If you have visited the Northern Alps you have probably seen the Aiguilles d’Arves. They are three pinnacle like summits between the Maurienne and Ecrins. But did you know the central spire has been skied by the south face? According to Nat Schaefer the first descent might have been by Jean Bouchet in ‘96. But then again it was foggy, no-one saw it, so it might not.
The route
What is sure is that it was skied last April by steep specialist Louis Grenet and his friends and they have a video to prove it:-
You can read the trip report (in French) on skitour. The route is a sustained 45° sur 400 m with passages of 50° and a maximum exposure. You fall, you die.
http://www.skitour.fr/sorties/aiguille-centrale-d-arves,20140.html
the route was repeated by Francois Biju-Duval the next day. Note the comment on skitour “Take care in any case in the future...”. Francois career stopped brutally a month later but he still had time to ski the North Face of the Aiguille de l’Olan.
Les Aiguilles from l’Alpe d’Huez