Introducing Nicolas Champey

An Interview with Nicolas Champey, IFMGA  France

Every season we get a number of guides from other countries stopping in for a visit.  Last summer Nico Champey contacted us but he was different from the usual guide on holiday.  Originally from Grenoble France, he was married to an Australian, he had a work permit and he was checking out Wanaka to move here permanently with his partner Kate and their two small children.  We hosted him on a few trips and the rest is history, they have moved to town and Nico is a valuable member of out team here at Aspiring Guides.

Tell us about yourself Nico, how does a guide from Grenoble end up living in Wanaka?
I was guiding climbing in Canada and I met Kate. She came to France for six years and then we move to Australia for one year, and then we moved to Wanaka.

Australia was no place for a mountain guide?
I was doing rope access work in Sydney but there are no mountains there!

So what’s it like moving to Wanaka?
It's difficult to move with a family but we knew people to share a house with before we found a place to live. Life in Wanaka is pretty good, lots of places for preschool and lots of parks.  Everyone here is very helpful.

What did you think of your first New Zealand winter?
I was surprised at how short it was, I expected more time for ice climbing.  Working on the Bow Glacier in Canada was very similar to guiding here.

Is it different guiding here than in Europe? 
The mountains are so far from the road, you go on bigger trips here, the other thing is the huts have custodians in France so you don’t have to cook.  The mountains here are quiet; there are much fewer people and tracks.  Also the animals, keas is have not eaten my gear so so far I am happy with them.

What peaks in France are similar to Mount Aspiring?  
It’s a classic summit like Les Bans or Les Ecrin or Aiguille du Tour.

And the Matterhorn?  
No, on the Matterhorn the hut is already on the mountain so there is no approach.  The Matterhorn is steeper and more consistent straight to the summit.

What was the guiding in Canada like?
I used to guide Assiniboine, Bow Glacier and Athabasca.  There the valleys are U shaped not V shaped like here, so the trails are easier.  The forest in Canada is very thick so it is much easier to get lost.  Assiniboine is a nice pyramiyd like Mnt. Aspiring, it is harder than Mnt. Aspiring but it’s only about 600m to climb.

In France your last job was Search and Rescue, which was run by the police, so you are a policeman?  
Yes we had to do all the same training as a policeman.

Did you carry a gun?
Not while I was working but we had to train with a gun three times a year which was a funny day for us, we were mountaineers so we all didn’t care much about shooting.

What was the work like?  
I work in the Mercantour National Park there were lots of canyons and cliffs so we did lots of canyon rescues, when it was busy we sometimes had six or seven rescues a day.

Do you have places in New Zealand you are looking forward to climb?
I haven’t really studied where I want to go yet I would like to climb around Milford Sound and the Mount Cook area.  One route I saw was Pope’s Nose, that looks nice.

Where do you think you will be in 10 years?
(laughing) Living between France, Canada, Australia and New Zealand I guess!

Jasper, Kate, Lauren and Nico.  Jasper is 3yrs old and speaks two languages

Flight up the Tasman Glacier

After waiting out the bad weather Guide Tim Steward catches a ski plane into Tasman Saddle Hut.  It is always a stunningly beautiful flight but this time in the pilot had a bit of a look around trying to work around the cloud making for a spectacular flight.

 Flying up the Tasman Glacier it is clear that the upper glacier is still covered in cloud

 Looking down at glacial morain

 Flying in under the cloud

 With the cloud thickening the pilot decides to have a look at a higher elevation to see if the top of the glacier may be above the cloud layer.

 A Brocken Specter created by the sun casting a shadow of the plane surouded by a halo of refracted light.

 Mount Cook clearly free of cloud.

 Mount Tasman

 Circling it is clear that the upper glacier is not clear of cloud.

 If you can't go over then it is time to go back under.

 Coming back under the cloud layer the Hochstetter Ice fall on Mnt. Cook is clearly visable.

 Coming in for a landing at Darwin Corner.

The team finally on the ground.

The kitchen gets bigger the longer the trip goes on when you are snow caving

Louden & Flockton - Black Peak and Heli Day

Photos from the end of August that just surfaced on my computer.  As the dog days of winter grind  down and the snow is frozen in the morning and soft in the after noon and the Americas Cup slowly saps all the joy from life....sorry I got off track there....anyway, here is some great snow to reflect back on.  In reality we get some pretty big dumps of snow in late Sept. and October so it's not over yet.

Pioneer Ski Touring Sept. 2013 - click on photo to see pics from last week with guide Geoff Small.

Luxury Snow Caving on the Isobel Glacier - Paul Harrison, Fabian Passaro and Whitney Thurlow spent three powder filled days in Aspiring Park. With helicopter access the trio were able to set up an underground snow cave complete with kitchen..

Treble Cone Backcountry last week

"I think we need bigger snowshoes"