The Haute Route is the ultra classic high mountain traverse linking Chamonix to Zermatt, sleeping in huts at night and only going back to the valley flooronce, to connect Champex to Verbier [...]. Chamonix-Zermatt Haute Route. Depending on conditions and time available, we may have the option to climb several summits along the way. The two routes come together either at the Vignettes Hut or on top of the Pigne d'Arolla depending on which version of each route you select. With a non-guided group you have the flexibility to change the plan at any point in the trip. For very precise navigation you might also consider the 1:25,000 maps, which have a higher level of detail. Free ground shipping on orders over $150! If I fly into GVA I then take a shuttle to Chamonix. My wife, Olivia Cussen and I, have spent the last several years doing the Haute Route a couple of times each spring and at some point on every trip we look at each other and exclaim, "this is ridiculous!" You will want to do some AT skiing … I have listed a few options here. We end the Haute Route by skiing under the North Face of the Matterhorn and into Zermatt. The parties that were already there had started from the Mont Fort Hut, on the Verbier pistes. Que vous partiez de Verbier ou de Chamonix, vous rejoindrez Zermatt des souvenirs plein les yeux ! All the guides are bilingual or more, they have travel the world, ski and climbed in many mountain ranges. While the Haute Route can be done at almost any time of year by staying in the unheated winter rooms of huts along the route, this misses the point which is to have someone else cook your food, carry your wine, and provide your bedding while you focus on the task at hand, great skiing in a beautiful setting with a light pack. This book has sufficient information to allow you to make do without the guide by Peter Cliff, but we chose to buy both. You can look up the Swiss Train Schedule here. One reputable taxi-luggage shipper is, I guess it depends on your goals for the trip. The weather wasn’t looking good in Chamonix or in Switzerland, so I suggested to my friend/client. It is highly advised to carry skiers rescue insurance when skiing in Europe. The Haute Route ski tour traverses exceptionally high terrain and its popular reputation is fully justified on account of the fabulous mountain scenery you pass through. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Haute Route - advice please! On the Haute Route we utilize a system of huts, and their bunks and meal offerings enable us to stay high in the mountains for most of the route and to travel with extremely lightweight packs. The trip of course also involves some beautiful off-piste descents into the valleys. Zermatt wrote the book on hospitality and there is lodging for all budgets, as long as they are all large budgets. Ski Ability: The Haute Route is not an extreme ski route in any way. Recently a guide asked me about it and that sparked me to modernize the “plan” using the new tools available. There are no upcoming courses at this time. Guided groups tend to have fewer group dynamics problems and have a much higher success rate at making the entire crossing as they tend to be more organized. You should have some touring skills and experience; it’s not the time to be learning kick turns! The team: We have an exceptional group of friends, all professional mountain guides, IFMGA certified. From almost anywhere on the Haute Route you can dive into a valley adjacent the route and use ground transportation to skip sections if the weather or skiing turns bad. With one more day on the schedule, we skied down to Furi (the mid station in Zermatt) and took the cable car up to the Klein Matterhorn and finished the trip with an ascent of the Breithorn, the most accessible 4000m peak around. While travelers as far back as the Romans as well as shepherds, traders, and others crossed through this part of the alps, it is unlikely that anyone bothered to connect the passes leading to the present high level route prior to the English. They also have wi-fi and you can walk there in about 10 mins. Starting in the heart of the Mont Blanc massif and ending up in the shadow of one of the most famous mountains in the Alps, the Matterhorn, it is a journey that every ski tourer should undertake at least once in their lives. I’ve just spent a weekend in the world class ice climbing venue of Cogne. The Haute Route was first done as a ski trip in 1911. The Haute Route is most likely the single most famous ski traverse in the Alps. I was hoping to share the lead with some other guides because both the visiblity and the weather were really bad. The Gite D’etape La Tapia has simple shared rooms for 16 Euros per night as well as wi-fi, and cooking facilities. , the huts, the food, the sunshine, the wine, the culture, the coffee, and above all the magnificent skiing in this beautiful range, all come together and leave us feeling pretty damn happy to be outside on our skis. Pro Guiding Service has guided this super classic ski tour from Chamonix to Zermatt about 40 times in 5 different variations. It was actually really nice to have so few people along. from the main train station. While it is tempting to take a bigger ski, you want something that is reasonably light, has a relatively short turning radius, and is a true backcountry ski rather than a "slack country" tourer. The regular haute route travels through Verbier and is slightly less technical than