Gallery: The Perspective of Ascent

The journey begins. Pathfinder expeditioner and professional climber Jordan Cannon and expedition leader Lance Garland wait to board the Montenvers train to the foot of the Mer de Glace glacier. They are joined by photographer and mountain guide Ben Tibbetts, and physician and adventure athlete Dr. Valentine Fabre. The days ahead will be long and arduous, but the payoff could be writing a more accurate chapter of mountaineering history — one that honors the queer identities that remained hidden in times and places of nonacceptance. Photo: Ben Tibbetts.

Lance and Jordan make their way up a ladder in the Mer de Glace valley. The ladder and via ferrata weren’t necessary decades ago, but the receding glacier has changed the landscape. Photo: Ben Tibbetts.

Lance follows a step behind Jordan as the team navigates the rocky terrain to Envers hut. The two Pathfinders seek to connect fellow members of their queer athlete community with role models both present and past. Photo: Ben Tibbetts.

Jordan makes his way gracefully across the snow and ice. When they get to Envers hut, the team will immediately head out for a practice climb. Photo: Ben Tibbetts

High above the Mer de Glace valley, Valentine, Lance, and Jordan stand on a mountain slope, while in the distance below them, Envers hut sits perched on a rocky outcropping. The trio and photographer Ben Tibbetts are preparing for a practice climb — Le Piège — before their ascent of Aiguille du Grépon begins at 3:00 a.m. the next morning. It is the first time the expedition team will climb together. Photo: Ben Tibbetts.

Jordan slides his fingers into a crack in the wall as he ascends Le Piège. As the more experienced climber, Jordan accepts that the safety of the team is his responsibility. Lance looks on from below. Photo: Ben Tibbetts.

Lance double checks his pack by headlamp. At 3:00 a.m. on July 23, 2024, the expedition team begins their ascent of Aiguille du Grépon. Photo: Ben Tibbetts.

By headlamp and moonlight, Valentine and Jordan make their way up Aiguille du Grépon, traversing an icy glacier. Photo: Ben Tibbetts.

Valentine opens the door to Bivouac de la Tour Rouge, a refuge hut for climbers that is perched precariously on a rock ledge at 9,259 feet. The original hut was destroyed by heavy snowfall in 1973. Nearly 50 years after its destruction, the hut was rebuilt in 2021. Photo: Ben Tibbetts.

Jordan watches as his simul-climbing partner, Lance, makes his way up during the team’s long ascent of the Grépon. Photo: Ben Tibbetts.

Physician and mountain athlete Valentine scales one of the innumerable clean granite corners. In 2013 and 2017, she placed first in the Ski Mountaineering World Championships. As the only member of the team who has previously climbed the Mer de Glace route, she is the Pathfinder expedition’s rope gun, leading the team up the Aiguille du Grépon. Photo: Ben Tibbetts.

Lance and Jordan take advantage of a spacious ledge on their climb and pause to take it all in. In moments like these, the team took the opportunity to reflect on the climbers who came before them and the queer identities those climbers were forced to hide. Photo: Ben Tibbetts.

As the team nears the summit of the Grépon, Valentine leads the way. Photo: Ben Tibbetts.

Lance adjusts his rope as he prepares for another push to reach the summit of the Grépon. Photo: Ben Tibbetts.

Jordan reaches the summit. Photo: Ben Tibbetts.

Waiting to greet climbers at the summit of the Grépon is a 4-foot-tall statue of Our Lady of La Salette — the Virgin Mary. Photo: Ben Tibbetts.

Lance and Jordan share a moment of celebration at the Aiguille du Grépon summit. The team has been climbing since 3:00 a.m. After some time to reflect on what they’ve accomplished and what it means for two openly gay men to follow in the footsteps of Geoffrey Winthrop Young, who made the first ascent of the Mer de Glace route in 1911, it’s time to begin the most dangerous part of their climb: the descent. Photo: Ben Tibbetts.

The team alternates between abseiling — rappelling — down rock faces and traversing treacherous snow and ice as they descend the opposite side of the Grépon. Photo: Ben Tibbetts.

A couple of days after their 23-hour climbing day that took them up and over Aiguille du Grépon, the team goes for a walk at Stellisee, one of Zermatt, Switzerland’s most famous lakes. Here, Lance and Jordan look out at the mountain that brought them to Europe: The Matterhorn — the mountain they didn’t climb. Photo: Ben Tibbetts.

The 2024 Pathfinder Expedition team in a rare, full-group photo. After a couple days of recovery, the team celebrates one final time at Stellisee. From left to right: expedition leader Lance Garland, professional climber Jordan Cannon, mountain guide and photographer Ben Tibbetts, and high altitude physician Valentine Fabre. Photo: Ben Tibbetts.