Hübschhorn north face ski descent by Sébastien de Sainte Marie

On Tuesday 18 December 2018 Swiss steep skier Sébastien de Sainte Marie skied a line down there North Face of Hübschhorn in the Lepontine Alps, Switzerland. The route shares the last 50 meters of descent he carried out in 2014, and is both steep and technical.

Talking to planetmountain.com, de Sainte Marie stated "The new line starts from the top, circa 5.3, the top section is more technical and I was not lucky with the snow on this part. I think all the top section had been blowed by wind, all the snow had blown onto the south face and I had a hard snow pack the top. It’s steep and you feel the exposure of the huge cliff below you. I then followed a long diagonal section, steep at beginning then more mellow, allowing for big turns in great snow. The exit section at the bottom is in common with my older route; the goal isn’t to follow the evident exit that leads to a long rappel but to traverse to a superb, tiny couloir and then abseil just ten vertical meter. This leads to a ramp and then the exit jump, which varies in height from 2 to 3 meters, depending on snow conditions."

To drop into the North Face Sébastien de Sainte Marie ascended the normal route. After having spoken with local skiers it seems as this may well be a new line and, if not, certainly a route which is rarely descended. The final abseil is equipped with two pegs.