Epaule Sallière North East Ramp first known ski descent by Fay Manners, Anna Tybor

On Friday 12th April Fay Manners and Anna Tybor decided to escape the busy valley that they call home, Chamonix, and instead venture into the slightly less travelled area of Marécottes. Manners only had information about two lines that had been skied on the Sallière face and she wanted to attempt a new first descent on this spectacular looking mountain. On arrival the pair spotted this classic looking ramp on the north east side and thought it would be the safest option to ascend in the heat.

Writing on her Instagram handle, Manners explained "On first look I thought the line would require some mixed climbing to pass the first cliff but when we arrived closer we found a hidden couloir to access this line perfectly. The line is absolutely stunning and I am surprised it isn’t in the Toponeige Chabais book (author Jean-Baptiste Mang). I would say it’s the most spectacular of the face with little to no traversing. In powder it would be a steep freeride line."

During the run Manners lowered Tybor for 20m to avoid an icy section and then downclimbed this. After the descent Manners talked to various people to check whether the line had been skied before and at the time of writing, no documentation has been found about previous descents. She explained "It is difficult to claim a first ski descent as unless it’s so steep that an abseil is required then there is no trace left behind from a previous skier. So, I asked local expert Jeremie Heitz and he only knew of 1 additional line direct down the face skied by Miku Merikanto. He suggested that his friend Miku might know someone that has skied this line. I then asked a local mountain guide if he knew of this line having been skied and he responded "My great grandfather was a mountain guide in Salvan, he probably skied all those lines" which made me laugh. There is a lot of truth in that a lot of claimed skis or climbs now might have been done previously but not logged. In Chamonix we have a community of people that quite heavily document the lines that have been done, but outside of the valley people just ski and don’t talk about it as much. Because the lifts are closed this face requires some effort and a very early morning. The effort is definitely worth the reward if you are motivated to ski such a wild line."

 

 

 

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