Go Behind The Scenes With Black Crows Le Rappel – Boothy’s Blog

Mountainwatch | Chris Booth

Chamonix-based Ski marque Black Crows just launched its new mini-film by Yorgo & Co. Featuring brand founders Camille Jaccoux and Bruno Compagnet (the bearded one), the film seeks to imagine a world where ski mountaineering and the city collide. Shot between Chamonix and Paris, Bruno skis a line from the top of the Aiguille Du Midi, only to arrive in another world.

Here’s a little behind-the-scenes peak into what it took to make.

Skiing is bizarre enough as it is. Jump turns in fancy clothes on p-tex covered planks as you woosh down frozen water on a Swiss hillside. Apres Ski. Moonboots. What? The mix of strangeness and privilege really is unique.

In Le Rappel, we wanted to feel this idea out visually, by imagining a world where ski mountaineering and the city collide. Shot between Chamonix and Paris, Bruno Compagnet skis a line from the top of the Aiguille du Midi, only to arrive in another world.

It’s a strange thing to make a ski film during a heatwave. Goretex melts. Knitted beanies itch against dense, moist hair. Ski boots take on a new sense of weight and bulk – clunking clumsily on concrete. Early July broke temperature records across Europe, and it was during this period that we made Le Rappell. In Chamonix rocks fell at a rate no one had ever seen as the perma-frost dislodged itself from the sides of vertical granite towers. The snow was wet and heavy and in retreat.

In Paris, the heat was intense and urban and repressive. No harbour, no seabreeze. Inside the studio during set-up, Bruno hung helplessly from the ceiling, in frame, but out of context. He flailed while a luminescent flash engulfed him.

I looked down at the test shot on the photographer’s computer, it captured a fake mechanical future where both heat, and irony, are inescapable truths.