Sylvain Saudan (23 September 1936 – 14 July 2024) was a Swiss Extreme skiing, dubbed "skier of the impossible." He was noted for skiing down large and steep mountains, including those in the Himalayas, North America, Asia, Africa, and Europe. In 1982, he entered the Guinness Book of World Records for descending the highest and steepest slope ever skied.
Early life and career
Saudan was raised near the village of
Verbier in
Valais, Switzerland, where skiing to school during the winter was the norm.
In 1961 at age 25, Saudan qualified as a skiing instructor
and high mountain guide.
In the world of high mountain skiing people are usually known for first ascent of high and difficult peaks but he was famous for accumulating 23 first descents,
Saudan's crowning achievement came in 1982 when, at age 46, he skied down Pakistan's -high Gasherbrum I, or Hidden Peak, in the Himalayas.
Technique
In order to safely ski these mountains he developed a new technique to "jump turn" on very steep inclines.
Normal jump turns would have accelerated the skier and thrown him too far down the mountain so, using long ski poles, Saudan turned by planting a ski pole downhill and, keeping his weight on both skis and leaning back on his heels, he lifted the ski tips up and swivelled them in an arc into the turn.
These turns, rhythmically swivelling the skis in arcs left and right, he christened the
windscreen wiper turns.
His extreme exploits involved considerable preparations, studying the mountain, the snow, and the terrain over an extended period of time.
Saudan practiced for his runs by skiing on rocks as it prepared him for being able to ski on any type of snow conditions.
Later life and death
Saudan was an accomplished guide for
heliskiing, one of the first European guides, along with
Hans Gmoser, to exploit
the Bugaboos in
British Columbia in the 1970s, with waist deep powder snow (often 150,000 vertical feet per week or more). He later developed his own line of skis suited for
powder skiing. These were relatively short and wide metal skis, designed to be quick turning in powder snow, as well as to be easily loaded outside the helicopters. In 1972, he launched Himalaya Heliski, based in
Srinagar offering heliskiing trips in
Kashmir region.
Over the next decades he would become known as the "father of Heliskiing in Kashmir", recognized for his work to promote skiing in the region.
In 2007, aged 71, he survived a helicopter crash in
Kashmir.
In 1987, Canada's Whistler Blackomb named the Saudan Couloir after him on Blackcomb Peak and launched the Saudan Couloir Ski Race Extreme down the route. Saudan was not consulted for the use of his name, and brought legal charges against Whistler for using it, which lasted decades to conclude.
He became a motivational speaker in later life for corporate executives, using his films to demonstrate the leap in courage it takes to conquer new peaks and new challenges.
Saudan died from a heart attack at home, on 14 July 2024, at the age of 87.
Timeline of achievements
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1967 – He performed the first descent of the direct 45 degree line of the Couloir Sans Nom on the face of the Rothorn.
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1967 – He skied the north face of the Piz Corvatsch near St. Moritz, around 1000 meters of vertical at over 45°.
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1967 – His descent on skis down the 55-degree Couloir Spencer on the Aiguille de Blaitière, Mont Blanc massif.
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1967 – He skied the Couloir Edward Whymper on the Aiguille Verte.
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1968 – He climbed then skied back down Couloir Gervasutti on the Mont-Blanc du Tacul fell.
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1968 – He skied the couloir Marienelli of the Monte Rosa, Pennine Alps.
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1969 – He skied the North West face of the Aiguille de Bionnassay of the Mont Blanc massif.
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1970 – He skied the west face of the Eiger, Bernese Alps.
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1970 – He skied the south face of the Grandes Jorasses.
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1970 – He skied the couloir of the Tournette on the south west side of Mont-Blanc.
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1971 – He descended the 50-degree (55 in places), slope of the couloir on the Northeast side of 3419 meter Mount Hood, Oregon, U.S.
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1972 – He climbed, then at -35 degrees C, descended the south-west face of Denali (Denali), Alaska Range, highest peak in North America.
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1972 – He climbed then skied back down Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa.
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1976 – He climbed then skied back down 7,135m Nun Kun peak in the Himalayas.
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1976 – He climbed then skied back down a number of other peaks in Nepal and the Karakoram.
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1982 – He skied down Pakistan's -high Gasherbrum I, or Hidden Peak, in the Himalayas.
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1986 – On his 50th birthday, he skied down from the 3,776m summit of Mount Fuji, without snow, on scree.
Quotes
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I don't live for the mountain. I couldn't live without her. I live with her. (in Dreyfus, p. 31).
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When you ski down a corridor, you're really edging death with each move that is not perfectly controlled. There's really only one way out: don't fall down. (in Dreyfus, p. 270).
