Les Petits Drus / Petit Dru (North Face)

Allain route

My peak idea is to climb the North Face of les Drus in a team of three to five, and to film the ascent and descent in a mini-documentary (5-15 minutes). Some of the key pitches will be climbed twice to permit fixing a rope and filming a leader from a good point of view. Alternatively, if the team has five persons, I will film the ascent of the second rope after ascending a fixed line placed by the first. This will be in addition to filming from the belays, helmetcam footage and interviews before, during and after the climb.

This mountain has inspired generations of Chamonix visitors to take up alpinism, for obvious reasons. When seen from the valley, it is such a striking and elegant spire of granite that it almost eclipses the other nearby peaks. The north face is a relatively moderate route which should be climbable in a day by a reasonably competent party. At the same time, it remains steep and challenging and ascends directly the most striking features. Such an ascent would be within reach of many mountaineers, which should make a short film all the more inspiring.

I am an internationally recognized freelance mountain photographer and have experience filming rock climbing and mountaineering (see http://www.alexandrebuisse.org and http://www.alexandrebuisse.org/motion for my still and video portfolio). I have the skills to successfully do both the filming and the climbing components of such a project.