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On tour with my camera, converted van and good Karma
I decided to give up a constant home in just one place, I built over 3 months on a van, to convert it into a rolling photographer's home. Right now I am on the road, living and experiencing the most beautiful interactions within completely new places, creating highlining projects and going on climbing adventures. All the time my camera on hand, capturing some of these unique moments and following my biggest passion - the photography of people living with me passionately our activities in nature.
FIND NEWEST UPDATES VIA SOCIAL MEDIA
FIND NEWEST UPDATES VIA SOCIAL MEDIA
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"TetOnFire"
Opening of a 450m Alpine-Project Highline
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CHAPTERS 1. All began in GRENOBLE 2. On the road in FRANCE, SPAIN and PORTUGAL 3. Welcome to highlife in CABO ESPICHEL, PORTUGAL 4. Getting comfortable in AZOIA, CABO ESPICHEL 5. The PORTUGAL month of rain, climb and rain and climb.. 6. When CABRIL became finally real 7. Wanna join us in CHULILLA, SPAIN? 8. SIURANA you will see me again |
9. Reunited in Vic & Gorges du Blavet, FRANCE 10. Bismantova Highline Meeting 2018, ITALY 11. Let's highline above the beach in FINALE LIGURE, ITALY 12. Finally I can ride the wind in VERDON, FRANCE 13. THT - Troglodyte Highline Tour, FRANCE 14. IssanSLACK - The Paradise-Waterline Tour begins, SoFRANCE 15. Between Water, Sunsets and Highlines in Thaurac 16. Lac du Sautet - We also call it "Home", Hautes-Alpes FRANCE 17. Montriond - A Mountain Palace and 2x 350m Lake-Twin-Lines |
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2019 Sunrise at 3.000m - L'Obiou
August 2019 | FRANCE
Orpierre - A week on the rock
June 2019 | FRANCE
MHP Marmotte Highline Project
July 2019 | FRANCE
Mountain Faraut in the Dévoluy
April 2019 | FRANCE
LAC DU SAUTET
We also called it "HOME"
July 2018 | FRANCE
BETWEEN WATER, SUNSETS AND HIGHLINES IN THAURAC
June 2018 | FRANCE
Thaurac, or also the cliffs around the “Grotte de Demoiselle”, known as a popular spot for climbers from around Montpellier. A beautiful steep but easy approach to the top and the anchors of many possible highlines, but the reward for this little hike is incredible. Everyone had told me to be up there for the sunsets, as they are also known for being some of specialties of this climbing and highline spot. It didn’t take us long to start rigging, it is somehow a home-spot of some of the crew I was still attached to and traveling with, so nothing needed to be searched or discussed. Like this, rigging is easy, quick and very enjoyable..we had been long enough by now on the road, we knew well the abilities of each other and our trust had grown. The waterlines on the bottom of this highline spot were more than just an enjoyment, being daily with around 30 degrees around us they were quite mendatory for our stay in thr Thaurac. But we made the best out of it and almost daily enjoyed highlining during the sun, and later our a little run just before sunset on the top of the rock.
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IssanSLACK
THE PARADISE WATERLINE-TOUR BEGINS!
June 2018 | FRANCE
A truly fully spontaneous gathering with more than 10 waterlines and a lot more people than expected. Issansac as a "After THT" had been for a while the plan of some of us, so obviously the rest of our slackfamily joined. But the common reaction within our slacklife community seems to always be, that everyone continues moving where the fun happens. And Issansac didn't only sound fun, it was an incredible outcome of motivated slackers from everywhere, who one after the other rigged more and more water lines and we enjoyed this waterspot to it's fullest, until the police made us move. Well, we had become up to 20 vehicles, who squatted resembling a big hippie camp the free parking next to the river, so this wasn't a massive surprise after all.
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THT - TROGLODYTE HIGHLINE TOUR
June 2018 | FRANCE
THT - Again something these guys didn't stop talking about for a minute. The THT is an officially organized Highline Festival, kind of in the South of France. But when I left with my co-driver Brooke in my van to drive up to this spot, well my van and us, we got into trouble. Yea I call it trouble, when you know already your car is acting up cranky, because you can't actually restart it alone anymore, but you gotta go up this mountain to arrive, because it's 1 AM in the morning and you are in the middle of nothing. Well directly said, he didn't make it. We didn't make it. The car overheated, we stopped and finally even stopped the engine, knowing we would have to roll back down to start the engine again after. Well the moment we thought it's time to do so and keep going, I realized my complete electronic had died, so there were zero lights in the black. Alright, Brooke got out of the car and made some light with headlamps so I could have a slight chance to roll down along and not next to the road. But here it comes, rolling down I am realizing there is no more break functionality and yeah that I am fucked basically. Screaming, panicking and just trying to not hit Brooke, we both managed to bring my car to a spot at the end of a little dirt spot next to the road, before I got too fast downhill to use my handbreak. Well from here we just decided to sleep next to the road in my van, we got it fixed the next day and finally made it 1 day later to the really fun highline festival THT.
