The Monster Couloir – Nikolai Schirmer and Mark Abma Take on a Remote Line in Norway. Video

Mountainwatch | Video

Nikolai Schirmer is joined by Canadian pro skier Mark Abma for a descent of a couloir aptly named The Monster on the north face of Vassdalsfjellet, a remote mountain in Norway’s far north. It is a steep line with a tight, near-vertical choke halfway down, pretty well a no-fall zone.

It is a mission to get there, so Nikolai organises dog sleds for the 10km journey up the valley before he and Mark make a long ski tour in treacherous icy conditions to get to the top of the couloir. Abma describes it as the “scariest ski tour of my life” before drawing on his “inner Glen Plake” to ski the steep line.  Nikolai took a more straight-forward approach with so much speed it is hard to comprehend.

This edit is an excerpt from the Norway segment in Matchstick Productions’ current release Land of the Giants. 

Nikolai Schirmer is a Norwegian freeskier and filmmaker whose films are renowned for their story telling, characters and self-deprecating humour. He is also a busy man and is releasing Topside episodes monthly this northern hemisphere winter – check them out on his You Tube channel