What's up everybody we're the Vagabrothers
and this week we're in Mont-Blanc Chamonix, France!!!
Chamonix, in the French Alpine region of Haute Savoie is a place of legends
tucked into a sharp valley at the base of Mont- Blanc
The highest mountain in Western Europe
It's a place many outdoorsmen dream of visiting
It's also know as the death sport capital of the world
because chances are if it's dangerous and awesome
you can do it here
from mountaineering, to snowboarding on glaciers
to speed skiing with a parachute
and base jumping with a wingsuit
But we had a more mellow plan in mind
a week of fun in the snow
with our friends and fellow Instagrammers
Greg, Max and Elisa
I'm Greg from Canada and I take pictures
And we are
Max...
and Elisa...
Wait a second...
Oh Max and Elisa!
Greg, Elisa and Max all won Australia's Best Job in The World Competition
and we've been trying to do something fun with them ever since
so when the suggested a trip to Chamonix...
we hopped on a train from Germany south through the heart of the Alps
On arrive a Chamonix!
Yah! We just made it to Chamonix
It's dumping snow!
We went through the most amazing mountain villages to get here and the canyons are so steep
you understand why this is considered one of the steepest mountains in the world
This is definitely the top of top for skiing and snowboarding in Europe
Should we say "La Creme de la Creme"
and I am friggin' excited
Let's do it yah?
So we're going to go meet up with Elisa and Max and Greg
and we will see what happens during this rad week here in the Alps!
With the Instagram Crew!
Chamonix remained a quite mountain village until the 1700s
When two British travelers published a story about a beautiful valley
where a Glacier like a sea of ice cut through the foot of Mont Blanc
Until then nobody had climbed Mont Blanc because superstitious villagers
thought it was the home of demons
Until 1760 when a Swiss Naturalist offered a prize to the first person to bag the peak
25 years later two local dudes accepted the challenge
Chamonix soon became the home of moutaineering or "Alpinism" for the Alps
As the scientist sportsmen of the enlightenment conquered the major Alpine peaks in the mid 1800s
By the time Chamonix hosted the first Winter Olympics in 1924
It was already world famous for 1st class skiing, natural beauty
and some of the world's most challenging mountaineering
But there was a gnarly blizzard on our first day in Chamonix
so we decided to start off with a more mellow sport
Ok first day here in Chamonix
And we've assembled our team of bloggers
and also a team of dogs...
That's because we're about to go Dog Sledding
Never done it before
but something that we've always wanted to do so
We're going to go do a mini-iditarod here in Chamonix
We've got some huskies lined up and it should be fun!
Mush, Mush!
"Doggie Talk"
{Dogs Barking}
Vlogging on a sled...No big deal!
How was that guys!?
So good!
They are so powerful!
My god! Eight dogs just for me!
It's one of those things I never really thought I would do
and here we are in winter wonderland
Snowing...
It's just perfect!
I don't know about you but that was one of the most fun things I've ever done!
Yah, although mine kept trying to stop and poop and his friends kept wanting to go
I know how that's like on a roadtrip and I sympathize with him.
Hurry Up!!!
We're in a rush!
Pinch it off! Let's go!
We gotta get to Vegas!!!
That night we escaped the cold with a typical meal of Raclette cheese...
a half a wheel of cheese, slowly melted under a flame
One Kilo!
That's a pound each for me and Max
That's a lot of cheese...
I think we are up to this challenge...
We have potatoes
We have charcuterie
and we melt the cheese on top of both and have the most epic feast
Are you ready for that dude?
Yeah. (In French Creepy Accent)
Somehow Marko polished it off
but by the end he looked like he was going to explode
and let me tell you sharing a room with him that night was not pleasant.
It's not my fault... The cheese smelled!
Yah it's not the stinky cheese it's your butt.
The next morning the sun was out
So we headed up the gondola of L'Aiguille du Midi
to get a view of Mont Blanc and the Alps beyond
The wind chill made it -35 C
by far the coldest we'd ever experienced
but there were still hundreds of skiers lining up to go down the valley
by the glacier, equipped with ropes, ice picks and avalanche packs
Guys this is heavy duty up here!
I have never been so humbled by nature as since I've been standing here
we are half way between the Mer de Glace Glacier and Mont Blanc, the highest summit in Western Europe
We're at 3800 meters and there's still a 1000 meters to go!
The view is incredible you can literally see to Italy, to Switzerland
But we're about to take it to a whole 'nother level
because we are going to Paraglide down!
I'm going to do Paragliding
Are you happy?
I'm a bit anxious...
I think we should expect a really nice flight... there's great conditions today.
So yah just enjoy the flight, take in the scenery, it should be really good!
Paragliding through the valley was the perfect way to take in the scenery
but eventually when it came time to come back down to earth
the descent was a little faster than I would have liked
and almost more G-force than I could handle
Screaming like psychopath...
Nice!
As you might guess I was freaking out because even though it's a controlled spin
the centripetal force pulls you up above your parachute
and seeing my parachute between me and the ground I almost fainted!
But eventually it was time for us to get on our snowboards and go riding.
So we started with one of the most accessible hills, Brevant.
The last couple days have been like foreplay.
We've been playing around the mountain and now it's time for the main thing.
We're going to skiing/snowboarding and there's powder to be shredded.
Let's do this. Door's locked. Mountain's that way. Let's go ride.
Let's go!
After a nice morning spent looking for fresh tracks
We made our way to the top of the mountain
Where the view was as incredible as the peak was vertical
But on our way down we found something surprising
Guys there are some base jumpers
who are going to launch themselves off of this massive cliff
Wing suiters and they're going to take to the skies
This is going to be insane!
On our last day we woke up early to see the Mer de Glace
One of the largest glaciers in Europe
Ok guys hopefully you enjoyed that video
if you did check out Chamonix Tourism's link in the info box
as well as all our buddies Greg, Max and Elisa their links to Instagram are also in the info box
As always if you enjoyed the video make sure to give it a thumbs up, share it with your friends and subscribe
Subscribe to this channel for new travel videos every Tuesday
and we will see you guys in Berlin for the last video of our winter travel series
See you on the road!