The east face of the Aiguille Blanche on the Italian side of Mont Blanc is so steep it only holds snow for a few days each year. Famous steep skier Stefano de Benedetti was the first person ever to ski down it, nearly 30 years ago, in vibrant 80s ski gear. In the documentary film, Steep, Benedetti twinkles with Italian charisma while describing his death-defying descent of the 4112m mountain, and calls it his ‘perfect moment.’ It's worth a watch.
Despite advances in technique, equipment and the popularity of steep skiing - plus the fact that the route lies within a short drive of steep skiing Mecca, Chamonix - the line lay unrepeated, gaining a legendary reputation. Until last week when, like buses, two teams came at once. On 25 April, 25 year old Ben Briggs planned to make the second ever descent, but it ended up being the sixth. However it was the second ever solo descent, the first ever British descent and damned impressive anyway!
Ben Briggs describes his descent on his blog. Stefano describes his first descent on YouTube.
I invited Ben round for a cuppa, to tell the story, and explain why he likes skiing lines so steep that a fall would mean certain death.
What got you hooked on steep skiing?
When I first came to Chamonix I saw all these amazing, aesthetic steep lines down the mountains from beautiful summits. I heard that people actually skied them and thought: I want to ski those things as well!
Are you a skier, climber, or both?
I’m a skier. I moved to Chamonix at 19 to ski as much as possible. I like climbing but it’s not my passion. If I get a couple of metres above a bolt on a sport route, I get scared! I got into alpine climbing just because you need to be competent at it to steep ski, and get yourself out if anything goes wrong.
Do you not get scared skiing routes so steep that, if you fall, you’ll die?
No. I’m not thinking about falling, I’m thinking about skiing, and I’m focussed. If I had doubts about whether I could do it, I wouldn’t be there. There are people who have been skiing steep lines for a long time in a very safe way. Pierre Tardivel has been skiing steep first descents since the 1980s.
How do you ski very steep lines in a very safe way?
Just by being really competent and going when the conditions are good. Not many steep skiers die from falling on a steep route, because if they weren’t confident, they wouldn’t attempt the line.
So what made you want to ski the east face of the Aiguille Blanche?
You can ski from the 4112m summit down with no rappels, so you ski the whole mountain. It’s an aesthetic line from a beautiful summit, high in technical difficulty. It’s got everything. And the fact that the first ascent in 1984 had never been repeated was an obvious draw.
But then the Italian team got there first!
Yeah, I’ve been looking at the line every spring for years but the timing was never right for me to go until this year. Luca Rolli, Davide Capozzi, Francesco Civra and Julien Herry are amongst the leaders of steep skiing on the massif. I was pretty annoyed when I heard they’d skied it two days before I planned to go. It took away some of the adventure element. As long as the snow was good, I knew I could ski it.
Why do you think the line hasn’t been skied since 1984?
I guess it built up a reputation because it hadn’t been skied for so long. Roch Malnuit and Francesco Civra tried to ski it in 2008 but turned back from 400m below the summit. The access isn’t easy either. I set off from the Refuge Torino at 1.30am, crossed the Brenva glacier in the middle of the night at the flattest point where it’s least crevassed, and reached the summit of the Aiguille Blanche at 8.45am.
What did it feel like heading up there alone? Do you usually ski alone or with people?
Another British skier Tom Grant set off with me, but turned back because he heard his son was ill. It was really cool to be alone on the summit. I usually ski steep lines with other people though. It’s great to share the experience and it’s also harder to stay motivated when soloing. Everything’s inside your head. What’s safe, the conditions - you can’t discuss it.
How was the descent?
It was good timing, the snow was just changing. The lower 3/4 was in good spring condition. You start on a mellow-angled snow dome, which leads to a narrow couloir. It’s the steepest part and very exposed. Then you traverse a ridge and ski directly down the face. A steep couloir connects the upper face with lower angled ramps - at the end of this there’s a runnel to cross and a short steep step, which joins two ramps together. It was a little mixed and I took an axe out to step down. From there it’s easy skiing to the glacier. I was home by lunchtime!
People used to generally climb up hard, steep ski lines before they skied them to check them out. Why do you think steep ski on-sighting is becoming more popular?
It’s a nice style, traversing a mountain. Climbing one side and skiing the other. I guess the added element of the unknown is appealing, although I’ll always check the line out with binos and take photos before I go.
What are your future plans?
I’d like to ski the Nant Blanc face. You can see it from town. Also the Peuterey Arete, from Mont Blanc to Courmayeur. Plus some more obscure lines that people don’t know so much about, like the east face of the Triolet. I’ve seen a cool line for a first descent on a 4000er.
I guess you’re not going to tell me though!
No, if you write about it, the Italians will probably go and do it first!
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