Le Pouce : Voie des dalles Dimanche 29 juin 2008

sunny & blue skies for the route
some clouds for the descent
stormy as soon as we got back to the valley bottom

perfect. beautiful dry rock

2.5h approach
5h for the route
2h descent

fair bit of snow, but no re-freeze. big boots useful if you like dry feet but not 100% necessary.
descent from col de le gliere to base of Le Pouce is a mix of steep snow/scree/choss. maybe there is a trail but if so either if was covered by snow or we didn't look hard enough
some snow on the arete, but not a problem

fantastic compact gniess. even in the broken upper section the rock quality is excellent by alpine standards. excellent climbing, sustained but never too hard. occasionally runout but never too much.

A couple bolts from a new route which follows a similar line take some of the edge off the runouts, in particular the rightward traverse after the crack pitches. One or two screamer style draws help inspire confidence in the old pins. otherwise the route mostly protects reasonably with a small nuts/cams.

given the near perfect rock on the route and the choss on the approach and descent the route is probably the safest part of the day.

beautiful view all day on the Mt Blanc, and the whole area to ourselves.

arrived at 16h32 for the last chairlift at 16h30! fortunately the lifties let us ride down with them once they had finished their maintenance. Merci Beaucoup!!!