Chamonix born and raised Jean Luc Cassel showed us how extreme skiing is done. The Mont Blanc Massif is home to some of the most extreme terrain in the world and we followed him to ride ,one of, if not ,the most, extreme runs in the game. On the South Side of the Mont Blanc Massif at elevations between 4000m and 5000m stands the “Separated Colouir” a run which features, tight steep colouirs, massive airs, technical skiing and -uniquely- cannot be skied in one piece. The run requires insane technical ability and control as well as it requires the rider to hike a section rather than ski it, that is only a 50m traverse. Jean Luc Cassel brought me over to the massif to explore the run with him.

At the entrance of the run a long, tight and steep colouir opens in front of us. At close to 5000m of elevation and with a consistent 60+ degree slope the initial section is very challenging but it does not even light a candle to the technicalities of the rest of the run. In the beginning of the run, just before we dropped in, Jean reminded me to stay close and ski with caution. He then proceeded to drop in the tight run with his narrow Salomon Stella skis giving him perfect arcing and control as he skied. Each turn excreted confidence and control over his skis and the terrain he was skiing. At the end of 100m sections we would proceed to shut down speed and control our turns. With speed and control, we made it out of the first section.

Jean skiing inside the mountain

After skiing this first section is where technical skill and ability comes into play. We shut down speed coming out of the colouir and traversed to the right where we stopped on a small ledge. Here is one of the two cruxes of the run. We will have to do a perfect jump off an 150ft high cliff which then leads to another cliff and shut down speed without slamming onto the frozen trees at the landing. The technical prowess of Jean came into play, he airily skied with half a turn to the lip of the cliff and hucked it, straight-lining the next cliff and avoiding the trees. I quickly followed suit keeping in mind the one tip Jean gave me: “grab a safety to control your skis over the cliff”, i missed the grab but got the landing. This crux is very impressive. If the rider misses the takeoff for a few inches he will land in a small rock-band which will deviate him on the other side of the slope, The margin for error is non-existent.

Jean before sending the 150 footer. It is larger than it looks.

At this point, the run is far from over. We met up next to the trees in the landing and together traversed across the face. We were no heading to the spot where we would have to take our skis off. After a few turns and some sluff management we had visual contact with the rock and tree that mark the entrance to the final section of the run. We made a few cautious turns down to the tree and took off our skis. At this point walking is also not easy, the slope is 65+ degrees steep and the short hike, maybe 15 seconds, leads us to an even more demanding section. Jean had told me about this section when he invited me to ski this with him, and by his description, even the smallest mistake could be deadly. We will need to cautiously ride down a 70 degree section, scrape a cliff and straight-line the steepest 74 degree patch onto a 90 ft cliff. But this would bring us to the best section of the run.

Jean skiing the second crux on his way to make it to the “hole colouir”

After making it down the small iced rock band, we lined up to jump into the colouir. One by one, we skied off the final patch of snow, grabbed our skis and landed in the colouir. I went first and as soon as i landed in the colouir i skied my way down through the hole and stopped a little bit further down. Jean called me on the radio and jumped into his line, the same way i did, but this time he did not stop. He skied two big turns through the hole and jumped over the cliff over which i was perched. The powder-filled exit to the colouir is around 55 degrees steep and i have not seen anyone ride it as fast. By the time he had to shut down speed he was out of camera range. Then i made my way down to him, making sure to enjoy each turn.

Jean at the end of the run the “hole colouir” clearly observable

A run of a lifetime was over. No more would i be perched over massive cliffs skiing cautiously on some of the steepest terrain. No more would the sound of skis scraping ice would be echoing through my ears. For all the beauty of the run, this run is crazy, it is scary, stressful and some would say impossible. I am glad Jean took the time to show us around his home mountain and that he was able to scare me so much. Looking forward to skiing with him again.

Blue Line is the run