Alps Steeps Season?

Imbibed ramblings with Ross and Skeletor at the beach last night had me curious about ski season in the Alps. One particular point in question: How late is the Gervasutti Couloir skiable? The route has been described as a ~750 m (~2,500 ft) chute with a mostly 45° slope and 55° entrance crux, where one negotiates seracs that offer objective hazard for the remainder of the route. Of course, skiable is relative, but I did a search and found the following links:

Gervasutti Couloir

• 17 October 1968: First skied by Sylvain Saudan


• 7 May 2001: Hans Saari falls on an icy patch below a serac while skiing the Tardivel (more difficult) entrance.


• 31 May 2003: Edouard Baud killed by serac fall.


• 26 May 2006: Gervasutti Ski

The last link has an excellent route photo and some nice ski photos. If you go to the main site for the last link (http://www.snowhow.it/home.htm) there is a chronology that is quite thorough through early 2005. The 2005 hiatus extends from May 15^th to October 10^th, while the 2006 hiatus was quite short, from June 4^th to September 1^st. They actually skied a beautiful route on 2007.07.07 this year. Browse that site; it features some spectacular steep skiing photos!

It appears that the steeps seasons in the Cascades and Alps could be quite similar. The main result of my internet snooping, however, is that I want to ski the Alps more than ever before. Let's go!

Comments from skiers who have actually carved some of the steeps in the Alps? Let's hear examples of remarkably late (and early) big descents if anyone knows them. An example from the Canadian Rockies that comes to mind is the North Face of Robson, first skied September 1995 by Ptor Spricenieks and Troy Jungen - but that's the Canadian Rockies.