[VTT extrême] VERTICAL – Au bout du vide

[VTT extrême] VERTICAL – Au bout du vide

Now, this is going to be complicated… I’ve rarely prepared a ride as much as this one. It’s really a kind of culmination. In fact, I’ve rarely done a mountain bike ride… that has so much in common with steep skiing. It’s a crazy north face! 450 vertical meters! On this face, there’s really nothing: no paths, no routes… And every time I was at the top of Monfaucon, because I’ve been there a number of times… I always told myself that this face was totally terrifying. In fact, there are routes, but they’re steep ski routes. There are couloirs you can ski on there… “2014 – northeast couloir” But these couloirs are absolutely not rideable by bike. In summer there are only cliffs, in winter you can go down them when they’re covered in snow. But I found a completely crazy line! It winds between the cliffs, it takes bits of couloirs, gullies, ledges, shoulders! It’s crazy! The route I found passes there. And those who are used to reading maps know well that… when you have black like that on the map, on foot it’s not possible. The black areas are really places you avoid… …if you don’t have a rope. I’ve always said that maps were the basis, but I’m reaching a point in my practice where maps are no longer of any use to me. Because I’m really entering the vertical environment. Look, I add the slope map… When it’s in purple, it’s greater than 45°. The route I found passes there in the purple, and then it goes through the slightly less steep counter-slopes. I can compare it to other lines I’ve done, which were reference lines for me a few years ago. Here is the Cauarère peak, for example, which is a very beautiful face in the Pyrenees, very steep, on which I had shot a film. I’m going to stay at the same scale
so that we can see the contour lines. There… Here is Cauarère. I kept the same scale. The contour lines are infinitely more spaced out. There are no black areas. The only black areas in the Cauarère face are there… We had carefully avoided them. It’s nothing like that! The difference is obvious. This is a face that, a few years ago, was one of the steepest I had done… it seemed hard to go beyond that. Here, we are closer to cycling than to climbing. So we’re going to do this slope. And on the north face of Monfaucon, it’s reversed: we are closer to climbing than to cycling. As a result, the map is no longer the right tool. I am forced to use other means. In this case, I went to do a reconnaissance with the drone. I went out just to do the reconnaissance. And also to avoid having to climb the entire face on foot, because it’s hellish to climb! Here, here is the Monfaucon gap, which is another possibility. It’s not good for cycling here! Going up the descent route would be too difficult, even almost impossible. So I have to do a loop route. That is to say, I take the normal Monfaucon route, and then I cover a small section of the ridge and I switch to the face. This is another point in common with steep skiing… Often this is what we do: we go up the easy face and we tip over into the face. This moment of drop is really special, because there is a feeling of a point of no return. A bit like when you hand in your notice, or tell your girlfriend that you want to leave her… At the same time, it’s scary, you have lots of doubts, you don’t want to do it… but there are all the perspectives behind it
that are ultra exciting! That’s why I like mountain biking. “Vertical” “Just vertical” “a film by Alexis Righetti” It’s July 14th and the weather isn’t very nice… But we’re going to look for good weather, you’ll see. It’s going to be discovered on the mountains. That’s the magic of the mountains: you just have to climb high enough and we have sun almost every day! Come on, let’s break through the clouds! It’s crazy hot today! I’m going to climb higher than the peak we see over there. And then, I’m going to start with the ridge we see. I’m going to ride this face… straight down! I love it when it looks completely impossible! Today, three major difficulties! The temperature… We’re in the middle of a heatwave. Secondly, the storms that form in the middle of the day. And above all, above all… the route! Which is ultra complex. If I make a mistake on the route, it’s over! It’s really the middle of summer… Because there’s no one there in the morning. That means everyone is climbing very late. That means everyone is tourists. The summit is on the left… …behind this peak. There, I’m going around it. I have 400 meters left. But the hardest. I’ll soon arrive in sight of the famous Monfaucon couloir. There, I have two choices… The normal route is on the right, …then take the ridge, …to the summit behind it. I’ve already done it. I’m going to try the steeper couloir there instead… it’s a recon to see if it works, for another outing. I don’t think so, because the scree looks too big… But it might be better for climbing, since the scree is bigger. That’s the nasty part! This scree is hellish! I wonder if it wouldn’t be better to go through the grass… It’s easier, it doesn’t slip! I’ll save myself! There isn’t much grass, but it’s good. I’m lucky there’s a bit of grip because it rained. There were thunderstorms yesterday. Otherwise, it would be very complicated. So we go up the easiest face! I know it’s okay because I already did it on skis a few years ago. Check! Otherwise, you can’t see that it’s not a dead end… “I’m here!” I climb that way… The normal route is here… I arrive at the summit ridge… It’s so beautiful! We can see the Arbizon in front of us! And there’s the route… We can see it clearly from here. The unknown is behind… …this green promontory. Come on, I’m reaching the summit! I’m a little tired. That good old Monfaucon! I’m really going to have done it from all sides. The real risk in such a face is to take a wrong route. Because seen from above, everything looks the same. It’s very difficult to know exactly where to go, and you can quickly screw up and find yourself stuck in a cliff. That’s why I brought screenshots from the drone on which I had made annotations with landmarks so as not to get lost in the face. If I had any doubts, I could take out these photos and say to myself: “there is this rock as a landmark, I have to be careful” or “I have to stay to the right….” That’s when I tip over into the face. It’s completely improbable! Now it’s going to be complicated… You mustn’t fall… Even less drop the bike… That’s epic! Oh ! That’s epic! Wow! I love these kinds of shoulders like that, in the middle of the walls. This little patch of grass, in the middle of the walls… The Arbizon opposite, my famous ledge that I did last time… And the sea of ​​clouds too! I just came down that way. The summit is up there behind. I don’t even dare go near… …it’s so scary! When it’s on the edge of imprecise grass like that, it’s even worse. That’s why I love mountain biking! Mountain biking, how can I put it? A bit gnarly… The ride is going to be tough! Okay, it was already tough up to now. It’s magnificent. Epic! Come on, I’m going to send the drone! Too much speed! Too much speed, it wouldn’t brake anymore! It’s not that warm! I’m going to cover up. The drone… its SD card is full… I got the wrong SD card! Damn, it’s a 64 GB… Changing SD cards in this kind of place… There are rock falls! I don’t know if it’s a critter, or if someone is on the ledge. So cool! I’ll soon arrive in the fog… It’s annoying because on this part, you still have to see to orient yourself. I’m aware that this raises the question of risk-taking. Today’s society no longer accepts risk-taking. Risk must be reduced to zero for everyone and in all circumstances. And it’s a bit terrifying, actually! Because you’ll never do anything in life, nothing that’s even slightly interesting or exciting, without taking a risk at some point. Because to feel emotions, there has to be something at stake. And stake and risk are two sides of the same coin. There is no stake without risk. And in the mountains… to imagine mountaineering without risk is to deny the very existence of the mountain. Reinhold Messner,
one of the greatest mountaineers who ever lived, and who is still alive, one of the few who is still alive, said it very well: “Without risk, there is no adventure.” And the day you no longer risk anything, it’s when you’re no longer alive… Literally and figuratively. I really messed up there! “Subscribe!” Do you remember when I climbed the north face of Arbizon?… …which is in exactly the same area. I hadn’t taken enough water. There I took the same amount of water, and I told myself that I would refill at the lake. Well, I forgot the Micropur. The chlorine tablets. Suffice to say that in a lake like this, which is surrounded by sheep and cows, I’m not going to fill up, otherwise I’ll get sick immediately! So… I’m in exactly the same situation as last time… Only worse… I have one liter left. They say that to err is human but the full saying in Latin, I think, is: “Errare humanum est, perseverare diabolicum.” At least, I think so. I’m not very good at Latin, I don’t use it very often… And it means: “to err is human… but to persevere is diabolical.” Now we’re in the “diabolicum.”

