This was an idea that was born from three strong personalities and three very different mountain experiences. While talking about speed flying and mountain biking, inspiration suddenly hit us and it was clear that we needed to do something. We wanted to show a new vision of the mountain, something different and fun. We called up Alex Buisse the photographer and started to plan the adventure, but first we had to be patient, waiting for perfect conditions to make the best pictures! After three weeks waiting the magic finally came; wing and bike were ready and clean, Alex gathered his kit and we started to walk in the crisp sun.

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The challenge took place in Tito’s home, Annecy in Savoy France, home of the RedBull Element. La Tournette is a huge mountain with great technical trails, several cliffs and open mountain plains. The view of the lake is amazing, and in the background Mt Blanc and the rest of Aravis range can be clearly seen. It is a beautiful place full of singletrack and also has a cool lifestyle making it an awesome place to live.

Our goal was to show the different ways to ride a mountain, one from the air and one from the trail. The difficulty was that a speed flyer can hit 70 kilometres per hour, hopefully Alex’s camera is even faster. Alex Buisse is a talented photographer, young and enthusiastic; and this young man from Chamonix is constantly travelling around the world capturing a love and passion for the mountains. Prepare yourself to hear more about him in the future.

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For the shooting, timing was really important. Antoine the flying man had to jump from a very sketchy place to be sure he could see the trail and the zone. After a stressful drop and take off, he would have to fly fast and precisely, but if the shooting was complicated, the landing was even more tricky! Antoine had to land on an opposite slope with blind sections, holes and rocks. While the shooting was easy for Tito, he had to hike his bike for a while to get to this nice slope. The terrain was technical and steep, but Tito cleaned it with ease, surprising a group of hikers, then got carried away and left Alex and the camera behind, descending all the way to the lake for a swim!

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Finally we met at the lake to have a look at the images, everyone was happy and we decided to try it again with another ingredient in a different season! We hope you will enjoy the picture and story, inspiring you as it inspired us.

Words: Tito Tomassi Photos: Alex Buisse


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