Watch our comical video of Philippe and Rob battling it out in their Vapour Storm Jackets.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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For outdoor clothing from Berghaus including men’s waterproof jackets, men’s rucksacks and more then please visit our online store.

You can find a wide range of gear for climbing, hill walking, mountain biking and other activities.

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The Spine Challenger is a 108 mile, non-stop, 60 hour, winter mountain marathon between Edale and Hawes. This challenging and extremely technical section of the Pennine Way is a physically and psychologically demanding route that demands concentration and respect.

You can find out more about the race here.

Berghaus Store

For outdoor clothing from Berghaus including men’s waterproof jackets, women’s rucksacks and more then please visit our online store.
You can find a wide range of gear for climbing, hill walking, mountain biking and other activities.

Not the type to do things by half Philippe completed the 7,010 metre climb including the journey from his home country of France and back, in just 10 days.

Philippe and his climbing partner Yannick journeyed through challenging terrain with glaciers, crevasses and ice rivers, before reaching camp 1. They dropped of food, ropes and gear then walk on for another hour and a half to see the famous Icefall in the Tian Shan Range. After 5 days of acclimatisation near camp 1 they then set of on the summit bid carrying 20kg packs with all kit and additional food.

Facing snow storms and dangerous terrain the journey was challenging but they reached a 20 metre ridge of ice on the surface of the glacier, between camp 1 and 2. Philippe reported “we progressively passed most climbers before the icefall. Unfortunately 7 climbers were still ahead of us when we reached the 20 metres serac with a fixed rope. They were inexperienced and it took them 2 hours to climb the 20 metres of serac! During this time, we were all exposed to the serac and an avalanche from the Peak Chapaev.”

By day 8, Philippe and Yannick were ready to reach camp 3 “Most teams spend a night there at camp 3 to finish their first acclimatization trip before returning to the base camp. Then they go back up for the summit push after a couple of rest days. That is probably the best way to acclimatize but that also means making two round trips of 26 km and +2,000 m with huge pack… That also means going back and forth in the icefall and under the Chapaev slopes several times.

We decided up front to try to climb to camp 3, spend a day or two there and continue straight to the summit if we could. Unfortunately the weather forecast was good for only 24 hours so we couldn’t spend another day to rest as planned. On the other hand, we felt good and with oxygen saturation at 77% we decided to go for the summit.”

Philippe reached the top of Khan Tengri after 10 hours of climbing in -25°C weather. They spent 30 minutes at the top then started on their descent, abseiling back to camp 3 in just 4 hours 40 minutes.

On day 9, though tired from the exhausting previous days climb, they packed up everything from camp 3, passed through camp 2 collecting the remainder of their gear and reached base camp after 6 hours of walking right on time for lunch.

Philippe achieved a fantastic journey really pushing his body and mind to the limit and he is already planning his next adventure! Watch this space…

Berghaus Store

For outdoor clothing from Berghaus including men’s waterproof jackets, women’s rucksacks and more then please visit our online store.
You can find a wide range of gear for climbing, hill walking, mountain biking and other activities.

The Gobi March is one of the four races that comprise the world renowned 4 Deserts series of 250-kilometre rough-country footraces.

The race took place over 7 days where competitors raced across a wide variety of terrains including dirt tracks, sand dunes, dry river beds, hills, villages and more.

Philippe’s win comes after his wife, and Berghaus athlete, Anna Gatta won the race for her age group in the 2012 Atacama Desert Race, another of the 4 Deserts Series of races.

You can watch Philippe and Anna in action in the Atacama here:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Berghaus Store

For outdoor clothing from Berghaus including men’s waterproof jackets, women’s rucksacks and more then please visit our online store.
You can find a wide range of gear for climbing, hill walking, mountain biking and other activities.

The Atacama Crossing is considered by many to be the toughest race in the 4 Deserts series. It is equally known for its staggering beauty. The seven-day odyssey takes competitors through an otherworldly landscape of salt lakes, lava flows and sand dunes in settings that traverse the Valley of the Moon, the Valley of Death and Laguna Tebinquinche Rio Grande. The course moves along historical trade routes, through streams, dried up gorges and across the infamous salt flats. Competitors carry their own food and equipment for the week, with only water and shelter provided along the course. An average altitude of 2,500 meters and the notoriously challenging terrain brings added challenges.

Anna and Philippe on Sunday reached the finish line after 7 days of intense running across extreme desert terrain. The aim of the race was for Philippe an experienced ultra-runner with many desert races in his CV, to train and coach his wife to compete and successfully complete the Atacama Crossing, a self-supported desert race of 6 stages and 250km, considered by many as the hardest of the 4 desert races.

Anna said “Many of the runners and the organisation loved the concept as well as our supporters and friends that congratulated me for finishing and Philippe for bringing me all the way. The 4 months of intense training combined with the food and electrolytes strategy was perfect and the mental support Philippe gave me all the way was crucial. We stuck together the whole way,  meter by meter,  all through the 7 days and 250km. That was the first time that Philippe had ran as part of a team. For him too adapting his pace and taking care of someone else was not easy but sharing this experience was his main objective.”

All Philippe & Anna’s hard work paid off as Anna won the race for her age group 30-39!  Berghaus would like to give a big congratulations to Anna, and to Philippe for his support and hard work to help Anna with this fantastic achievement!

You can read more about the race and Philippe & Anna’s experience over the seven days here.

You can see pictures from the race on Philippe’s official site here.
Photos courtesy of  www.racingtheplanet.com