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FINALLY I CAN RIDE THE WIND
IN VERDON
June 2018 | FRANCE
Arriving in Verdon was for me probably one of the really exciting moments of this year. I had heard all around me people, climber and slackliner speak about this special place for decades. So finally I had found the right moment, the right people and perfect motivation to rigg some highlines in the Verdon gorge. It was quite a funny moment, when we arrived we saw already 5 people all packed up and ready in harness and gear, presenting us a huge smile when we pulled on the parking lot, which was supposed to be our camp/home for the next 2 weeks. This big smile, yes it was bigger than usually, I understood quite quickly, was apparently the plan to rigg with us the 400m long connection on the very outside of the cliff. I was a bit overwhelmed but good, let's see if these guys know what they are doing, because for me this was absolutely new. A line with a length, reaction, weight and different handling like this, I had never gotten the chance to be part of a rigging team foe something like this. Finally the line was up, and with her 4 smaller ones along side to it. It was big fun the rigging, I learned pretty important new techniques in order to pull heavy webbing or how to deal with a tagline that may break from friction or the wind. But in t he end, all went well, we finished the set-up in surprisingly 3.5 hours only and from that moment on, well Verdon showed me what it means to be in Verdon. One day too much wind, one day slack, one day half good maybe ok to slack, the other day only storming..Well I didn't get to highline a huge amount but damn these cliffs are high, impressive and make you feel stronger once you make it back to the ground.
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LET'S HIGHLINE ABOVE THE BEACH IN
FINALE LIGURE
May 2018 | ITALY
After some quite challenging weather episodes in Bismantova, we found ourselves to be a quite big group of people who decided to continue the highline fun in a warmer, beautiful corner of Italy. Finale Ligure it was! After parking majestically 3 vans, 1 campingcar and 2 cars with distances of 5cm to each other on a mini spot next to the road, we all started to take this place in to the fullest. Sleeping under the stars on the rock, making food for 12 people every night and playing all day on 2 fantastic 90m lines and in the water, made this spot the perfect place for us to stay 5 days until it was time to move on again - all together of course ;).
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BISMANTOVA HIGHLINE MEETING
May 2018 | ITALY
This highline meeting in Italy was a very special one for me this year. I met most of the slackfamily I've been traveling with since then but more important it was my last opportunity to share some golden moments with Matteo, who left tragically this world a couple days ago, so this week in Italy is gonna stay in my memories forever. I am so grateful I have been able to enjoy a last time your warm smile, share a good briefing in the sun watching theses talented athletes with you and I had a last moment to admire your beautiful self doing what made you spark good energies around you whenever you found yourself in your high home on the line. I will keep your smile in my heart Matteo Pancaldi.
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REUNITED IN VIC & GORGES DU BLAVET
April 2018 | FRANCE
Leaving Siurana was not the easiest but knowing I am gonna be finally reunited with my wonderful friends from Geneva and Grenoble to highline again pushed all the motivation for the road to our first stop in Vic, a city close to Barcelona. With an amazing slackline crew over there, Louise and Dan shared with me and Karma some great times slacklining in the La Fabrica, a place full of boulder walls, a midline, slacklines, trapez and silk installations and yoga classes. We moved afterwards together to the Gorges du Blavet, to highline and to practice for a musical highline show the two were going to have in China soon. Listening to thhhe sounds of a trumpet echoing through the mountains, while enjoying a sunny ride on the line was simply magnificent.
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SIURANA YOU WILL SEE ME AGAIN
April 2018 | SPAIN
I had met already in Portugal some great co-travellers, who were also moving around to climb in their own vans. When they had been finally the 5th group of people who told me to go see Siurana, I made it somehow work to fit in 2 days in this place, to at least take a look. Arriving in this litte magical mountain place made already clear, I will stay here a bit longer, climb some new rock and find maybe even some highliners. I found finally my friends again in the same place and met also this really impressive climber Rafael, who had been working many months already on this 9a project here in Siurana. I was so fascinated, he also offered me to put a rope above and let me see the route and his process from all sides. I learned lots in this place, from him, about my new abilities to climb finally lead the second 6c, how to move around without internet and how how to make a bunch of climbers happy with a proper curry. After all I stayed with Karma near the river, in a little climbers house property out in nature and couldn't resist to explore a bit and chill in the area.
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WANNA JOIN US IN CHULLILA?
