He appeared in Wayne's World, travelled the U.S. in a van bearing his effigy, and embodies free-style ski-ing in all its forms. But a month after the incident that killed two of his friends in Nepal, his legendary exuberance hides the trauma.
Samuel, Chapter XII: "And the Lord was angry after David slew a brave soldier for coveting his wife, Betshabée." It was 04:40hr in the cold night of 22-23 September, at 6800m altitude. In a foetal position in his sleeping bag, by the light of his head-light, Glen Plake reads the Bible. A gust of wind shook the tent. Then an explosion interrupts the American's meditation about anger and the divine.
"More wind?" As the wind lessened, Gregory Costa, his expedition companion on the world's eighth highest summit replied: "No, an avalanche."
Glen felt his friend's shoulder slide away, along with the ground. His neighbour is ejected from the tent, never to be seen again. A month later, inside Glen's head remain a kaleidoscope of incredible images. The dark, the dim light of the stars, static electricity... 7 seconds when time stood still, floating on a white fury in a sleeping bag ready to be his shroud, except that "the finger of God" decided instead to make it a survival bag.
He shouted out his friends' names, but was answered by silence.
The 48 year old doesn't know where he is. The avalanche fills the crevasse where he fell, from which he emerges, stunned. Glen digs into the pile of ice and snow, now as hard as concrete, in search of his friends Greg and Remy Lécluse, the team leader. He continues to shout their names, still no reply.
How can one live a "second life"?
A month has passed. Every day these images haunt the "skiing punk dandy". Out of grief, Glen is not yet displaying his famous mohawk, known from the streets of Chamonix to the slopes of his native Sierra Nevada. His wife Kimberly, a former "Miss Texas", usually helps him with his crest, which requires two hours of preparation. At end of season parties on the glacier des Grands Montets, the couple do not go unnoticed: Kimberley in bikini, and Glen with his multicoloured spikes, pointing up at the sky.
Today, the funny parishioner wants to believe in a dream. "But my two friends are no longer there and I should not be of this world." Upon returning to base camp, he found a dentist to put back three of his teeth, pierced with diamonds. The "look" was saved.
On October 23, 2008, the good Samaritan was again saved by his "crest". Leaving with a friend to ski after an early snowfall, he was swept away by an avalanche on the Envers du Plan. A 45 degree slope swept them away. He laughs as he speaks about it, as if to chase away the fear. Before leaving Nepal, a Sherpa gave him a silk scarf. "You survived on Manaslu. For you starts a second life."
He tried to carry on as before. A crazy path combining full-time skiing with a California lifestyle. An advert shot on the Stelvio glacier in Italy, and the snow traveller is off again, outside boundaries and conventions. "I have obligations to sponsors, but no big projects." Will he return to the Himalayas? Not to Manaslu. "I'd love to go with Kim to Ama Dablam, the most beautiful peak in the world." More contemplative, less daredevil?
A snow traveller
The master of the steep slope, Rémy, with whom he descended the sharp slopes of the Andes, is no more. Plake has toured the globe, starred in cinema in the grungy and crazy Wayne's World, worked as a stuntman on TV. A real star in the U.S., the most recognizable skier in the world. A skiing champion, he's also done the Dakar and rolled down the Sacré-Cœur on skateboard.
But has he left a little of his madness on the dark side of the Himalayas?
In Lake Tahoe, his personal "Alps", he grew up on skis.
Before Grospiron, he did the "Boss des Bosses" and inspired the "new school" style, freeride and stunts, breaking the mold of ski-films.
It's due to filming in Chamonix 25 years ago, that he has made his second home here, after Nevada. And now he finds himself in the aftermath of Rémy, a close friend of the dizzy slopes, seemingly made for his skills. Who knows if today, behind his exuberant appearance, the heart is still there. At the back of his laughing eyes lies the sadness of the survivor.
