British steep skier Ben Briggs made short work last week of a big and beautiful couloir in the Mont Blanc Massif that has only been skied twice before in its history, despite lying between classic routes in the extreme ski Mecca, Chamonix. Sarah Stirling asked him a few questions and got her hands on some insane videos in the process. Turns out, it was just another day in extreme paradise for the Brit.

You can see the Couloir NE of Col Armand Charlet just in front of you from the Argentiere Hut. It's a beautiful line, about 50-55 degrees steep. It was skied for the first time in 1993 by Emmanuel Ballot, and saw no further descents until May 2013, when a skier, Lucca Rolli, and two snowboarders, Julien Herry and Davide Capozzi, took it on. Then, a few years later, along came Ben Briggs.

So tell us about the day on the Col Armand Charlet?
The couloir is in the Argentiere Basin, just to the left of the Courturier Couloir and right of the Col de la Verte. A Swedish friend Jesper Petersson, Finnish friend Mikko Hiemonen and I skied another route, the Col des Droites, then stayed over in the lift station at Grand Montets to get an early start on the Col Armand. I'm glad we got up at 4am, as with the difficulties of the climbing it took us seven hours to get to the top!

Was the descent a good reward?
We couldn't have hoped for better skiing conditions. Great powder for almost all of the descent. It was great to be able to ski properly in such a wild place, not just making little defensive jump turns.

WATCH: Col Armand Charlet NE face from Ben Briggs

You've become a connoisseur of steep ski lines in Chamonix; what drew you to this line in particular?
Just because it’s a beautiful line that had only seen two ski descents, and it’s also an interesting route as you have to do three pitches of proper climbing to reach the top: mostly about grade III ice with one pitch of grade IV at 80 degrees. It was pitch black and with skis on the back it felt harder than the crux of the Colton Mac!

I guess that's why it doesn't get skied very often! How steep is the line?
It's hard to say how steep the line is as the snow was great, but there is a large section that was steeper than anything I've ever skied before. Once a line is over 45 degrees there are many more factors contributing to difficulty besides steepness, and snow condition is actually the most important factor.

READ: Legendary ski line finally sees repeats

How do you choose a line to ski, and how do you check it's in condition first?
I’m normally attracted to the aesthetics of a line first, and you generally know what is coming into condition just from being up in the mountains a lot and seeing things develop.

Tell us about the Pain de Sucre, another amazing ski video you posted?
The Pain de Sucre was just a half-day outing when Jesper, another Swedish friend called Jokob Wester and I bailed on a bigger plan. It only took us three hours from leaving the Aiguille du Midi top lift station to reaching the Montenvers train at the bottom. The original plan was the Nant Blanc, which I've wanted to ski for ages, but it looked like there had been too much wind at the top. We wanted to wait until it had seen a bit more snow and no wind but another team skied it the same day!

WATCH: Ben on Pain de Sucre

Steep skiing seems to be getting more popular!
Yes, it seems like there are many more people skiing the steep slopes now. On the day we skied the Col Armand Charlet, another route I had been watching and tried before, the Austrian Route on Les Courtes, got skied. These sort of routes only used to get done every ten years or so.

Is there a close community of steep skiers in Chamonix, or rival gangs?
There is a large steep skiing community in Chamonix, and teams that ski together generally stay small. Sometimes it can feel like there's an air of competition between them. I don't think thats a great thing and try to stay away from it!

Have you had any close calls skiing steep routes?
Personally I haven't had any really close calls skiing. I had a short slide at the top of the Gervasutti with wet snow taking my skis with it, but I stayed on my feet and managed to stop easily in the end. 

WATCH: Col des Droites from Ben Briggs

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 to myself: "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 focused. 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.

Any advice for anyone wanting to get into steep skiing?
I would say, start off where you feel comfortable and then progress slowly. It takes time and isn't something you want to rush: there are very real dangers involved. Last year in January, I watched my best friend fall to his death after hitting ice under the snow.

It's best to start on routes that are not exposed in case of a fall. It's important to have good mountaineering and ropework skills as well as very good ski skills. Learning from more experienced friends, taking courses and using guides are all vital tools in progression.

READ: More about Ben on his blog: ben-briggs.com

READ: Ben Briggs: extreme skiing on the Ben

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