Artesonraju, Southwest Face, Ski Descent. Our expedition was made up of Mssrs. Paret, Cortial, Chartier and me. After failing to climb Quitaraju and climbing Huascarán, on July 13 I climbed Artesonraju and made the first ski descent of the southwest face. A thousand feet from the top the face, which has an angle up to 60°, is cut by a line of séracs. Icy snow on a traverse left was hardly pleasant. Then I found myself at the top of a narrow gully that cut for 100 meters through the séracs. It was horribly steep. The lower slope became less steep and was great fun. Crossing the snow-covered crevasses of the glacier was risky and I was relieved to be back in my tent.

Gérard Chantriaux, Club Alpin Français