No matter your definition of the practice of this narrowly defined mountain craft, which some call ski alpinism, it categorically requires steepness. Saudan was at the sharp end of Europe’s hard chargers for years, redefining steep skiing possibilities.
To turn words ironically on their head, Saudan was commonly known by the moniker “Le Skier de I’Impossible.” It doesn’t take a Francophone to translate: skier of the impossible. Saudan cemented his permanence on the extrême steep skiing through line in 1967 with his first ski descent of the Aiguille de Blaitière’s Spencer Couloir.
In an interview with Saudan on powderguide.com, he explains why the Spencer descent was significant, stating, “The descent through the Spencer in 1967 was the first descent in terrain that had previously belonged exclusively to alpinists.” The impossible becomes the possible.
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