✛Mission Oberland / Saas-Fee 
✛ Draw the line with your finger or cursor
Coming · November 2026
TRACES
The 82 four-thousand-metre summits of the Alps, on skis.
Two visions of one mountain: the line a skier draws on it, the instant a photographer keeps of it.
The authors
Vivian Bruchez
Guide & steep-skiing specialist
Born in Chamonix in 1986, a mountain guide and instructor at the ENSA. More than a hundred new descents to his name. And on 20 June 2025, the first ski linkup of the 82 four-thousanders of the Alps.
Thomas Crauwels
Fine-art photographer
Based in the Swiss Alps, for more than fifteen years he has tracked the light of the summits in black and white. His work, internationally awarded several times, seeks the mountain in its barest grandeur.
On 20 June 2025, at Pointe Marguerite (4065 m), a quest begun in 2005 found its last line. No skier had ever achieved this linkup.
The quest · 2005–2025
The 82 four-thousand-metre summits
Twenty years to link them all, on skis. A traverse of the Alps, summit after summit, to the very last line.
0
4000 m summits
0
Years of the quest
0
Lines on skis
0
First descents
0
Pages
0
Summits never skied
Mont BlancMont Blanc de CourmayeurDôme du GoûterMont MauditMont Blanc du TaculL'IsoléePointe CarmenPointe MédianePointe ChaubertCorne du DiableGrand Pilier d'AngleAiguille Blanche de PeutereyPicco Luigi AmedeoMont BrouillardPic EcclesAiguille de BionnassayAiguille VerteGrande RocheuseAiguille du JardinLes DroitesDent du GéantDôme de RochefortAiguille de RochefortPointe WalkerPointe WhymperPointe CrozPointe HélènePointe MargueritePointe YoungPointe ÉlenaBarre des ÉcrinsDôme de Neige des ÉcrinsGran ParadisoGrand Combin de GrafeneireCombin de ValsoreyCombin de la TsessetteCervinDent d'HérensDent BlancheOber GabelhornZinalrothornBishornWeisshornDomTäschhornLenzspitzeNadelhornStecknadelhornHohberghornDürrenhornAlphubelAllalinhornRimpfischhornStrahlhornBreithornBreithorn centralBreithorn orientalRoccia NeraPolluxCastorLyskamm occidentalLyskamm orientalPointe DufourNordendZumsteinspitzeSignalkuppeParrotspitzeLudwigshöheCorno NeroPyramide VincentPunta GiordaniBalmenhornFinsteraarhornAletschhornJungfrauMönchSchreckhornLauteraarhornGross FiescherhornHinter FiescherhornGross GrünhornGrünegghorn
First ski descents Pointe Marguerite · the last, 20 June 2025
TRACES · The making-of
The last photograph
A special episode: Vivian and Thomas, together in the mountains, to capture the book's final image. The line on one side, the light on the other, the same summit as witness.
The book born of this search is on pre-order, in a limited edition. See the pre-orders
The book
A trace holds several meanings.
It is the most fragile of things: a snowfall, a gust of wind, a few hours of sun, and it is gone. And yet it bears witness: to a passage, a presence, a story.
For more than twenty years, Vivian Bruchez followed these lines to the end. Eighty-two summits above four thousand metres, skied one after another, not to conquer them, but to pass through.
“We leave only a trace, light, soon erased.”
What the book holds
A testament to the Alps
TRACES is born of two visions meeting. Vivian waited for the right snow, the right light, the right morning, to lay down his line and return it at once to the mountain. Thomas Crauwels waited too: for other conditions, another instant, to capture those same summits in their permanence.
One engraves the ephemeral, the other reveals the immutable. Both celebrate the mountain.
Bilingual edition: every text is published in both French and English in the same book.
The spirit of the rope team
The great rope team
Around Vivian and Thomas, a rope team of mountain figures: skiers, alpinists, athletes and guides. Each one signs a word on one of the 82 traces. As many voices, as many lines, one same rope.
