Tristan Ibarz
@tristan_ib
Landscape photographer based in France
I can install myself at the summit of a mountain and look at a landscape for hours, contemplating the starry sky, admiring the disappearance of the sun behind the peaks or appreciating the first sun rays warming my face. As I explored the mountains, I gradually took up photography to create an indelible record of my experiences in nature.
"Combining this with my curious character and desire to capture more of the world, I started traveling more."
I went to Tahiti several times to visit family, discovered a part of Iceland with friends and studied abroad in Quebec for several months. Those travel opportunities allowed me to see different ways of life across the world. The trip to Canada in 2018 was the trigger that made me want to focus on photography more regularly. When I headed to Canada I bought an old reflex with me with which I could practice, taking photos of Parc national de la Jacques Cartier or Fjord-Saguenay, for example. After a while I decided to buy a drone, which I now use during my outings in the mountains or ski tours.
The High Pyrenees is one of my favorite places to go, as it offers magnificent landscapes with many peaks over 3000m and it’s where the last Pyrenean glaciers remain. Nevertheless, I think my greatest playground is the Ariège Pyrenees. I would say this area is unrecognized and maybe underappreciated in France – I can roam around several days in these mountains without encountering any hiker. It’s the solitude and feeling of remoteness that makes this a place that I particularly enjoy.
"To leave the Pyrenees and discover new mountain peaks I went to the Alps with some friends for ten days not long ago."
We were able to do le Dôme de neige des Écrins, le Grand Paradis, and the crossing the Pointes Lachenal from l’Aiguille du Midi, finishing our trip with the Mont Blanc. The ascent of Mont Blanc via the Goûter route is one of the most beautiful hikes I have done so far. Moreover, we were lucky to have wonderful weather and enjoy the top without anybody around us. We went up to the summit in one day and divided our descent in two stages, passing the night at the Goûter Refuge. Exhausted from the day, we admired the sunset embellished by a huge sea of clouds, hiding the valley we would be hiking to the next morning at dawn. This trip made me realize even more the immensity of the Alps and the infinite variety of mountains, peaks and glaciers to discover and photograph.
"This only reinforced my passion for landscape photography."
"Besides photography I have a passion for climbing."
I have been doing that since I was little, but it has only been a few years since I have been climbing at a more regular pace. Purely sport climbing and the search for difficulty are not my first concerns; I do it for the beauty of the route, the story behind it and the point of view it can offer from the top. These are the first things I look for, and what pushes me to improve my level in climbing. The adrenaline rush, this feeling of freedom and weightlessness, not being in direct contact with the ground and the level of concentration that certain passages are sensations that are almost addictive.
In May last year I ascended Montcalm, the highest summit of Ariège (3077m), together with some friends. The route is accessible but the snow didn’t make it easier for us. The rainy and foggy weather at our departure at 1200m altitude caused us to give up on using the touring skis, attach them to our bags and rather continue climbing with crampons and ice axes. All wet, we progressed for several hours. While reaching an altitude of 2900m and the clearness that we expected in mid-morning didn’t arrive, we moved slowly through snow up to our knees, sometimes even up to our hips. The sun still didn’t show up, more snow flakes began falling down and we got to a quite steep passage.
"The last 100 meters before the summit have more than 50° of inclination, and it seemed difficult to be able to pass without triggering a possible avalanche."
After a quick consultation, we decided to turn around and go back. Having it made very close to the summit, we descended carefully, disappointed but satisfied at the same time. Only 15 minutes later the deafening noise of an avalanche echoed on the slope where we had turned around previously, followed by the same noise again a few minutes later, interrupting the complete silence that surrounded us. We could not see the exact location of the avalanche but everything suggested that they were triggered slightly higher up from the place where we had turned around.
It is at these moments that I feel so small and humble, facing the mountains that surround us and experiencing the power of nature. It causes a feeling of deep respect for our natural world. Every human being should experience that intense sensation every now and then, and hold onto it to remember how great nature can make us feel, how it heals us, and that the least we can do in return is to treat it with respect.
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