Dürrenhorn SW Face skied by Michael Arnold, Vivian Bruchez, Tom Lafaille

Steep skiers Michael Arnold, Vivian Bruchez and Tom Lafaille have notched up yet another impressive new ski descent by skiing the SW Face of Dürrenhorn, also referred to as Dirruhorn, in Switzerland. Located in the Mischabel range of the Pennine Alps, at 4035m tall this peak is one of the famous 4000ers of the Alps.

The trio opted for a single-push ascent and descent, partly to save weight and partly because the huts are still closed, and set off from the valley floor at 23:30 to tackle the 2550 elevation gain that separated them from the summit. The original intention had been to ski down their line of ascent up the NE couloir but on reaching the summit they realised the south face looked prime and, having noted a possible line earlier during the ascent, they decided to try their luck and drop in.

"This was more adventurous than originally planned as we took the route and ended up in another valley." explained Bruchez.

Without prior knowledge of the conditions they skied onsight down the wild but not particularly steep South Face. One 30m abseil was necessary to abandon the face and then traverse onto the west face via one exposed section that gives the outing its 5.1 E2 grade. The trio concluded its "GoldenEye" by following the Europaweg and walking down to Randa. The alpinists took a train and a bus to return to their car, and Bruchez was back home by 22:00.