30 guests · 30 traces · one rope team
✛Mission Oberland / Saas-Fee 
✛Arête de Peuterey 
✛Face nord du Bionnassay 
✛Weisshorn, face Est 
✛Schreckhorn 
✛Aletschhorn / Grandes Jorasses 
✛Pointe Louis-Amédée 
✛Dent Blanche / Grandes Jorasses 
✛Blanche de Peuterey 
✛Strahlhorn / Rimpfischhorn 
✛Aiguille Verte, les Z 
✛Nant Blanc et Täschhorn X 
✛Dom des Mischabels 
✛Obergabelhorn 
✛Mont Brouillard 
✛Dôme des Écrins 
✛Mont Maudit 
✛Dôme de Rochefort 
✛Pollux 
✛Dent du Géant 
✛Mont Rose, couloir Marinelli 
✛Mont Blanc et Verte Couturier 
✛Aiguille Verte, Whymper 
✛Couloir sud du Tacul 
✛Grand Paradis 
✛Massifs suisses 
✛Breithorn face nord, présentation Zermatt 
✛Présentation massif du Mont-Blanc 
✛Présentation Grand Pilier d'Angle 
✛Mont Blanc du Tacul Each guest signs, in their own hand, a word on the trace entrusted to them.
In Vivian’s own hand
Why this book
I never sought to conquer these mountains. I sought to cross them: to leave a line, for the space of a morning, and return it at once to the snow.
For twenty years I waited for the right light, the right snow, the right rope partner. Eighty-two summits later, one thing remained to be done: that these traces, so fragile, should endure somewhere. This is that book.
With Thomas, we wanted it to hold both the line that passes and the mountain that stays. I hope it carries you, too, a little higher.
Vivian Bruchez
Mountain guide · Chamonix
The craftsmanship
An ink that reveals the trace
An original printing process was developed especially for this book. The descent lines appear, then fade, depending on the angle and the light, exactly like a trace in the snow.
01
Tilt the page
The line appears. The skier’s trace rises from the paper, as if drawn by the light itself.
02
Lay it back down
It vanishes. Only the mountain remains, bare, in its permanence.
03
Singular care
A process developed especially for this book. Offset printing, art print, embossed satin-matte laminated cover.
The pre-orders
The trace of the first on the rope
The first 500 copies are reserved for the pre-order, in three tiers. The price stays the same everywhere. But at each tier, advantages disappear. The tier open today is the one that offers the most: don’t wait for it to close.
Pre-orders close in
00Days
00Hours
00Minutes
00Seconds
Pre-order
opening
opening
Tier I
150 ex
150 ex
Tier II
350 ex
350 ex
Tier III
500 ex
500 ex
Public
launch
launch
Open · head of edition
Tier I
First on the rope
The first 150 copies
90 CHF190 CHF
The book + the art print (100 CHF) included free
- ✓Book signed by both authors
- ✓Numbered copy
- ✓Art print included ·
100 CHFfree - ✓Head of edition · first on the rope
- ✓Golden tickets · highest chances
Open · almost full112 / 150
Only 38 copies left at this tier.
Tier II
The rope team
Up to 350 copies
90 CHF/ le livre
- ✓Book signed by both authors
- ✓Numbered copy
- +Art print optional ·
100 CHF50 CHF at cost - ✕Head of edition · first on the rope
- ✓Golden tickets · reduced chances
LockedOpens when Tier I sells out
Tier III
Base camp
Up to 500 copies
90 CHF/ le livre
- ✓Book signed by both authors
- ✕Numbered copy
- +Art print optional ·
100 CHF80 CHF - ✕Head of edition · first on the rope
- ✓The last golden tickets
LockedOpens when Tier II sells out
The exceptional offer
The Box Set
traced by hand
The ultimate piece. For a handful of collectors, Vivian himself traces, by hand, every descent line on the page. A unique object, signed twice, accompanied by an art print and presented in its box.
