Central Rib

Good climbing up a surprisingly sharp & narrow arete. The rib is the first one left (East) of the main couloir splitting the face, offering about 350m of rockclimbing (mostly grade 8-14, with grade 16 cruxes). This is followed by 300 vertical meters of snow or choss scrambling to the summit.
To Start: Cross a moderate angled snowslope guarding the base of the buttress. On the left side at the toe of the rib proper, pick any start that appeals, making your way to a ledge 20m off the deck, above small rooflets and at the base of a broken corner system. (The first ascent started up the wide crack in the large black left-facing corner, right of the crest, but angled left due to lack of large cams. A single #3 would do the trick.). Generally, follow the rib thereafter, but often in corners or ramps on either side as dictated by the terrain. Two steeper towers near the top are turned by thin face traverses and corners on the left. On the first ascent, much of the terrain proved suitable for simul-climbing (with microtraxions) with the odd pitch. The schist is sometimes sharp but two ropes could be painful due to the lower angle of the terrain, and varied difficulty. Protection is good throughout for climbers solid at the grade. No water.
In detail: Once on the ledge 20m up at the base of the the broken corner that runs up the center of the rib, climb a short finger/hand crack in a left-facing corner (16) and on up the corner/gully. About 30m up, move into corners on the left of the rib. Caution loose blocks on these initial sections. These corners lead back to the rib. Cross it (sharp flakes) and climb easy, steppy ground on better rock on the right side for some way. Eventually, an imposing dark tower is reached. Face traverse left 7m (sparse holds/pro) towards a big corner, but before reaching it go steeply up a narrow right-facing corner (16, beautiful crack climbing), which becomes a double crack for the last 5m back onto the rib. Then along the crest on memorable holds and intermittent cracks on clean orange rock until a second/final tower. Move left again - thin (16), but into an easy corner - and on up to reach a flat area and lower angled, loose ground to the summit block. Most parties will travel this ground unroped. Take care to avoid pulling on loose holds or entering rockfall zones when weaving up the upper face. The rock is less dangerous than it looks, yet not safe. Early season, this may be mainly snow travel.
An opportunity also exists to start up the clean 'toe' of red schist on climbers right then climb clean face to join the rib near the top.