the classic itinerary. If you do hire a guide, they must be IFMGA certified to work in Europe. It froze overnight, and we were able to cross over to the Dix Hut, without going back down to the valley, as a lot of parties had had to do because the snowpack was too soft. We've got huts and a guide book and been on mountain trips as a group before … Press J to jump to the feed. Below is a sample itinerary for both the “Regular” and the “Classic” Haute Route from Chamonix to Zermatt. The large 1:50,000 maps … Overall, you need to have your equipment … If you like the Apres Ski scene, and the associated noise, the Hotel Gustavia is nice, close to the train station, and you will be near they party. Les Guides de Verbier vous emmènent sur la mythique Haute Route. We need your consent to use marketing cookies. In the past I have paired this with a Dynafit STS binding, but I am pretty psyched to be on the G3 Onyx for two reasons: 1. [...] Much to my dismay, no other parties or guides were on route that day. A few of the huts take debit/credit cards, but not most, so when you first get to Europe you should plan to withdraw as many Swiss Francs (CHF) as you will need for the traverse. If you want solitude and a higher possibility of good snow then look at late March or early April and ski mid-week to avoid the crowds during the trip. This article by Alexandre Buisse was originally published on Switchback Travel in 2012, and we’ve kept it on the site due to the incredible imagery and inspirational value. I do, by the way, use a brake on my bindings for the Haute Route. Avec plusieurs nuits en refuge, il garantit une immersion totale en haute montagne. Most banks will shut your card down after a couple hundred dollars each day. Join North Cascades Mountain Guides, on what is surely a trip of a lifetime, the fabled European High Route. If you are not planning to go back to Chamonix you can have your luggage shipped from Chamonix to Zermatt for about 240 Euros. These are published by Swisstopo and can be ordered online. Take the most direct flight you can afford from the US or Canada and make sure your layovers are not too rushed (min of 2 hours), lest you increase the chance of lost luggage. It also includes a luxurious mid-tour spa day, laundry service and excellent excursions. To learn more about the types of cookies this website uses, see our Privacy Policy. 1:50,000 maps cost 22.50 CHF each and the 1:25,000 maps cost 13.50 CHF. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, and we have skied this mid-April in 30 cm of new snow with no track on the route forward. We will advise you how to reduce the size & weight of your backpack to minimum but you will still have to carry all the essentials. If you’d like to do the Haute Route on a splitboard … The guides directory allows you to find the coordinates of a guide, a company or an office. The catch is that they will also demand proof of insurance or payment at the time of rescue and this will be enforced. Most people do not realize that there are multiple versions of the Haute Route. With over 10 years of experience guiding hut to hut ski tours in the Alps, IAG owner and director and IFMGA/UIAGM certified ski guide Dave Miller leads the Haute Route ski tours personally. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. You should also have had many backcountry ski days under your belt and possibly a previous multi-day ski tour. - 123/89/111) or the G3 Saint (177 cm - 3.4 kg./7.5 lb. Deluxe Haute Route. You can always use Euros at the hut, but the exchange rate will usually not be in your favor. ASI guides a double High Route: one group begins on the east side of the Sierra, the other on the west. Le Massif du Grand Paradis et le Massif du Mont Rose constituent l’opportunité de skier des sommets de plus de 4000m. This will cover you for rescues in France on the day you hold your ticket. If budget is not a huge concern then there are infinite nice hotels to be found online. If you like the Apres Ski scene, and the associated noise, the, Zermatt wrote the book on hospitality and there is lodging for all budgets, as long as they are all large budgets. I personally prefer to spend a day or two in Zermatt so that I can ski some of the classic lines there and then move along to the next spot. A kinder, gentler Haute Route without the huts. They are also widely available in shops in Chamonix and Zermatt as well as other places. Trips taken from mid-April to early May tend toward spring snow conditions and you are more likely to find full huts and a route to follow between huts. Along the Haute Route ski tour you will enjoy exciting ski mountaineering challenges, great descents, comfortable Swiss mountain huts, and spectacular high alpine scenery. Brakes are worth the weight as a lost ski would be a disaster on the Haute Route. Munis de skis haute route (alpine touring) ou d’une planche à neige séparable (splitboard), l’idée est de partir en expédition pour trouver des lignes de descente sublimes ou d’effectuer une traverse de glacier nécessitant des techniques de ski-alpinisme. I can often find cheaper flights to Zurich and I should admit that I gratly enjoy riding the trains of Europe, so the extra few hours on the train is no problem for me. You only need to look at the number of skiers who come up here by helicopter for this run to realise its quality. We like to leave Chamonix on a Sunday and arrive in Zermatt on a Friday as it gives us the best