Sebastian Weiche

Switzerland

Everything started when I was three years old and I got a pair of wooden skis and leather ski boots for X-mas.

I broke my leg when I was 4. I was skiing down a red slope in St. Moritz, went off-piste unintentionally because I could not stop before the end of the piste.

Since then I've gone skiing every winter, either with the school and with my family, until I eventually got bored waiting for the tram to go back up again. I changed my life and started getting addicted to going uphill with my own muscle power and skiing away from the crowds, off-piste. This was the beginning of 15 years of intensive mountaineering, first with the Alps as an extensive playground for some classic adventures. When the air was not thin enough anymore and the hunger grew after having read all books from Erhard Loretan and Reinhold Messner , my endeavors brought me from Alaska to the Andes and from the Karakorum to the Himalayas.

Nowadays, I am still connected to expedition mountaineering. But not by sitting in a basecamp freezing and thinking of being on a warmer place, but in front of a screen reading blogs of the next generation exploring the Himalayas while I enjoy a nice and freshly brewed coffee, dreaming of bouldering next door.

Birthday? 27.09.1969

Year you first started at Black Diamond? 2008

Memory/story of your first week at Black Diamond? Jump in the river and swim!

What does working at Black Diamond mean to you? Realizing a dream. For me it is very important in terms of daily motivation to be completely addicted to the company I work for.

If you weren't working for Black Diamond, what would you be doing?Realizing another dream of life and traveling across the US in a small camper van , bouldering and climbing as well as testing coffee shops. Or maybe I would be househusband?

Worst job you've ever had? During summer holidays when I was 16, I worked from 7am to 5pm stapling palets together in a factory and then working from 6pm to 11pm at Mc Donald. That was for 3 weeks straight, and at the end I had enough money to buy a surfboard but was too tired to go surfing!

Do you have any pets? Flies and ants.

Favorite sports/activities? Skiing, surfing, bouldering, reading,....and drinking coffee!

Favorite climbing/skiing area and why? Chamonix. You have it all: playgrounds for all kind of mountain-activities and the nightlife of a city!

Best climbing/skiing experience? Skiing: traverse of Les Courtes. Mountaineering: Gletscherhorn North Face. We were young, bold and full of dreams!

What's your dream trip? Where? With who? Traveling across the US, from Alaska to Baja, climbing and skiing wherever we feel like, together with my beloved wife!

Spending a season in Jackson Hole.

Guilty pleasure? Coffee!!

BD gear you use every time you go climbing/skiing? My old blizzard harness.

What/who inspires you? My wife and life itself!

What's in your iPod? iPods are for people that can't be alone with their thoughts!

Three things you'd never travel without? A book, a map and my passport.

Superstitions? Too many to mention....

What's your dream job? What I've done for 16 years now: Working in the outdoor industry!

If you could have dinner with three people (dead or alive) who would they be? Condoleezza Rice, Edward Abbey and Reinhold Messner (not at the same time!) (I would mention Madonna but my wife would not let me go out for dinner with her!!)