On Vierge du Flambeau (Mont Blanc) Filip Babicz & Heike Schmitt establish 'La Tête du Dragon'

This is my personal way of saying, 'I’m back!' The last seven months were brutal. Three consecutive injuries —a finger crushed by a rock (while opening Partita Lampo on Petit Flambeau), then that same finger broken, and finally a sprained ankle—kept me out of action for ages.

First, the finger had to heal. The I had to relearn how to walk. Finally, gradually, I started climbing again... It was a dark, grueling period. Since November, I hadn’t set foot in the mountains. Day after day, stuck indoors, my hunger to tackle projects grew unbearable.

The moment I could test my foot again, before attempting bigger objectives, I immediately teamed up with my habitual climbing partner, Heike Schmitt, to open this new route. We chose Vierge du Flambeau over the Tacul satellites for its short approach.

On June 9, 20, and 21, we cleaned and prepped this line which, in our opinion, rivals any classic. In fact, given the circus on Mont Blanc right now (returning to the Turin hut, we passed a full-blown basecamp at Col Flambeau with 40+ tents), it’s a perfect alternative: peaceful, isolated, on stellar rock, and just 45 minutes from the Skyway cable car!

- Filip Babicz, Courmayeur