Vivian Bruchez skis Punta Baretti in Mont Blanc massif

Vivian Bruchez has completed a long, extremely technical, descent off Punta Baretti, one of the wildest fourthousanders in the Alps, situated on the south ridge of Mont Brouillard in the Mont Blanc massif. The French mountain guide climbed and then skied the historic route established on 28 July 1880 by Martino Baretti and Jean-Joseph Maquinaz.

Bruchez set off from the Courmayeur Skyway car park at 4:00 am and, making fast progress, reached the 4013m high summit of Punta Baretti at 10:40. After a short break he started the descent at 11.10, completing it at 13:30 and returning to the car at 15:00. Due to lack of adequate snow cover he did not start directly from the summit but from the Brouillard ridge, and in some sections he had to downclimb. A 30-meter abseil was necessary to reach the snowfield at circa half height.

Usually Bruchez skis with others, this time though he knew that the approach through the complex Miage glacier was in good condition. Furthermore, as he explained on his Instagram account "I had the feeling of being on my best form ever, and I had to be, the wall is huge."

Describing these 11 hours to planetmountain.com, he explained "it was an incredibly technical line, not too steep to ski but, from a mountaineering point of view, very technical and very long, 1700m, one of the longest in the Mont Blanc massif. Incredibly wild!"