Whillans ramp on Aguja Poincenot in Patagonia skied by Vivian Bruchez, Aurélien Lardy, Jules Socié

France's Vivian Bruchez, Aurélien Lardy and Jules Socié have made the highly anticipated second descent of the Whillans-Cochrane ramp of Aguja Poincenot in Patagonia. The ultra-exposed, outward leaning line that cuts diagonally across the mountain's East Face was first skied in an act of pure folly and genius by the late Andreas Fransson in September 2012, and after his descent the Swede described his feat as "the most technical skiing I have done in my life with 1000 meter of exposure." The ramp is named after the two first ascensionists, England's Don Whillans and Ireland's Frank Cochrane, who climbed the line during the first ascent of the mountain in 1962.

Bruchez, Lardy and Socié travelled to El Chalten with this descent in mind. After exploring and skiing some easier terrain, they turned their attention to their main objective. They set off from the advanced camp on 21 September and made the beautiful approach as the sun rose above the "mythical needles" to reach the base of the wall, seemingly "suspended in the middle of the sky".

During the ascent the trio encountered good snow conditions but progress was both delicate and intense. Writing on his Instagram handle, Bruchez explained "from a distance this ramp appears wide, but in reality in its narrowest part it measures 1.80 meters, suspended above a 1000m void." Aware of their perilous position, they supported and encouraged each other throughout the ascent. What then followed was, in Socié's words "one of the most beautiful descents of our lives, surely the most challenging and the most taxing as well. A descent that will be remembered for a long time."

The trio roped up for one icy section in the middle of the route and at the end of the difficulties they were understandably overcome with emotions. During the 300m drop they had negotiated difficulties estimated at 5.5/E5. Bruchez stated "we were drained of energy. There were some tears, partly because we had achieved an impossible descent but also because we were relieved that our three little tracks would reach the camp with a smile and a shared feeling of accomplishment!"

The original plan had been to link the Whillans-Cochrane ramp with a virgin descent on the pedestal below Fitz Roy but being too tired, above all psychologically, they decided to ski this the next day. Described as being "much less exposed and much more skiable", the 300m ramp has been called Mini-Whillans and graded 5.4/E4. Lardy summed up the descent "A breathtaking setting which provided beautiful turns under the eye of the monster from the day before."