Haute Route Skitour question

A snowHead

To anybody in the know …...
A friend wants to do the Haute Route early March this year. Is this a good year to do it?
Based on current conditions is the snow base deep enough, has the wind blasted it, temperature affected it etc?
Have the conditions during other years generally been better?

A snowHead

https://www.alpine-guides.com/ski/insider-knowledge-ski/haute-route-advice/

Best time to ski the Haute Route

The Haute Route Season runs from mid-March to the end of April – this is when the glacier and snow conditions are generally best for the route and therefore when the mountain huts are open, along with all the uplift and other infrastructure supporting the route.

We are often asked when in the season it’s best to go, so it’s important to understand that the biggest single factor affecting conditions along the Haute Route is the kind of weather you get on the week. This determines everything – and unfortunately there is no reliable seasonal pattern to the weather you get in the Alps at this time of year! It can be equally stable or unsettled throughout the season, with heavy snowfalls occurring at any time, along with the associated avalanche risk, which is the main reason itineraries sometimes have to be modified or changed.

In terms of the skiing conditions – March has colder temperatures and shorter days, so there is more chance of a colder snowpack and skiing on powder. As the days get longer and average temperatures increase through April, the snowpack becomes more transformed, with a greater chance of skiing on spring snow. At the end of the season, the snowpack becomes thinner in the mid-mountain, so there is more chance of having to walk the occasional lower section carrying skis. This is all based on averages of course and each year is different!

In terms of avalanche conditions – windslab risk is more frequent at the start of the season, with a spring snowpack developing as the season progresses (in good weather, this creates stable conditions in the mornings and a daily increasing risk on sun affected slopes). As mentioned however, the weather and temperatures each week create the current avalanche situation – so a storm, wind, or change of temperature at any time during the season can increase avalanche risk along sections of the route.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

In short early March is a bit early and "the biggest single factor affecting conditions along the Haute Route is the kind of weather you get on the week"

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@Layne,

Thanks

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@Layne, so have you done it in March, &/or used Alpine Guides (given your other thread)?

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Will the huts be fully open in early March?

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

After all it is free

As above, March is very early. April is prime touring season. By May lifts shut so you need to tour up from the valley. Leave it late and check forecast if possible. No good in low viz/if there’s a storm.

He‘s looking at early April now.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

@DB,
The Haute Route is probably the most sought after ski tour in the Alps. One limiting factor therefore is hut capacity. Guides and operators will book the huts early so, depending on whatever dates are chosen, there could be challenges.

Will the friend (I'm just asking for a friend?) use a guide or go independently with mates? If the idea is to use a guide or company, many of their popular dates will already be fully booked. Around Easter will be the busiest.

I've long nurtured a wish to try the Haute Route but the uncertainty of the whole enterprise, the logistics and the likely crowds put me off.

BTW, as I'm sure your friend knows, there are several different versions of the Route, not just one....

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

IMO the best day is the last one. One option is to get the train to Sion, bus from Sion to Arolla, tour up to the Cabane des Vignettes and then the next day continue to Zermatt and get train back to Sion. Can be done in a weekend and you only need to get a space in the Vignettes hut

snow reports

It’s been a while, but the huts can be easier to book if you don’t start at a weekend with lots of other teams.

You can book the huts directly and cancel a couple of days before if weather is rubbish
http://www.cabanedesvignettes.ch/

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@Skevinski,
I really am asking for a friend - he wants me to go too but like you I think it's a bit of a tourist ski tour trail.
He would take a guide (who would pick the exact route) then start midweek to avoid the crowds and secure places in the huts.
In terms of difficulty this would be a step down from last year too (various 4000ers with blue ice) and I'm not keen on flying to do a ski tour either. Would much prefer to stay here in Austria and do the Silvrettas again but the huts are booked out there too.

A snowHead

There were some big groups going up in Arolla today, almost 30 skinning up close together with largish backpacks. Late in the morning too so not the usual early morning 2s and 4s going for powder.

In fact everyone was going off piste (which wasn't that great) leaving me to lap an empty piste 4 times before company.

A snowHead

I'll pick this one up with a couple of questions:

1. Where best to leave a car around Argentière?

2. When to book huts?

3. Seems to be free parking in Champex-Lac. Can anyone confirm?

4. I might be tempted to skip Cab. du Trient and sleep down the valley (or even Cab. Mt. Fort). At what time do I want to have crossed the Col des Escandies in spring conditions?

5. Where do I start in Verbier direction Prafleuri? Gentianes or Fontanets? Is Gentianes even quicker?

Thanks very much for filling me in!

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Curved ball coming in! Consider West oberland Haute Route. Alternatively Haute Route de Soleil.
Terrific tours, hut to hut and much quieter than the main gig.

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@geoffers, that’s a nice variant but I think is much less often in condition (it’s got some pretty risky slopes above several sections)

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Haute Route Skitour question

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