Cette ligne est un aboutissement, une sorte de défi ultime de VTT. J’étais déjà allé dans ce coin pour y tenter à vélo la fameuse « vire de l’Arbizon ». Mais cet itinéraire, même s’il était extrême, m’avait laissé une sorte de sensation d’inachevé. Oui, j’avais enchainé un parcours impressionnant, mais une bonne partie à pied ou du moins, à moitié en escalade. On s’éloignait un peu trop du VTT. Au final, il manquait une forme de pureté à cette ligne.

Je ne pensais jamais revenir dans ce coin. Mais en même temps, j’avais repéré que la face nord de son voisin, le Monfaucon, offrait des possibilités de descentes. Des possibilités très théoriques, pas du tout assurées… Sur la carte, on n’y voit qu’une falaise avec des courbes de niveau quasi fusionnées.

En vrai, la face nord du Monfaucon est bien plus impressionnante que celle de l’Arbizon. Plus impressionnante car plus abordable. La face nord de l’Arbizon, c’est du vertical pur, inabordable en vélo ; l’itinéraire que j’avais pris empruntait une face alternative, plus à l’ouest. Au contraire, la face nord du Monfaucon est une succession de gradins de falaises et de couloirs très aériens, mais sur laquelle on trouve de nombreuses « lignes de faiblesses ». Comme un labyrinthe vertical. Cela faisait 3 ans que je me disais qu’on pouvait y trouver une ligne, voire même une ligne continue !

La démarche ressemble bien plus à celle du ski de pente raide qu’à celle du vélo de montagne : en ski extrême on tente de trouver une ligne de neige continue skiable dans une pente complexe. En vélo, c’est la même chose mais en cherchant des continuités de pierriers ou de dalles. Et de la même façon, cela implique un itinéraire en boucle avec un basculement dans la face et une sorte de point de non-retour.

La descente, je vous laisse la découvrir dans ce film….

0:00 : intro et préparation
4:34 : ascension
9:07 : le sommet
10:03 : descente partie 1 – l’arête
11:40 : descente partie 2 – le pierrier suspendu
14:30 : descente partie 3 – l’épaulement et le couloir nord
21:28 : descente partie 4 – le pierrier chaotique
23:42 : descente partie 5 – les raidillons techniques
25:53 : La question du risque
28:01 : outro

MON BIKE :
Zerode Taniwha : https://zerode.eu/collections/enduro-bikes/products/taniwha-mulet

MON SHOP EQUIPEMENT VELOS :
Probikeshop : https://probikeshop.fr/

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Gants Endura Hummvee Plus II : https://probikeshop.fr/products/gants-endura-hummvee-plus-ii-noir
Pantalon Endura Singletrack II : https://probikeshop.fr/products/pantalon-endura-singletrack-ii-noir
Short Endura MT500 Spray : https://probikeshop.fr/products/short-endura-mt500-spray-noir-2025
Veste Endura FZ Thermal : https://probikeshop.fr/products/veste-endura-singletrack-thermal-manches-longues-noir

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MATERIEL VIDEO :
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