This area is a well-known accident black spot in dry conditions, when there is little or no snow on the face binding the loose surface rocks together. Stonefall can be channelled down the gully to present a serious hazard to climbers crossing in between the relative safety of the sides. For this reputation this passage is sometimes even dubbed the couloir de la mort, corridor of death or gully of death. To this is eagerly referred by the press in more or less sensationalist reports on accidents that frequently happen at or around this spot during the summer climbing season Especially the place of the traverse is a site of many fatal accidents and numerous narrow escapes on the popular Goûter Route. The risky crossing has even been dramatically compared with Russian roulette.