- ✛ Lines traced by hand by Vivian
- ✛ Both authors’ signatures
- ✛ Signed art print included, at box-set size
- ✛ Presentation box
- ✛ 82 numbered copies
- ✛ Priority access to the experiences
Order the box set
1200 CHF
Unique piece · ultra-limited numbering
The artwork
The art print
Aiguille Verte · Le Nant Blanc
Limited edition of 500 copies
La Verte, the Nant Blanc, where the snow still holds before breaking into the rock. Across the work runs a line traced by Vivian Bruchez: not a decorative stroke, but the exact trace of his ski descent.
Printed in a revealing colour, this line does not give itself away at first glance. Depending on the angle of the light, it surfaces then fades; present, then only sensed.
It is the very gesture of TRACES: what remains of a passage in the mountains appears only from a certain angle, at a certain instant.
Limited edition of 500 copies, co-signed by hand by Vivian Bruchez and Thomas Crauwels, delivered with its certificate of authenticity on the back.
Included with Tier I · 50 CHF at Tier II · 80 CHF at Tier III
Specifications
Edition A run of 500 copies, signed by hand by Vivian Bruchez and Thomas Crauwels, numbered certificate of authenticity
Dimensions 22.5 × 31.5 cm (white border included)
Printing Three-colour + magic line
Paper SYMBOL TATAMI White
Packaging Delivered in a transparent sleeve, with the certificate of authenticity on the back.
Order the art print 100 CHF
The last line
20·06·2025
Pointe Marguerite, 4065 m
A quest begun in 2005 found its last line. No skier had ever achieved this linkup: the eighty-two four-thousanders of the Alps, skied one after another.
“I truly fell in love with these summits. Each one has something singular.”
Vivian Bruchez
Technical details
The book in detail
Format24 × 32 cm · landscape
TechniqueOffset printing
CoverSatin-matte lamination, embossed
ContentsThe 82 · 4000 m on skis
LanguagesBilingual edition FR / EN
Pages200 pages
Print runLimited edition · 2000 copies
ReleaseNovember 2026
Art directionThomas Crauwels
AuthorsV. Bruchez · T. Crauwels
Frequently asked questions
About the book
When will the book be released?+
Release is planned for November 2026. The exact date will be communicated to everyone who has pre-ordered.
Will there be a signed or numbered edition?+
Yes. The pre-order copies are signed by both authors; the first tiers are numbered and form the head of the edition. A collector box set, traced by hand by Vivian, is offered in an ultra-limited quantity.
Is the book in French or in English?+
Both. TRACES is a fully bilingual edition: every text — stories, captions, preface — is published in French and English in the same book. There is no version to choose: every copy contains both languages.
Where will the book be available?+
In priority here, through the pre-order. The limited editions and the collector box set will not be restocked: once the tiers are complete, the public launch follows, within the limit of 2000 copies.
When and how is payment made?+
Payment is made here, directly at the pre-order, on the secure shop. Your place in the current tier is secured as soon as payment goes through.
What are the shipping costs?+
The book ships worldwide, carefully packaged. Shipping is 12 CHF for Switzerland and 12 € for France; for other countries it is calculated by zone according to the destination and shown at payment.
Are there customs duties?+
There are no additional customs duties for Switzerland or the European zone (France, Spain, etc.). Only for destinations outside the EU and outside Switzerland may customs duties apply, at the recipient’s charge.
When will I receive my copy?+
We're aiming for delivery from December 1, 2026: that's the goal we've set ourselves, and we're doing everything we can to meet it. An art edition of this scale still depends on manufacturing, printing and logistics, so this date remains indicative and may change. Copies ship in tier order: the first on the rope receive theirs first.
TRACES Tier I · 38 left · 90 CHF
Reserve Complete my order
Outside the EU and Switzerland, any import customs duties are at the recipient’s charge.
Currency
Prices are shown based on your location. At payment, the final currency is confirmed from your billing country (€ for France, $ for the United States, HK$ for Hong Kong, etc.). Outside the EU and Switzerland, any import customs duties are at your charge. A problem with your order? Write to us at contact@thomascrauwels.ch.
Delivery
We're aiming for delivery from December 1, 2026. We're doing everything we can to meet this timeline; it remains indicative, as an art edition of this scale depends on manufacturing and logistics.
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