Ice climbing and dry tooling

Ice climbing has always been for me a natural extension of rock climbing.
Above all I get a great deal of pleasure from technical skill, of manoeuvering in a vertical space.
I’m fascinated by the element of ICE even more than rock.
Water, frozen by the winter cold, forms structures of incredible beauty and variation.
Ice is a fragile adventure playground which requires a great deal of concentration and experience.
I love the ephemeral side of this extraordinary beautiful medium.  It freezes over from the first cold spells.  It evolves, moving according to the temperature differences and then, when spring comes, disappears again.
The bond with nature is extremely strong.
Often I feel like a trapper in the lost valleys looking for a particular ice waterfall.
I’ve also had the chance to go and look for the magic of ice underground to take a series of ‘out of the ordinary’ photos with Philippe Poulet.  
These were truly magical experiences in terms of the beauty of the ice and the subterranean rock cavities.
I also adore the beauty of the lines of ice which stretch along the Alpine or Himalayan rock faces.
These imposing or ephemeral frozen pathways take me today up to the highest summits of the Himalayas where I am at my happiest.
More recently I’ve discovered dry tooling.  This hybrid sport has been a revelation for me and a fantastic bridge between the winter world of ice climbing and sport climbing.
I’ve rediscovered everything I love in climbing: physical barriers, the continuity of effort with the possibility of continuing until one falls which contrasts with the essence of ice climbing.
I love being able to switch between ice and rock and I’ve always loved athletic climbs which go up impressive overhangs; dry tooling gives me all of that!