Christina Lustenberger is the First to Ski Mount Robson’s South Face

After a decade of envisioning the impossible, Christina “Lusti” Lustenberger has cemented her place in ski mountaineering history, becoming the first person to ski the south face of Mount Robson, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. Alongside French alpinist Guillaume Pierrel, Lustenberger successfully completed the historic descent on February 16, 2025.

For years, Lustenberger studied the sheer, imposing face of Mount Robson, spotting a thin, unbroken ribbon of snow that could provide a skiable route from the summit. The south face, an intimidating wall of rock and snow, had long been deemed too extreme for ski descents—until now.

“Growing up in Canada, in the Columbia Valley, Mount Robson has such a deep history of climbing and skiing,” Lustenberger told CBC. “It really is the King of the Rockies, and as a professional skier and someone who has spent a lifetime in the mountains, you’re drawn to such wild and extreme terrain.”

Lustenberger and Pierrel spent two days climbing to the 3,954-metre summit, enduring an overnight bivouac on a snow-covered ledge. However, as they prepared for their first attempt at the descent, visibility suddenly dropped to near zero, forcing them to retreat from a point 200 metres below the summit.

Undeterred, they adjusted their approach and decided to try again.

“Leaving that upper 200 metres was just not satisfactory,” Lustenberger explained. “It was important enough for us to go back and complete the vision.”

On February 16, they stood atop the summit once more, ready for the most daring descent of Lustenberger’s career. The route required multiple rappels and seamless transitions between skiing and climbing, testing their skill, endurance, and decision-making at every turn.

The descent—measuring over 3,000 vertical metres—was completed in three and a half hours, marking a historic achievement in ski mountaineering.

“Even when you reach the summit, you’re only halfway there,” Lustenberger said. “The mountain just puts so much pressure on you.”

Before Lustenberger and Pierrel, only a few men and one woman had skied from the summit of Mount Robson/, all descending either the North Face or the Kain Face. This feat makes Lustenberger not only the first woman to ski from the summit of Mount Robson but also the first person to ever descend the extreme South Face. The South Face was attempted decades ago by a group lead by the extremist and author Peter Chrzanowski. There was a large media buzz, with news crews and several helicopters covering the ski descent that never happened.

Pierrel, who has completed numerous extreme ski descents, credited Lustenberger for their success.

“She’s already a big source of inspiration for me, and that’s why I’m here,” he said. “We’re going to put our names in the history of the Canadian Rockies. It’s such an honour.”

Lustenberger, a former Canadian Olympic ski racer, has built a reputation as one of the world’s most accomplished steep-skiing pioneers. She has completed first descents around the world, from New Zealand to Baffin Island, and recently appeared at the Sundance Film Festival for the documentary Trango, which showcases her first descent of a remote peak in Pakistan.

For Lustenberger, ski mountaineering is about more than just making history—it’s about seeing the mountains differently and imagining new possibilities.

“Finding space as an explorer and a steep skier, you start to look at mountains differently,” she said. “You try to imagine your own way through them. The south face had been left. No one had looked at it to climb and ski. And we did.”

With this groundbreaking achievement, Christina Lustenberger has rewritten the boundaries of ski mountaineering, proving that even the most daunting terrain can be conquered with vision, skill, and perseverance. As she continues to push the limits of big mountain skiing, the legacy of her Mount Robson descent will undoubtedly inspire the next generation of ski adventurers.

Source: CBC News
Images: Blake Gordon