 Poster: A snowHead
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Earlier this month, 2 companions and I set out to attempt to ski the Haute Route (Chamonix to Zermatt) in 3 days. It is 70km as the crow flies over high mountainous terrain and normally takes 6 days, so it was a good challenge!
We had decided to stay hotels in Champex Lac and Arolla. Hotels were cheaper, chance to have a shower and free drinking water. Just means you have to climb a bit further out of the valleys every morning.
Day 1 started at the first lift at Les Grands Montets, over the Argentiere Glacier before 1000m vertical of uphill. The Col du Chardonnay, Fenêtre de Saleina and across past the Trient hut and down to the first night in the town of Champex. Stayed in a nice little hotel on the lake called The Club de Alpin. 69 CHF/p for bed, half board and we had our own room. Shop for food for the mountain the next day. Much bigger dinner and breakfast than most huts I've stayed in. Booked a cab in the morning to Verbier so we got there just as the first bin got going. Worth asking the other groups in the hotel if they have transport sorted to try and double up and save money in a 7 seater taxi. (150 CHF!!!)
Day 2 the weather was horrendous to start in Verbier but the gamble to for for it paid off, after a couple of cols the weather cleared leaving the reward for the day's 1800m of ascent with fresh tracks down and past Lac des Dix, up to the ladders at Pas de Chèvre and down to the town of Arolla via the pistes. The hotel (Hotel Glacier) in Arolla was fantastic. 69 CHF/p all in again. Huge breakfast. Four man room to ourselves with an en-suite.
Day 3 was a 2km hike in ski boots to the point where you could put skis on, then 1300m of uphill in one go to the Bertol hut, no stopping for a coffee though there was a tour over the glacier and another 600m of uphill before finally the Matterhorn was in sight and just the descent to Zermatt remained. Unfortunately we missed the last train back to Chamonix by ten mins (left at 1608hrs!!). Therefore we managed to get a train as far as the swiss boarder just past Vallorcine and a friend came to pick us up.
By taking that itinerary mid week we seemed to avoid lots of groups except for the obvious choke points on route. A fantastic trip in the most stunning of scenery, well worth it!
Link below to a video one of the guys put together of all the photos of the trip. He was doing a season with Ski Weekend hence their FB page. I've got nothing to do with SW i hasten to add.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152426462304341&set=vb.144719639340&type=2&theater
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Buddy1664, interesting stuff. any issues with the relatively late starts you were (presumably) having? it sounds like a great way to do it early season before the huts open, assuming you are quick enough to get off the mountain before it gets dark!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Arno, Not really. First bin from Grands Montets. We got to the hotel at Champex at 1700. Plenty of time to sort out kit and shower before dinner. The following day we got the first lift in Verbier, we were skinning by 0930. You could ski the backside of Mont Fort to save a lot of time on the second day. Due to bad vis and the fact none of us had skied it before we decided against it. This bypasses the first col but its only 400-500m if I recall correctly, so no big deal. 3rd day out of Arolla we had started by 0830 and down in Zermatt by 1600. 8ish hour days.
We didn't stop for lunch etc. All eating and drinking was done on the move or at transitions as best as possible. We had to wait for Scott at every col because he had just got off a plane from the UK so he wasn't acclimatised at all. With a strong, acclimatised group i'm sure you could do the same in midwinter and get down well before last light. It doesn't really allow you a lot of fudge factor though.
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Just to add - I'm sure for a lot of people doing the haute route, staying in the alpine huts is half the attraction. I don't blame them, some are very well run, beautiful old buildings and in idlic locations but if you do a 5-7 day route its very expensive. If you're going with a guide then you've also got his fees and his hut costs to consider. You wouldn't get much change out of £1500 if not more dependant on group size!! We did it for under £200 each.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Buddy1664 Great report! Fair dos re. costings - but the factors for Mrs MA and I that lead us to book a guide for our Alps ski touring are route finding in poor weather & avalanche & crevasse danger. We're keen but just not competent enough to go it alone - though we saved a packet this year (vs the cost of a group trip with a UK company) by organising our own guide and a group of five via an appeal on Snowheads.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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mountainaddict, Sure, if in doubt get a guide. There seem to be a lot of unguided groups that don't really have much experience. I'm definitely no mountain jedi but there seemed to be a lot of teams just following tracks and then asking other people for conformation at certain points. A good example of this…..The day before we set off I took Scott up the Aiguille d'Argentiere for some equipment testing and acclimatisation. About half way on the ski down at around 2pm we were waved down by a team of Spaniards. In their broken english they explained that they were doing the Haute Route and were wanting to know if there was a a lot of people waiting for the rappel at the top of the Col (meaning the Col du Chardonnet). I asked them if they had a map and they did not, only a GPS (very large old Magellan that I'd used in the military about 15 yrs ago!!). The lead guy was navigating constantly from it attached to his shoulder strap. I showed them on my map that they were heading for the wrong Col and suggested that they descend and return to the Argentiere hut and start again tomorrow morning. This was on a bluebird day and in a glacial basin where all the features are pretty distinct!!! 
On a different note, our itinerary left no room for bagging peaks on the way or chasing a better conditions on other aspects, which I think you'd get with a strong group staying high in huts.
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Tue 22-07-14 8:02; edited 1 time in total
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Buddy1664, my experience of the HR huts was that they are the most crowded and consequently least comfortable that I have stayed in - so your way of doing things or doing it out of season in winter rooms really appeals
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I asked them if they had a map and they did not, only a GPS
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When you read stories like that it's a wonder more people don't die on those mountains.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Buddy1664, Great report. It's given me some ideas for next year... 
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Yeah kudos
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Chamcham, 8611, Cheers
Arno,
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my experience of the HR huts was that they are the most crowded and consequently least comfortable that I have stayed in - so your way of doing things or doing it out of season in winter rooms really appeals
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Absolutely agree. I've had the most fun staying in winter rooms and unmanned bivis this season. Sure, you have to carry a bit more, food, fuel etc. but it really feels like more of an adventure. That being said it was very nice staying in hotels on the haute route.
There have been some fairly lengthy high pressures this season in Jan and early Mar. The stable two weeks in the first half of March would have been ideal. You also finish all the days on a piste, skiing into resorts. Therefore not too much a drama if its getting dark and you have to get a head torch out.
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