In reply to Aled Williams:
Honestly, you need to google a little harder. Nevertheless:
> When's the best time to do a route such as the Cassin ? Looking at logs, mid July onwards seems like the start of the season.
Yup; July/August is peak - but crowded
> The snow slab on the approach sounds quite bad early season. Would people recommend taking lightweight crampons and an axe ?
Well, it's killed at least one person. I'd say recce it the evening before and decide whether to leave kit in the hut. Crampons also means heavier boots. You know the approach to the hut is now very long since the landslide?
> Suggested rack ? doubling up on cams ?
No, ordinary mountain rack. All the hard pitches are wide anyway!
> Seems like a 50:50 split on north ridge vs into Italy descent, What does the Italian descent involve ? I've read enough about descending via the ridge. Any experience on getting public transport around ?
The north ridge is a long abseil-fest but a rope trap. The Italian descent has several short abseils and is quite complicated when you're tired/it's misty. Then you can either walk back over the passes, which is pretty horrible - steep and loose - or hitch, but better to hitch to the start.
> Finally what's the best guidebook for the area ?
Plaisir Sud has a topo but there are lots online