Aguja Poincenot, Andreas Fransson skis the Whillans ramp

Interesting news fresh from Patagonia where Swedish alpinist and extreme skier Andreas Fransson has just skied the obvious ramp on Aguja Poincenot taken by the classic Whillans route. Climbed for the first time in 1962 by Don Whillans from England and Frank Cochrane from Ireland during the peak's first ascent, the ramp cuts diagonally across the steep East Face and while the original route continues to the summit via the South Face, last Wednesday Fransson stopped at the end of the ramp to then start his audacious descent. With extreme caution, as he himself writes, given the snow condition, the expose and the obvious difficulties.

In 2011 Andreas Fransson took the world by storm with his awesome first ski descent of the South Face of Denali and after his recent ski he commented: "Yesterday I got the opportunity to ski one of the most challenging runs in my life on the Ramp on Poincenot, Cerro Fitzroy massif, Argentina. 250 vertical meters of, in these conditions, the most technical skiing I have done in my life with 1000 meter of exposure." Fransson then concluded unequivocally "When it comes to ski grade rating I doubt I will ever ski anything harder. This is my limit."

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