Portrait of the Aiguille de Rochefort, a fabulous mountain in the Mont Blanc massif that stands at the boundary of two worlds. From shadow to light, this frosted tower rises from the earth to the sky. Between France and Italy, it enhances the journey from the Torino refuge and Pointe Helbronner to summit des grandes Jorasses. Captured here from the heights of Courmayeur, it is all the more beautiful and mysterious.

The Alps have been battling the onslaught of winter winds all night long. Harassed by so much relentlessness, the mountain resists against all odds. With its breath suspended and its rock whitened, it silently begs for the return of dawn. In the early morning, shadows quiver and lights shimmer. In a final burst, the Aiguille de Rochefort tears through the mist to expose its summit to the new dawn. A new day dawns like a rebirth. A troubling reflection of a universe where infinite power seems so fragile, where ephemerality suddenly rubs shoulders with eternity. The Aiguille de Rochefort lights up the sky before disappearing beneath a flood of clouds.

This black-and-white photograph immortalizes the soul of the Aiguille de Rochefort. The evanescence of its grace, its overwhelming strength. And when you contemplate it like this, you can't help but dream of climbing it one day. I love high mountains when they're immaculate, unfathomable and divine. I love the high summits when they reinvent themselves, tormented by the winds at the turn of a night. I love the Alps and I return to them without ever tiring of them until they reveal their most precious secrets to me.