Samuel Anthamatten

The 24-year-old from Zermatt tells us about balancing life as a mountain guide, top level climber, big mountain skier and climbing Grade 5 rock with skis on.

 

FWT: So, let me get this right. You’re a professional mountain guide, a pro climber and a pro freeskier.

Samuel: It depends on how you define professional. Professional for me means that you can live from it and right now I can’t live from climbing or skiing so I work as a guide so that I can go climbing and skiing.

 

FWT: Is there any advantage to having different passions like that?

Samuel: On one side it helps because you can benefit from all the different sports you do. On the other side, if you’re climbing or skiing at a high level, you need to train for these things specifically and that’s the difficult part. It’s not like you can take your skis off and go and climb 8b. But it’s also a point that if you ski all summer you get tired and it becomes a question of motivation so it’s good to change and then come back with new ideas. The mental side is big.

 

FWT: What about skiing?

Samuel: It’s difficult to say because if you say it was the most difficult ski descent then that means it was dangerous, which of course is a little bit stupid. But in the Alps I’ve done some really steep descents like the Supersaxo on the Breithorn. It’s a big face where you start from the summit at 4163m. It’s so steep you can’t see the face and you ski down, down, down and it just gets steeper and steeper and you’re like, “I want to see the face!” At the end it’s like 60˚ for 600 or 700 meters and it’s really all in the mind. You have to be precise and ski well and not make any mistakes.

 

FWT: So what did you think of the first stop of the Freeride World Tour in Chamonix?

Samuel: I really like the whole Freeride World Tour circus and am positively surprised because they do it so well and the organization is good. I think Nicolas [Hale-Woods, FWT founder and organizer] has had a really good idea to bring our sports to the main resorts like Chamonix, Verbier, St Moritz where people can watch and understand what we do. Normally, I go skiing in Zermatt with my big skis and they think I’m crazy so it’s good for our sport to have these competitions. Some people say that you cannot judge freeriding, but for the sport itself it’s really good. I think it’s good that in Chamonix they were able to change so fast because it’s not easy to change the whole thing. It shows their professionalism and that’s what I like.

 

FWT: What did you think of the face and the level of the other riders?

Samuel: The first time I saw the north face of Mont Fortin I was surprised. It was a good face and it had so many options for me. There are so many line that I would like to ski this face 10 times. But you have to make a choice and because I drew bib number 30 I chose a line to the side, which was tactically not so good. I’m still learning. I was not really happy with my run because it was not very fluid in the first part and when I arrived at the finish line I thought I would be like 15^th or something but I finished 9^th and I was really surprised. I started after Aurélien [Ducroz, winner of the Nissan Freeride de Chamonix Mont-Blanc 2011 by Swatch] and he was so impressive I was like, right, I’ll take it easy. Hahaha. I was like, he’s crazy.

 

FWT: Who do you think will win the tour this season?

Samuel: I don’t care who will win. I think every skier on the tour has his own specialties and the difficult thing is to show those specialties. Guys like Aurélien and Henrik have done so many competitions. They come, they see the face and they know where the winning line is and that when they stick it they will win. It’s difficult to say, but who cares.

 

FWT: Are you not very competitive?

Samuel: The thing is whenever I try really hard I don’t end up doing very well. And when I go with my own style, in the way I want, and don’t put pressure on myself then I ski much better and it’s much more enjoyable. And if it’s enjoyable it looks much better so the results are better.

 

FWT: From what you learned in Chamonix do you think you will do anything differently here in Engadin St. Moritz?

Samuel: Yeah, yeah. Choosing the line. In Chamonix I was thinking about doing the double cliff, which would have been really big but here I’ll put less emphasis on cliffs and I’ll ski faster. That’s the way to do it here on the Corvatsch.

 

FWT: What are your strengths and weaknesses?

Samuel: I’m more like a big mountain skier and less of a freestyler. When I was younger I did a lot of freestyle on telemark skis in summertime on the glacier in Zermatt. But when you see these guys now, the real freestylers, then I feel old. That’s my weakness I think. I’ve been working on my tricks but if you want to do a trick on a face like the Corvatsch then you really need to stick it, otherwise it’s worth nothing.

 

FWT: And what do you think you can do better than anybody else on the tour? What’s your strength?

Samuel: Hmmm… rappelling. Hahaha!

 

FWT: You mentioned the telemarks. Did you know about…

Samuel: Joonas Karhumaa. Yes, I saw him skiing last year and he’s a really strong telemark skier. I like that. And because he’s competing against skiers, that’s even stronger.

 

FWT: Do you think he should be judged any differently?

Samuel: No. If he would be judged differently then there would have to be another division, a telemark competition. But right now, he’s competing with the skiers and I think he will do well.

 

FWT: Do you find that your climbing benefits your skiing in any way? How does skiing benefit your climbing?

Samuel: Yesterday I was skiing here and I did a little face on the right side of the Corvatsch that entered to the bigger west face lower down. And I was there and it was suddenly like Grade 5 climbing. I had my skis on and I had my fingers in the cracks and traversed over to the snow and skied down. So I was lucky that I’ve done a lot of climbing. Hahaha. I competed in climbing competitions when I was young and I think that gives me some experience in how to prepare myself and how to be confident tactically. Of course, if you spend a lot of time in the mountains then you can read and understand the mountain better. It gives you something. Climbing El Cap 10 times gives you power and it gives you mental strength.

 

FWT: You’re in the mountains all year round. Do you ever get sick of them?

Samuel: No, never. I’ve had times where I’ve been in bad weather, in a whiteout sitting in the snow, and you’re really cold and you’re thinking, “What am I doing here when I could be at home.” But actually that’s what we’re searching for, this different experience. So getting sick of it? Never. I like to go to the sea sometimes to chill out or be in the city like San Francisco but after two days I have to go and climb something. If not, I go crazy.

 

FWT: If you had to choose between skiing or climbing which would it be?

Samuel: If I ever have to choose then I’ve done something wrong. If I absolutely had to choose then I’d choose to build a house and be married. Finished. No, it’s difficult to say. Forget this question. Hahaha.

 

FWT: What does skiing mean to you?

Samuel: Skiing is skiing. It’s a sport. It’s something that makes me happy. I get a good feeling after I ski a good line. I don’t know what skiing means to me. I just like it. It’s cool. That’s why everybody does it.

 

FWT: What’s important?

Samuel: The most important thing is to stay healthy and to keep friendships. If you do something that you love and you love to do it with your friends, imagine doing it without your friends. It wouldn’t be the same thing. Yeah, having fun. That’s it.