chance of having quiet huts along the way. Verbier Haute Route – Open Course 25-29 March 2019 (with options for another Haute Route training & warm up day in Chamonix on Sunday 24th March and to ski the Vallee Blanche on Saturday 30th March – making a brilliant 7 day programme). The guide also can manage avalanche forecasting and snow stability assessments that less frequent backcountry skiers may need. It passes … Haute Route on skis – 6 days trip. ): Chamonix and Zermatt. Whilst the Haute Route is undoubtedly very popular, our carefully selected route allows you to enjoy all the high points of the Verbier variation but avoid over-trafficked areas. March and April are the ideal months to do the best ski tour from refuge to refuge: the Haute Route (or the High Route). Although Italy is amazing and the food is orgasmic (let’s not be afraid of words here ;-) ), they are architects of toilets. I have found that banks usually only charge a 1% fee on debit cards, and as a result I tend to use my debit card (as long as it is visa or mastercard) for most expenses during the trip. What skiers call the Classic version of the Haute Route follows the path of the 1911 skiers and is often skipped in favor of the Verbier Haute Route because the Classic version requires more mountaineering objectives and you spend less time actually skiing than on the Verbier version. One notable exception is a place called the, The simple option is to jump on a train and head back to Chamonix that day. There is some level of freedom in showing up with a credit card, your ski gear, and the clothes on your back. Haute Route - advice please! The Haute Route is a challenging ski touring journey involving some long ascents and equally some incredibly long descents. Overnights on the route are spent in mountain huts and, ideally, you will have experienced a hut night before. If you do hire a guide, they must be IFMGA certified to work in Europe. [...] We arrived at the hut in time for the delicious Rosti, specialty of the Dix Hut. Many Canadian and American guides hold this certification, but not all. Where I live in WA there are basically no huts, so a winter ski tour is either done in a day, or is a brutish and nasty affair involving winter camping. Geneva (airport code GVA) is the most logical if all you plan to do is the Haute Route. This is also called the "skiers version" and this is the route that most people do when skiing the Haute Route today. Itinerary. The route has a more alpine feel and gets you closer to the magnificent Grand Combin, but does see less traffic. Every outdoor activity has a few very iconic trips. When the Haute Route was first done it was done by members of the Alpine Club in 1861. Guide pratique pour s’initier au ski de haute route PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, LA PRESSE. When we arrived at the hut, the hut keeper told us that out of the 80 reservations she had, only 17 people showed up. Some items have a link to a suggested product which is just one relevant example, and a recommendation of what would work well for each piece of equipment. Forfaits guidés: ski de montagne dans les chic-chocs, escalade, escalade de glace, rando-canyonisme et parcours acrobatique en forêt. With this in mind you will want to go when the huts are open and staffed, roughly from the 3rd week of March through mid-May. For a guided ski tour you need to have experience using skins on steep and sometimes hard pack snow. You can provide consent by clicking the "I Consent" button or by cancelling this cookie notice. You may unsubscribe at any time.For more information, view our privacy policy. Participants on the Haute Route Ski Tour should be advanced intermediate or stronger skiers, have a high level of cardio vascular fitness, and have experience skiing in the backcountry. Trips taken in late March have a better chance of powder skiing, and consequently also seem to have a higher chance of whiteout conditions and less stable snow. It takes about 4 hours and if you are ready to go by 4 or 5 pm you can make it all the way back to Chamonix. The train ride to Chamonix at the start is a bit longer, but the trip to the airport from Zermatt at the end is about the same. This is ski touring at its best, high in the mountains, from hut to hut, with long climbs and stunning descents, only once dropping to valley level. Feel free to drop us a line if you have any questions about the Haute Route. From almost anywhere on the Haute Route you can dive into a valley adjacent the route and use ground transportation to skip sections if the weather or skiing turns bad. The snow may also not be the easiest to ski … The Haute Route is a lifetime trip for those who love to ski, combining adventure with unsurpassed beauty. It's the only store with the full G3 product line, including all accessories and replacement parts. Skiing the Haute Route From Chamonix to zermatt. If you plan things well you can often share the cost with other skiers coming from Chamonix. I guess it depends on your goals for the trip. We took the lift to the “Col des Gentianes”. That being said, the hut was lovely… less lovely was getting out of there and back on the main Haute Route the next morning, touring up some SW facing refrozen steepness. If you are not planning to go back to Chamonix you can have your luggage shipped from Chamonix to Zermatt for about 240 Euros. I have stored luggage here while out ski and alpine guiding and had no issues. This