Climbers Ski Narrow New Line in Dolomites
The line had several no-fall zones along the approach and during the descent
Three climbers have made the likely first descent of a couloir on Piz de Puez in the Italian Dolomites. They set out from Longiaru and skied 1,800 vertical metres before dropping in.
Franz Anstein, Federico Maremonti and Andreas Tonelli have named their line Canal sëura l uët, and graded it 5.1 E4. The trio used a rope to drop into the top of the couloir as it was too steep to ski. They then dropped into the narrow couloir that was often up to 45 degrees but had sections up to 50 degrees. They then made a 30-metre rappel to access the lower part of the couloir.
From there, they traversed left, skiing only a few metres above a 100-metre cliff – watch the video below. They then linked into a mellower slope that took them to the valley below and eventually to Santa Cristina, the nearby village.
While there hasn’t been a lot of steep backcountry ski news lately, Christina Lusti, Mark Herbison and Joshua Lavigne did open a steep new line in B.C. this winter – read about it here.
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