April 2018 | SPAIN
Chulilla could have not become a more unexpected outcome than it finally happened to be. When André Neres, a very special friend and inspiring climber from Portugal, invited me to join him and his climbing crew to make my way up towards Chulilla, a climber's village hidden in Spain's beautiful mountains close to Valencia, I couldn't say no. From day one climbing was our number one topic and finally warm up routes on the rock started to become 6c or 6c+ only. I swallowed the little shock (it was way beyond what I had climbed in Portugal before, around 5c/6a/6b), but I put all my confidence together and wanted to at least try climbing with these talented and well trained new friends I quickly made. Next to catching fantastic light and color presents with my camera, I surprised myself on the wall with fun and new technical abilities, more strength in fingers and arms and slowly growing endurance on these long routes sometimes up to 45/50m high. The day the guys decided to put up a rope for me, above one of the hardest sectors of this place, I couldn't believe my luck and enjoyed finally for the first time to shoot real professional climbers from above, climbing beautifully a 8a and 8a+. THANK YOU again André and Tiago!
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CABRIL AND MURCHES
CELEBRATE THE SUN
March 2018 | PORTUGAL
Cabril and Murches were the two spots where we got to stay for several days to highline surrounded by quite different vegetation, different climate, wind and heights to face and to enjoy. Cabril, a little isolated place between Lisbon and Porto, left me with just a slight imagination ho amazing this river spot in summer must be. The rigging by night, which became first a scary but later a very understandable idea, was a very interesting and awesome experience, the amount of communication and care is almost more than double than by day and the whole process seems to be done much faster and more efficient. I learned something new ;) When a bit later on my birthday was approaching, Zè, our most engaged highliner of Portugal, made it happen to bring me to this place in Murches, that even during this rain episode, made me feel like I was just in the perfect right place. Especially when on my birthday highline session the round rainbow appeared around me to make this moment a little special personl present.
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THE MONTH OF RAIN, CLIMB AND RAIN AND CLIMB...
March 2018 | PORTUGAL
March was the month I learned how life works in the van when it rains non stop in big buckets. No one was prepared for this amount of water, but the Portuguese were thankful at the same time, so we learned all how to make the best out of it! Time for coffee, photos and a quick run with Karma during the rain episodes and heading off to the next climbing spot with the locals during a few hours of maybe even sunshine and rainbow surprises. I've learned during this month as well how to properly lead climb and can't thank enough the guys who made it happened to find every time a new possibble spot for some vertical training. Through the application Instagram I found as well my new best travel sister Viki, who happened to flow around as well in her self-made van accompanied by her best buddy, her dog Chleo. Topgether we truly found pleasure in any of our activities during rain, sun, climbing and between wonderful meals.
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GETTING COMFORTABLE IN AZOIA
February 2018 | PORTUGAL
Getting comfortable in Azoia was made so easy by how much it offers to explore and by how welcoming the people are who are lucky to have found a cute little house in this Cabo. Azoia is basically the village right around the highline spot and the lighthouse Cabo Espichel and was the best spot to choose, in order to create some wonderful new connections, discover hidden gems and to take immense pleasure in taking photos over photos and editing on terraces, in gardens, by the highline spots or just kinda nowhere.
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WELCOME TO HIGHLIFE
IN CABO ESPICHEL, PORTUGAL
February 2018 | PORTUGAL
As soon as some of the few local highliners heard we arrived in the area of Lisbon, everything happened so quickly, I couldn't even believe it. After more than 3 days and nights we finally arrived in Cabob Espichel, a little cabo with an immense amount of hidden places, one couldn't feel more different than the other! And here we landed, on this really southern point of the cabo we set our little camp next to the impressive lighthouse, but hidden from the few passing cars and people. The rigging was quickly done and the 80m sonic highline was ready to bring us a daily portion of fun by overcoming our struggles with Cabo Espichel's unpredictable wind conditions. Some days we managed, others we just tried to enjoy sunsets and silly bouncing around on and underneath the line, all in all an incredible present by The Western Riders (local highline crew), who left this set up for
more than 2 weeks just to us. "Embrace the wind guys"!!
more than 2 weeks just to us. "Embrace the wind guys"!!
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ON THE ROAD IN
FRANCE, SPAIN AND PORTUGAL
January 2018 | FRANCE, SPAIN, PORTUGAL
When we finally started our way towards south, I figured out quite quickly, traveling with the two biologists, friends and slackliners Robyn and Clara was just perfect to start with. I've learned immediately where to find fruits, herbs and olives along the way for free and also how to create fun snacks for little Karma coming just from out mother nature. FInding spots to sleep was fairly easy as well, either park4night or our good intuition brought us to beautiful little hidden spots along the way.
ALL BEGAN in Villard-Bonnot
January 2018 | FRANCE
It all began in Grenoble in France, a beautiful big house filled with friends, slackliners, physiotherapists and many many visitors all the time. Karma and I got welcomed like home and got to even meet the 3 little chicken in the backyard, who started bringing the first egg ever after Karmas little visit. He loved it all and especially our little day trip into the snow. Understanding skateboards that slide on this weird white hard water confused and amused him at the same time. After a first little highline session at the home spot, we got all super motivated to find a new, green place in the area to set up for a first slackline session of the year and I also found my 2 travel partners for the journey down to Portugal.
