What happens when two alpinists have kids? Patagonia releases new short film series 'Parenting: Disaster Style' but nervous moms and dads might want to skip this one...

Child climbing
Mika and Mathias are aware that they're living experiences that most children don't get (Image credit: Pierre Cadot)

Patagonia has launched a new short film series: Parenting: Disaster Style and the first episode has just dropped. The series follows the adventures of alpinists Zoe Hart and her husband, Maxime Turgeon, as they introduce their children, Mathias and Mika, to the great outdoors and all things adventure.

The series sees the young family go backcountry skiing in Italy, dirtbag along the French coast and cultivate food at their Chamonix home, beneath the watchful Mont Blanc.

Hart and Turgeon hope to engender the same love of the natural world and mountain adventure that they enjoy to their kids, while also increasing their resilience and self-belief. Hart says: "if you push your kids past what they think is possible, whether it’s being cold or tired or wet, they’ll learn they have the capacity to do way more than they thought they could.”

Climbing in the Aiguilles Rouges above their Chamonix home

The family climbing in the Aiguilles Rouges (Image credit: Pierre Cadot)

Before having kids, in their search for mountain adventure on some of the world's most technical peaks, Hart and Turgeon had endured their fair share of epics and freezing cold nights on some far-flung wall or other.

Tongue firmly in cheek, they called their style 'Disaster Alpinism', which is how the series got its name. "Go at it, throw everything into it, it's usually epic and afterwards it's really awesome," says Hart about both alpinism and parenting.

Zoe Hart is a Chamonix-based International Mountain Guide originally from the East Coast of the US. A passionate adventurer and mother, she is determined to live life to the limits and strives for never-ending growth.

Watch episode one

Episode one went live on June 18, introducing the family and their ethos, as they set off on family adventures to climb and enjoy the tranquility of the great outdoors. Watch it here and keep one eye on Patagonia's YouTube channel for future epsidoes.

Parenting: Disaster Style (Episode One) | Patagonia Films - YouTube Parenting: Disaster Style (Episode One) | Patagonia Films - YouTube
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Alex Foxfield

Alex is a freelance adventure writer and mountain leader with an insatiable passion for the mountains. A Cumbrian born and bred, his native English Lake District has a special place in his heart, though he is at least equally happy in North Wales, the Scottish Highlands or the European Alps. Through his hiking, mountaineering, climbing and trail running adventures, Alex aims to inspire others to get outdoors. He's the former President of the London Mountaineering Club, is training to become a winter mountain leader, looking to finally finish bagging all the Wainwright fells of the Lake District and is always keen to head to the 4,000-meter peaks of the Alps. www.alexfoxfield.com