Pip Hunt and the K2 Alliance in Switzerland

Crested Butte native Pip Hunt, Mckenna Peterson, and Amie Engerbretson recently returned from a trip to Murren, Switzerland, where they were filming for K2 Skis and Pretty Faces, an all female ski film spearheaded by Lynsey Dyer.  Obviously they had a great time.

Words and photos by Pip Hunt:

“This is backcountry, not freeride. Don’t show off here. If you fall, you’ll die,” Hannis, our 65 year old guide, lectured us. Welcome to skiing in Murren, Switzerland, where the consequences are huge and the mountains are even grander. With that kind of intro you’d think the next step would include harnesses and a safety line, but instead Hannis nimbly climbed over the quadruple knotted rope barricading the descending stairs and onto the snow.

Mckenna and Amie taking it in.

As we follow he pushes off and expertly traverses across the bulletproof and suncrusted ridgeline. It’s only after we arrive at the saddle that we realize we’ve been traversing above a 500 feet of exposure. One edge caught, one failure to self-arrest and it’s over. No showing off.

We take in the view from the safety of the saddle, the circular tram plaza on top of the Schilthorn, clinging to its glory days with 007 and the Piz Gloria. The Jungfrau, Eiger, and Monch rise dramatically out of a sea of clouds and the early morning enthusiast have already set the skin track.

“It is too late to go there for the wirgin snow. It vill not be wirgin vhen ve get there,” Hannis decides. “It is best to ski this, then go down to the walley. Just as long as the clouds don’t rise too high.”

“Walley!” Amie says, eyes sparkling despite her persistent cold. We fall in line behind Hannis and begin our trek up the mountain.

Amie Engerbretson, Mckenna Peterson and myself are in Murren, Switzerland filming for K2 and Pretty Faces. Aside from skiing the most inspiring lines on the Schilthorn, discussing the newest technology in K2’s women’s line-up, and schleussing the Warren Miller-esque bowls, we’re having a damn good time dancing, sledding, and eating a fair amount of chocolate.

Getting the shot of getting the shot. Skier: Amie Engerbretson

It’s just another day skiing with three ladies in Switzerland. We arrived to dingy, low hanging clouds that threatened more May-showers than January snow. We were anxious to get out, explore, and ski challenging lines, but sometimes Mother Nature has other plans for you.

Our sarcastic (but hilarious) host, Scotsman Alan Ramsay and owner of the Hotel Jungfrau, had warned us to be wary of the tracks. We may find ourselves wishing for a parachute or a wingsuite. In one ear and out the other.

As we boarded the Schilthorn tram the next morning, the James Bond theme song eerily matched the mystery in our minds as we scoped endless terrain with tracks mysteriously appearing out of nowhere.

“Wait, how do you think they got to that line?” Mckenna asked me as she pointed out the tram window at a playful, mini-golf zone at the base of a 300 ft. cliff.

“Maybe they traversed? The tracks seem to just appear out of nowhere.” I replied. Which, to the average piste skier, is exactly where they came from.

The randomly placed fresh tracks weren’t the only thing we had to worry about either. A strong wind had created deep wind pockets overnight, and the sensitive snow released easily underneath our skis. We picked low-exposure terrain off the top of the Schilthorn for our first lap but released six pockets, the last of which ended up taking Amie on a little ride. Everyone was ok, but wary about skiing any lines about speed flying territory.

Cowbells, very large and very small.

The problem with down days in Switzerland is that you can still see all the lines you wish you could ski. We lapped the piste gazing at long, easily accessible couloirs and wide-open faces with mini golf features. We raced each other through the hillside villages and played on the mushy lower slopes. We sledded on a couch ingeniously connected to snowboards and danced through the empty, end-of-season streets, but we were ready to explore again up high.

Finally, a new storm moved, and with fresh snow up high and a little rain down low, we joined the fans of “Her Majesty’s Secret Service” and boarded the Piz Gloria. We steadily followed Hannis up a short boot pack and across a deceivingly steep, exposed ridge. Mckenna and I stood atop the couloir we had been eyeing all week and realized that it was way steeper and disappeared underneath a rollover. It’s funny how different lines look from the bottom.

My heart pounded in my chest as I took a deep breath and high fived Mckenna before she dropped in.

“Make sure she drops farther to the left,” Jeff radioed in. “She’s probably going to kick out a pocket and she’s above a ton of exposure right now.”  Edging to the left, Mckenna dropped in and immediately took out a pocket the entire width of the couloir and expertly skied to the side and braced herself. She watched the slough run to the end of the couloir before making her final move, and gracefully skied the disintegrating sugar to the bottom.

Pip ripping a line while negotiating some sluff.

“Alright Pip, enter where Mckenna did, then cut right and ski the ridge above Mckenna’s track,” Jeff directed.  Wait, isn’t all the exposure to the right? “It’ll make sense when you get there.” I took a deep breath and put all my trust in Jeff’s judgment and kicked off. My sluff chased me quickly down the hill, so I let it pass me, then kept going. I rolled over the convexity and saw the ridgeline to my right.  I wanted to pause, to follow Mckenna’s tracks, but I knew that the shot was on the ridge, sacked up and went for it. One turn, two turns, three turns and I was out, but so was another pocket. As the slide reached my skis I caught one tip, bobbled on one ski, and regained my balance as I cut out of it’s path.

A crowd of about 100 people had gathered on the slope below us while we had been bootpacking. “That was awesome!” one guy exclaimed as I skied up. “I’ve been trying to get my friends to go there all year but no one will hike with me!” Welp, maybe you should find some girls to ski with.