
But it's just because we didn't understand each other, and he didn't understand that I was
well back from him. So there I was a little scared,
but it remains clearly the outing that i preferred, it was wonderful.
Mountaineering is clearly a team sport.
There is no "I am stronger so I'm going to go through there, you are weaker so you go here".
No, you have to really think like a team.
If there is one that is stronger, he won't challenge himself
just because he can do it.
Know that i am tired. It... it doesn't matter to you.
Let's go.
Yes !
Well done ! Well done !
Moreover, it's a central summit, the Caïre Archas, it's cool.
There is one thing, it's that from the start I didn't think
I would be able to succeed.
I thought I was going to cry on all the outings,
that I was not going to finish any, that I would panic,
that everything was going to fall appart. And in the end it was not the case at all,
because I had people on whom I could count on and who made it happen.
For sure, they didn't hug me and they didn't listen to me cry.
I was pushed, but in the end I got there. It's beautiful, it's great.
In fact, I imagined that when you were mountaineering,
you were using ice axes and rock climbing all the time. And in fact, not at all.
There is first an approach walk, which may seem long.
You feel like it is hiking,
except that after you still have all the climbing and the summit to do.
So you have to keep energy, even if you are a good hiker, that you like it.
It's something I learned along the way.
Because it's not something I could have imagined,
when telling to myself I was going to go mountaineering.
My god, we're never going to get there !
The outing that marked me the most was the one at the Pointe André.
So, what I suggest is that on the first part we can try to
go up like this, and then we will see, depending on the slope,
and how you feel, whether or not we adapt the technique.
We were a group not on the same level, but with a good cohesion.
And at times we asked ourselves the question of the famous TECAP? (decsion tool)
So whether different parameters are green
to be able to continue, or to chose another route.
And in fact we all agreed with the choices we made.
It is noon, so there is still time to go to the top.
Yes.
Because we have to be at the top around 3 or 4am ?
Yes, that's good.
The general physical state is fine. It's ok, we only made a couloir, it's ok.
C, the conditions. The conditions are fine, we switch on rock there.
A is for...? Adaptation. It was if we wanted to go down there, or...
Yes, there would be a way to get down there.
And then there is the pleasure, there you feel pleasure.
And about the beauty of the route ? Both are the same.
Well then we do Pointe André. André with abseilling ?
Yes, yes, If you enjoy abseilling.
Let's go, that's good, good choice.
We are a really good group huh ? Yes, Yes Yes Yes. Thanks Damien.
It allowed me, even in my job, when i am panicking, to be calmer.
To have more self-confidence, to tell me that I am worth something.
And to be proud too, because when you tell someone
that you are doing a mountaineering training, they look at you saying "are you sure, you?"
"well yeah, me!" And you show them the mountains, etc
It's satisfactory.
It allowed me to have a lot more self-confidence.
We clilmbed an edge, there was void on both sides,
It was pretty vertiginous, It was the one that scared us the most.
Anyway, it scared me the most.
I think that in fact I was still tired from the way up.
We had been walking for a long time, because we had different fitness levels.
So we waited for each other.
And actually, the more i waited, the more my psychological worked.
Once at the top, i thought to myself "But... How am I going to get down ?"
That's it, we are at the summit ! it was great...
And we don't know how we're going to go back down... It was rated F (easy), it was worth it.
Prepare for some crying ! Hahaha
It was horrible, I think it was really psychological.
I was getting tired, and then someone sayed
"anyway, the majority of accidents occur during the descent".
So clearly, there, it was over for me. So at the edge I started to cry, to say to myself
that I was losing all my means. And luckily, Fiona, my sidekick,
reassured me, tapped me on the shoulder saying "it’s okay, just look how i do it".
And actually, like a child, I watched where she was passing and I said to myself, let's do it
I imagined that mountaineering would be harder.
That it might be less accessible, with more complicated techniques.
In the end, when it is explained progressively, it's rather accessible.
The Timing is perfect ! Yes... it's 5 p.m., we're still up there...
How do i see mountaineering after, i don't think i will stop.
Because it's something that I like. I would like to do things within my reach,
because now i know pretty much my level. So if someone explains to me
here we are going to do that, it will happen like this, etc.
I think I would like to do it again.
Haven't you learned the topo by heart ? No, by his heart yes.
So we're going to do that, it looks far away right?
Haha, yes.
The Saint-Robert.
He is pretty ! Ah yes, it's beautiful.
Two hour approach walk.
You have time to wake up, you see
Oh... but I don't want to wake up, I want to sleep.
I think we will have time to do the Gélas too.
Yes, huh ?
To go to the Malédie, the Clapier... (near 3000m summits)
And then, we can go back down. Here, all this for 7 p.m.
Next time, we will only do this part. Or just the hike, we were fine so far.
I will tell you that this is the Saint-Robert.
And there, from the beginning to the end, for me, it was a fight against myself.
Because quite often I was in the void, just on ridges.
There is the mountain, which is pretty, that you see like that.
And in fact there are ridges. And there are ridges, and ridges.
And it doesn't end, that was kind of it.
At the end of each rope length, I wanted to stop.
But in the end I pushed myself to my limits and then I got there, I did it.
One difficulty is that it reveals people,
it asks them to take off their masks. It is also one of the difficulties,
to know if you can manage this together with your rope partner.
Yes, nice. Take ! take, i don't have a foot hold.
I don't have a foot...
Before embarking on the discovery of mountaineering,
you have to understand that it's an activity where you have to commit.
All your actions have consequences and these consequences can be very serious.
It is not the mountain that presents a risk, but these are your actions.
And it is you who creates this risk.
I think 90% depends on you, on how you manage these risks.
Well done Mirela! Well done !
It's over ! Well, no... It's not exactly over.
Not really...
Clearly, I am very happy to have finalized this training.
I think to begin with, if I had been alone, I would never have committed to that.
So luckily, there were friends who were doing it at the same time as me.
I will continue the training in future years.
Because the path to autonomy is far from over.
It's a bit like driving school,
you have to get hours of driving before driving autonomously.
It's the same, here you have to put yourself in different situations
being guided, by being the second climber on the rope,
before you can take the responsibility of bringing someone to the mountains.
Meeting your true self and the one of others,
overcoming your fears and limits,
contemplating the beauty of the landscapes,
reconnecting with nature,
feeling free.
If mountaineers, despite the risks,
are so many to climb the peaks,
it is that they find, up there,
something missing in their lives from below.