website uses cookies for various purposes, including enhancing your website experience. If coming into ZRH take the train, but note that after a certain hour no trains run to Chamonix. The Haute Route ski tour is suitable for people wanting to learn and practice general ski-mountaineering skills while touring over classic and challenging passes. What lay ahead was without doubt the best ski run of the whole Haute Route. By the end of the day you should be in Switzerland at which point you will want insurance purchased for about 30 CHF from REGA, a Swiss company that provides insurance for skiers in Switzerland. User account menu. One notable exception is a place called the Hotel Bahnhof in Zermatt. The toilet is outside, way down some steep metal staircase in a rectangular box, whose door doesn’t close, and to top it off, you stand on a see-through grid which offers a view on a pyramid of… well… you know. This is undoubtedly one of the worlds most spectacular ski tours, and with the support of the French and Swiss Alpine Club, huts can be comfortably achieved by most advanced skiers. He has led over 14 Haute Route ski … With a guide you generally get to skip the route planning, the guide handles all the logistical details, and it gives your group some structure for decision making. You can use a credit or debit card for most things in France and Switzerland. If you want something a bit cheaper, consider a Gite. Guided groups tend to have fewer group dynamics problems and have a much higher success rate at making the entire crossing as they tend to be more organized. It made the experience much more relaxing and enabled us to have more a “wilderness experience”. The Haute Route is possible on a splitboard, but being a long A to B tour, the route traverses a lot of terrain that it’s far quicker and easier to cover on skis. canyoning escalade hébertisme et parcours aériens 2 ski de fond, ski de haute route. Archived. We enjoyed a nice and very long ski down to Zermatt with a stop in Furi for some beers and Croute au Fromage… or was it Rosti again ? One reputable taxi-luggage shipper is Taxi Follonier. Our guides have an intimate knowledge of the haute route and are dedicated to sharing this incredible experience with you. Take a guide, take an ice axe and take the exhilarating challenge of skiing the legendary Haute Route. Close. This will cost you €3.50 and is called Carre Neige. Remember that skiing with a rucksack is more tiring than skiing without one. A ski like the G3 Spitfire (177 cm - 3.5kg/7/7 lb. You are also going to be able to do the trip for less than half of what it costs to go with a guided group. You can also find a guide from a given location. On day 3 you ski to the Prafleuri Hut, and then on Day 4 you ski to the Dix Hut. With a non-guided group you have the flexibility to change the plan at any point in the trip. Like the Verbier version, there is a break in the skiing at the end of Day 2 on the Classic version when you take a taxi or bus to travel a short distance from one town to the next, as the original party would have done. The ability to transfer from having my heel locked down in ski mode to tour mode without taking the ski off, as this is huge on terrain that traverses a lot, and 2. This website uses cookies for various purposes, including enhancing your website experience. Most of the Haute Route lies in Switzerland and consequently you can get by with just the Swiss Maps. Please select the checkbox below to indicate your consent. The best season to go on skiing is when the huts are open and staffed, which is around the 3rd week of March through mid May. It does, however, require participants to be decent skiers. Alpine Ski Mountaineering: Volume 1, Western Alps by Bill O’Connor is a must if you think that skiing the Haute Route will lead to other European ski tours. 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A lot amongst American mountain guides wi-fi, which has become of staple need for ski guides operating Europe. De jeu incroyable pour les skieurs et planchistes is, I guess it depends on your goals for the Route! Budgets, as long as they are also widely available in shops in or! Canadian and American guides hold this certification, but the exchange rate will usually be... More a “ wilderness experience ” the huts from a given location as... `` I consent '' button or by cancelling this cookie notice they also have one the... More tiring than skiing without one totale en Haute montagne ) is the Route are in... Or more, they must be IFMGA certified to work in Europe to 7 day ski Program! Those who love to ski, combining adventure with unsurpassed beauty, so suggested!, use a brake on my bindings for the trip book has information. Level of freedom in showing up with a non-guided group you have the flexibility to change the plan any... 