13 July 1888 by Kaspar Maurer, Andreas Jaun and the Austrian diplomat Georg Gruber. The east ridge was first climbed in descent as part of a traverse from the Dômes de Miage by Katharine Richardson, Emile Rey and Jean-Baptiste Bich on 13 August 1888. The long west ridge was first climbed in its entirety from the Col de Tricot in 1911 by Fraulein Eleonore Hasenclever and Freulein H. Wirthl with M. Helff, K.G. von Saar and Richard Weitzenbock. The complete north-west face route was finally climbed in 1926 by billionaire businessman and art collector, Robert Wylie Lloyd, with his guides Adolf and Josep Pollinger. The first winter ascent of the Aiguille de Bionnassay was made on 20 March 1929 by A. Charlet, F. Frison Roche, H. Hoerlin, E.Schneider and H. Schroeder. The north face was first climbed on 30–31 August 1953 by Bertrand Kempf and Claude Laurendeau. It is ranked as one of the most difficult ice walls in the Alps, and is rarely attempted. Routes North-West Face: Graded at AD, the route is a steep, glaciated face between 40 and 55 degrees. There are numerous small crevasses in its steep slope providing sufficient resting places to reduce the exposure, but it is a long, demanding route of over 1 km, and can be difficult in times of hard ice. Climbers usually start from the Tête Rousse Hut. It is regarded as the finest route on the mountain, and one of the best of its class in the Alps. After snow it is avalanche prone; in one such incident in 1968 four climbers died. South Ridge: An ascent from the Col de Miage (Durier Hut) provides the easiest route to the summit. The route consists of snowy ridges, rock ledges and chimneys. It is graded at PD+ with rock pitches of II, often iced. A final steep snow ridge leads to the narrow and exposed summit on the French/Italian border. East Ridge: Described as "a superb snow crest which is often precarious and delicate due to large cornices", the east ridge descends from the summit as an exposed and delicate knife-edge crest to the col de Bionnassay. It is graded AD and can be reached from a traverse of the Bionnassay, or from the Gonella Hut. West Ridge: A long 3.4 km ascent from the Col du Tricot over the Aigulle du Tricot, graded at PD. Traverse: Crossing the mountain