Mont Blanc’s wild and rugged south side is somewhere I’ve wanted to ski for a while. Whilst the normal ski route on its north side sees the passage of many hundreds of skiers each spring, most skiers stay away from its south side and the Brenva basin. Take a close look at the area and you can see why. The terrain is steep, the exposure is high and the place is littered with unstable seracs. For these reasons many of the lines around the Brenva have seen only a handful of descents and some have never been repeated. The only line to see somewhat regular attempts is the Brenva Spur, the basin’s ‘easiest’ line and one that is comparatively safe. Captivated by the thought of skiing such an aesthetic line in a truly wild setting, last week Joel and I went up to give it a go.

Mont Blanc’s Brenva basin. The Brenva Spur is the ridge line in the centre…