Univertical
( À travers le massif des Dents Blanches en M.U.L. )

Damien Artero
2014 - 53 min - HD - Couleur - France

I came to take part in the traditional Samoens Trail Tour, set up in the Massif des Dents Blanches, and I literally fell in love with the area. But to seduce it one must conquer and I had to meet the challenges set by the "Septimontains". "Septimontains" is the name of the locals, it means seven mountains, seven mountains that make up the crest around Samoens village.
The resort boasts an exceptional natural environment that legitimizes today to dedicate a work to it: "Univertical" will be a film.
The Dents Blanches peak at about 3,000 meters, it is full of hiking trails open to the public, in a stunning setting where Mother Nature reigns as queen. The summits and valleys that compose it offer unique panoramas planted between mid-mountain and high-mountain.
This massif is wild, you can spend several days without seeing a soul. It is hard, difficult, and undoubtedly steep, with cliffs, glacial valleys, caves, chasms and hostile passages. It fills you with happiness with its lakes, pastures, goats, marmots and birds of prey. Its inhabitants are rare Haute-Savoie pure blood descendants of the Valais, a Swiss neighbouring Folk separated by the hostile peaks and pass of Bostan nearby. They do not speak easily to a stranger but are more welcoming once the ice broken – ah! But how to break the ice?
I was literally grounded for my late arrival at the shelter of Folly: "It is the mountain here my boy not the city!" But I befriended and composed with these mystical characters, unforgettable persons, the last living memories of yesteryear times when smugglers were still passing the tobacco on the steep paths to Switzerland, a long time ago.
In the mountains, I slipped on a snowfield at high altitude, the longest drop of my young reporter life, twenty meters, a maddening slide to remind me that I was not there to have fun but to prove worthy of the Beauty: Samoens… and its seven mountains
Will I succeed? Answer lies in this unconventional documentary, full of beautiful landscapes, with a humorous tone, punctuated by testimonies of the very Septimontains, old and young alike, anxious to preserve their priceless heritage.