YANNICK BOISSENOT

AT HOME

Every father knows that there is only one way to get out of the kids’ room late at night or early in the morning: on tiptoe, one step at a time, without making the slightest noise. You open the handle in at least ten seconds, rather than in one, hoping that it is well oiled. If the floor is made of wood, well, you must have the grace of a cat.

Yannick happens quite often to sneak out of the kids’ room early in the morning. Because Yannick Boissenot is a father, and a skier too. If you live in Chamonix, at the foot of Mont Blanc, adventure awaits you just outside your front door: no need to travel thousands of miles, chasing snow in the New Zealand Alps or the famous Japanese powder in Hokkaido. When you live in Chamonix, from October to July it's all good, you just have to find some time.

Every father knows that when you have two children, time can be a big problem. Our choices, the way we decide to use our time, define us as human beings. Our identity is really ours when we can live it: you have to ski, to be a skier, and to be a father you have to love your children, play with them, teach them what is important to you. Our identity is in the things and people we dedicate ourselves to.

Yannick goes down to the kitchen. Lea has already prepared a cup of hot coffee for him, to gobble with rapid satisfaction. "Don't be late, please" she reminds him sweetly. Yannick nods, devouring a couple of slices of bread and jam and putting on his socks. "Of course, Lea, don't worry. In the early afternoon I'm home. We'll bake a cake and fix the sledges."

Lea smiles while Yannick loads his backpack and grabs the skis. She follows him with her gaze to the door of the house, throws him a kiss, then continues to watch him from the window, his face wrapped in the clouds of his breath condensed by the stinging air. It's not easy to build your identity. It is not easy to understand who you are and what you want to do with your life. And when you understand it, it's not easy to give up those pieces of yourself so laboriously constructed.

But sometimes giving up is not necessary at all. Sometimes it is enough to live in the right place, a place where you can be a good father and a good skier, dribbling between the kids’ room and the Argentiere glacier, between the swing in the garden and the Aiguille du Midi. Just live in the right place, and be willing to take that extra step, that extra mile that allows you to continue to be yourself without giving up any of the things that are important to you.

Because in the end the famous Japanese powder or the Alps of New Zealand are not so important. What matters are the sensations: that of descending fast and safe with perfect curves, and that of taking care of the people you love.

Yannick walks fast. Far to the east, the sunrise begins to light up the sky.

 

YANNICK'S SELECTION

 

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