Dries Buytaert

Chamonix 2026

Man leans back on a sunny deck chair, hands clasped, sunglasses on his head, beside a small table with a beer bottle.
Some afternoons don't need an agenda.
Four friends take a smiling selfie on a ski lift, wearing helmets and goggles, holding ski poles while riding above snowy mountain slopes.
Stefaan, Ben, Klaas and I have known each other for 30 years, and this is our first time skiing together. Worth a selfie.
Six friends sit around a table, melting raclette cheese and pouring wine, laughing while serving potatoes and meats from shared plates.
The first day of skiing is in the books. Our legs are tired and our cheeks still glow from the cold. It's raclette night. The cheese melts slowly, the wine disappears a little faster, and with every refill the stories around the table seem to improve.
Stefaan and Klaas in a gondola.
Person in orange helmet and ski boots stands on a snowy ridge at Bochard summit, photographing the Chamonix valley and surrounding snow-covered mountains.
Bochard summit, with the whole valley of Chamonix below.
Two men stand by a gas grill, smiling as they turn steaks and sausages with tongs during a winter barbecue on a snowy chalet deck.
It was the men's turn to cook, so we took over the grill behind the chalet and put together a proper winter BBQ: five kinds of meat and plenty of vegetables. For dessert, we whisked sabayon by hand, spooned it over ice cream, and finished it with raspberries on top.
Three skiers wearing helmets and goggles stand together on a snowy slope, smiling at the camera and holding ski poles, about to continue their run.
Stefaan, Ben, and Klaas.
Skiers descend a wide snowy slope toward a thick bank of clouds, with mountain peaks behind.
Skiers about to enter the clouds.
Smiling man in ski goggles relaxes in a lounge chair after skiing, holding a drink and bundled in winter layers.
Ben's smile says it all.
Close-up of a skier wearing a helmet.
Ben grabbed my camera and used my goggles as a mirror to capture the mountains behind us.