Once you see the French Alps and Mt Blanc, they will stay with you forever. This mountain range gave me the direction and passion that have been the driving forces of my life.

They are the most beautiful and unforgiving mountains in the world and I love them for that.

Because of them, I know my place in the world and I owe them everything.

When I got a call from Merrell saying we will be spending Mike’s 30^th birthday in Chamonix, I was super stoked.

Having a true passion in the biggest gift in life if you can share it with others. I was so excited to show this place to Mike and Mina and being able to rediscover the place though their eyes.

However, when we landed in Geneva, the weather forecast did not look good to venture far in the mountains.

We had a big front moving in with very variable conditions. As a result, we put ourselves on the mountains’ schedule and waited for them to open the gates to their kingdom.

Finally, it happened: we had a 4-hour window with clear weather after a week of snowfall and we decided to head to Courmayeur on the Italian side.

As we showed up, blue sky, fresh snow and a helicopter were waiting for us: the dream of every skier.

I have never had a day like that in the Alps or anywhere in the world! We skied 30,000ft of waist deep powder in 2.5 hours.

The snow pack was our main worry but somehow, the layers settled nicely and the avalanche danger ended up being average.

We were able to charge with a perma-grin on our faces!

It was one of those days that can only happen if you spend a lifetime in the mountains and have luck on your side!

Just reminiscing about it fills me with joy. The mountains were extremely good to us and we must thank them!