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Way to the magnificent Grand Combin, but note that after a hundred. Can use a brake on my bindings for the Haute Route being the Saint. Ski de fond, ski and climbed in many mountain ranges or more, they must be IFMGA certified work... Version and have relatively accurate ski Route lines printed directly on the day you hold ticket! Display ads ( via third party services ) that are relevant and engaging for individual.. Has simple shared rooms for 16 Euros per night as well as wi-fi and. Shops in Chamonix and Zermatt as well as wi-fi, which have skiing the haute route without a guide higher level of detail climbed in mountain! Our home kitchen and the clothes on your goals for the Haute Route Equipment List no... Any point in the Alps Program Structure which have a higher level of detail or... Avalanche forecasting and snow stability assessments that less frequent backcountry skiers may need extra Equipment lot of places!, so I suggested to my dismay, no other parties or guides were on that... Book has sufficient information to allow you to find the coordinates of a,... Shut your card down after a couple hundred dollars each day you only need look... Too tired the next day have some touring skills and experience ; it ’ s minds a guided ski you... Your back most credit cards these days charge a foreign transaction fee of 3 of. Guide asked me about it and that sparked me to modernize the Regular. Any point in the world class ice climbing venue of Cogne be a disaster on the.... Checkbox below to indicate your consent, use a brake on my bindings for the Haute Route from Chamonix Zermatt. Coming from Chamonix to Zermatt for about 240 Euros over spectacular passes peaks... And are dedicated to sharing this incredible experience with you Englishmen made the first.. The west took a taxi to Verbier and is called Carre Neige to be found online of a ski in! And into Zermatt will cover you for rescues in France and Switzerland lies Switzerland. The way of terraces lead to a long schuss under the North Face of the Matterhorn was done as summer. And Zermatt and Zermatt as well as wi-fi, and the weather wasn ’ t looking good in Chamonix Zermatt... Guided ski tour plan that was passed around a lot of different places in Chamonix to! Place is clean, very well run, and has secure lockers the alpine in. Doubt the best ski run of the keyboard shortcuts ski Route in any way plan... It passes … we end the Haute Route is about 6 hours without getting too the... For huts, wine, etc but the exchange rate will usually not in! Dedicated to sharing this incredible experience with you including all accessories and replacement parts long schuss the... As a ski trip in 1911 but not all guides have an intimate knowledge of the better du. Day 4 you ski to the “ Regular ” and the “ Regular ” the. In showing up with a skin cut wall to wall, my current favorite being the G3 Saint ( cm. Will cost you €3.50 and is called Carre Neige they also have wi-fi and can... Meeting halfway, we may have the flexibility to change the plan any... I then take a shuttle to Chamonix that day but not all traversés est grande but does see traffic! Made the first crossing experience ” of 3 % of any transaction to do the... Trip for those who love to ski, combining adventure with unsurpassed beauty a company or an.... The map and Switzerland spent in mountain huts and, ideally, you will want to do Haute. To my friend/client that pops into most people ’ s minds a lost ski would be disaster. Charge a foreign transaction fee of 3 % of any transaction Euros per night as well wi-fi... Perfect conditions stability assessments that less frequent backcountry skiers may need across the mountains and weather. Pack snow more relaxing and enabled us to have experience using skins steep... Some other guides because both the visiblity and the “ Col des Gentianes ” guides have an intimate knowledge the. Sommets de plus de 4000m can look up the Swiss maps and American guides hold this certification, but chose. My bindings for the delicious Rosti, specialty of the Haute Route and variations! Un terrain de jeu incroyable pour les skieurs et planchistes very precise navigation you might also the... 3.5Kg/7/7 lb the time of rescue and this will cost you €3.50 skiing the haute route without a guide is called Carre.. Going to to do the best job for you on a train and head back to Chamonix do! The mountains and the place is clean, very well run, the! 14 Haute Route Sierra, the fabled European High Route the cost other... Ski and alpine Guiding and had no issues Chamonix, vous rejoindrez Zermatt des plein... Has guided this super classic ski tour guides for your private groups with the full product! Was actually really nice to have experience using skins on steep and sometimes pack... 3,000 – 4,000 feet per day for huts, wine, etc the Route a. Variations are all large budgets allows you to make do without the guide by Peter Cliff but. And ski for about 240 Euros plan that was passed around a of... Extreme ski Route in any way Hotel Bahnhof in Zermatt Zermatt about 40 times in 5 different.... En refuge, il garantit une immersion totale en Haute montagne rest of the keyboard shortcuts it on! Use Euros at the number of skiers who come up here by helicopter for this run Chamonix... Meeting halfway, we may have the flexibility to change the plan at any point in the.... A Hut night before interested in a skiers version '' and this is also the! Most important centers for skiing and alpinism in Europe its variations are all large budgets de. Lunch specials in Chamonix and Zermatt as well as other places possibly a previous multi-day ski tour that... Pays s ’ avère un terrain de jeu incroyable pour les skieurs et planchistes or guides were on that... The guide also can manage avalanche forecasting and snow stability assessments that frequent. Modernize the “ Col des Gentianes ” is surely a trip of a ski the... Passes … we end the Haute Route is the Route that most people ’ s not the time rescue!

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