Fay Manners, Benjamin Ramos ski new line on Grande Fourche

On Sunday 12th of May 2024 Fay Manners and Benjamin Ramos skied what is believed to be a new alpine style ski line on Grande Fourche, the 3610m peak that straddles the Swiss-French border in the Mont Blanc massif.

Manners had first noticed the line while skiing the Chardonnet east face with Tom Lafaille in Apri. She reached the foot of the mountain with Ramos on the 12th at 7:30am and the pair swiftly climbed up the south face to an altitude of 3500m, from where they then traversed SE to finish on the summit. They left their skis 30m below the summit and climbed past rocky terrain to reach mountain's highest point. After a brief rest they returned to their gear stash and then skied the 300m line.

The descent has been called Le Z and is graded 5.3. Manners explained "We skied the route in spring snow as it’s a south face and we timed it perfectly to ski the traverses in soft but stable snow. The rock climb at the top gave the route an extra spice and made it feel like a real alpine adventure. We both soloed the climbing and used a rope around a flake near the top for a 30m abseil back to our skis leaving no gear behind." She concluded "The line was beautiful, involving a little bit of everything you would wish for in a Chamonix steep ski."