Bio
Canadian Maxime Turgeon was born and raised in the suburbs of Montreal, Quebec. Before finding climbing he spent his free time racing around the highways of Montreal on motor bikes, and in his garage with greasy fingers tuning bike engines.

In 2000, at the age of 19, Maxime found climbing, first in a gym on plastic before quickly moving outdoors onto traditional rock routes. From there, he moved on to sport climbing and then onto ice climbing, all in the same season.

By 2001 Maxime’s sights were set on bigger landscapes, projects, and mountains, so along with a fellow Quebequois friend, they packed their bags. Right after the Christmas parties they drove 45 hours across the Trans-Canadian Highway in a raging winter storm for a 10-day ski and mountaineering trip. A quick stop at the local climbing shop in Calgary allowed them to purchase a tent, sleeping bags, cooking gear, and without the luxury of ski touring equipment they headed off on the Wapta Traverse to climb and ski peaks. They were laden with heavy camping packs, skis and snowboards on their backs, and snow shoes on their feet. The two rang in the New Year with soaking wet nylon tent walls, shivering in their New Years toasts.

Just a little taste of the fantastic landscape and possibilities of the greater mountain ranges was enough to draw Maxime in. Over the next few years, in between semesters at University studying for a degree in Engineering, he cut his teeth on some of the steeper ice lines in the Canadian Rockies, explored the French Alps, and stuffed his hands into the granite cracks of Yosemite’s big walls.

While studying for his Engineering degree Maxime met Louis-Phillipe Menard, another passionate yet inexperienced climber. They lusted over photos of steep faces, big unclimbed lines, and large goals and objectives. Soon their days climbing in the North East were not enough to quench their thirst. In the spring of 2005 the Quebquois team, speaking limited English, boarded an airplane while passing back and forth a book on glaciers and crevasse rescue, hoping to learn all they needed to know for their expedition. They soon found themselves dropped with a pile of gear, and huge ambitions, in the middle of the Ruth Gorge in the Alaska Range at the bottom of Mount Dickey, watching the tail-side of Talkeetna Air Taxi pilot Paul Roderick’s airplane leaving them alone in the range. On that trip the two would climb what Maxime would call the best route of his life, Spice Factory on Mount Bradley.

Maxime has spent the past four years putting up more first ascents in the Alaska Range. One of these—the Canadian Direct on the South Face of Denali climbed with Louis-Phillipe Menard in a 58-hour push—was granted a Golden Piton award. He also climbed two classic lines, The Moonflower Buttress and Deprivation on the North Buttress of Mount Hunter, in one week. Last year, Maxime tagged classic lines in Patagonia such as Cerro Standhart’s Exocet, Fitz Roy’s Supercanelata (Supercouloir), Saint Exupery’s Clara di Luna. In the past two years he accomplished notable ascents and first ascent solos in Pakistan on Farol Peak and the Southeast Buttress of the Ogre, a formation he and climbing partner Colin Haley have dubbed "Ogre's Son". Now in Chamonix, France, he climbs routes in his now backyard in between work stints; routes like the North East Couloir on the Dru, the American Direct on the Dru, the Slovenian Route on the Grand Jorasses, the Colton Mackintyre on the Grand Jorasses, and too many more to report.

Along with climbing Maxime is a man of many talents: photographer, writer, builder, engineer, and welder, each of which he uses to add pennies to the piggy bank for his next adventures.

Favorite products:

In the morning, when the air is thick and heavy, and the sound of the cold autumn rain is keeping me from getting out of bed to head off to another day of getting worked - in another dirty work site, building, renovating, welding - the warmth and comfort of my old R1® gives me the courage to embrace the day. Nine years later, the outlet of my summer savings is still helping me to go through the worst conditions.

When the pressure goes up and all of a sudden the mountains appear from behind the clouds covered in white icing, my old dirty work sweater goes straight into the laundry basket. I grab my Guide pants, R1 hoody, Ascensionist Jacket and Down sweater and know that it will be a good day whichever Aguille I choose to head for.