The north face of the mountain rises some 1,600 m from the Argentière basin at an average angle of 60°, and is the steepest face on the 10-km-long ridge that stretches from the Aiguille Verte to Mont Dolent. The first route to be made on it was via the central couloir on the north-east flank by Bobi Arsandaux and Jacques Lagarde on 31 July 1930. The north spur was first climbed in 1972 by French alpinist Nicolas Jaeger. The dangers of climbing this face were highlighted on an episode of the Discovery Channel documentary series I Shouldn't Be Alive.