Voie des Lézards - 5.9, 1150' - Pointe Thorant, Ecrins

        This route is not in the 100 Plus Belles, is not a particularly well-known or prized objective, and actually wasn't our initial pick for the day. The 3-hour walk to the refuge de la Selle in mountain boots and ensuing ankle pain prompted a last minute decision on my part to change plans from the Râteau to an objective that was closer to the hut, the voie des Lézards on the south ridge of the Pointe Thorant. Armed with a single photo of a framed topo on the wall of the dining room, we embarked on what turned out be a good-sized adventure: 1 hour of approach + 5 hours of climbing + 2 hours of descent + 3 hours back to the car and I had myself the gentle ankle rehab program I was hoping for!

This outing helped to confirm my growing appreciation for the obscure, for nooks and crannies and for routes that nobody has heard of or cares if you've done. I think these spaces can often provide the best opportunities for adventure, i.e. getting after it on your own far from the crowds. I'd say over the past few years I've been on a slippery slope of first being completely focused on the "liste de courses" for the aspirant guide program, to recently replacing those blinders with the routes cited in the Gaston Rébuffat collection, to now being increasingly unconcerned with tick lists and embracing general stoke for big days out in the mountains. Maybe this reflects the conciliatory prose of a far from cutting edge climber, or lack of staying power and perseverance for following through on long-term goals, or perhaps a more balanced motivation closer to the heart of alpinism. Either way, a lot has happened since 1974 and I suspect that the 100 Plus Belles collection could benefit from some updating and renewal from outside the margins...

p.s. the hut caretaker informed us on the descent that the route was scheduled to be bolted a week after our ascent (today), so we got there just in time!!

Butt shot #1: Thibaut running it out on one of his
first trad leads (pitch 5).

Butt shot #2: Cedric motoring up the best pitch of the route, just before rock quality took a turn for the worse. 

Big smile above the Glacier de la Selle. 

Working through another Ecrins billy goat descent... 

Our new tent below the Aiguille du Plat de la Selle (3596m).

Fast food alpinism and fieldwork in the Mont Blanc Range

Here are some photos to reinforce the entirely false perception that all I do is climb and count alpine flowers (I'd say the ratio of fieldwork to data crunching is really about 1:50, but the photos for the latter just aren't the same ;-). I'm certainly not complaining, however, and stoke levels were high going into last week's lineup with my friend Cedric: one day of tram-accessed alpine cragging on the Aiguille du Midi in Chamonix followed by three days near Courmayeur doing plant inventories on the Italian side of the range. Both Cedric and I are recovering from ankle injuries, in my case a malleolus fracture six months ago and in his a smashed ankle from a falling block over a year ago (I'd say both the amount of metal in his ankle and his pain tolerance are about eight times greater relative to mine). Despite some limping and lots of remaining snow on the last pitches, we were able to get things done climbing and rappelled onto the tourist terrace just in time to catch the last tram. And as far for the fieldwork, in addition to being just plain fun, I think it was healthy to step away from the computer for a little while and begin to appreciate just how much I have to learn out there.

Also a big thank you to Anne at the CREA for providing good company as well as a "camp de base" in the non-fast food district of Chamonix... 

I. Voie Rébuffat - Aiguille du Midi (3842m) south face - 200m, 6a

The classic out of the starting gates photo: Cedric heading down the S ridge of the Aiguille du Midi with Point Walker of the Grandes Jorasses upper right and the Grand Combin in the distance.

Perfect granite and heavy packs on P3 (5.10-). 

Two recovering cripples happy to be back in the mountains again.

II. Three days of botanizing on the Italian side of Mont Blanc

Cue the sound of music! Anne and Cedric hard at work above the Val d'Aoste.

 Logging coordinates for an alpine grassland community dominated by Festuca acuminata below the Rochefort ridge, around 2450m.

Fearless larch trees colonizing the debris-covered Brenva glacier...

A new perspective on my all-time bucket list objective: climbing Mont Blanc via the Aiguilles Noire & Blanche de Peuterey (3-4 days of ascent!!).