After 10 years of ski touring in the Alps I thought it was time to have a go at the Haute Route, the classic hut to hut tour of the Alps, from Chamonix to Zermatt, staying in huts perched on the rocky crests at the edges of glaciers. Ed and I signed up to do it with Glenmore lodge, saving us the travel logistics and hut bookings and hoping to pick up some good tips from the guide, Andy Townsend. We set off from Chamonix on the first week of April 2017. The trip was a great success for us but it does have a high attrition rate and we saw many people drop out along the way due to lack of fitness. We lost one team mate to a sprained cruciate ligament and another to a painful back.

 

I will explain our itinerary and include photos so you can get a flavour for this wonderful route. I had been put off for years by people telling me it is too crowded. The huts are crowded and you definitely need to pre-book well in advance but they are so well organised that meals and morning departures run smoothly. You have to get used to seeing snakes of skiers in front and behind you but you can get some solitude sometimes.

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We descended from the route to get a bus/taxi twice (but the descent to Arolla was due to hut booking problems).

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Completing the route and then a few weeks later touring in the Tasch/Zermatt (Spaghetti tour) area, convinced me I had to do the Patrouilles des Glaciers ski race the next year (2018) and I indeed got on a team with 2 friends and had a great spring training season training for it, until one team mate broke his ankle a couple of weeks before so it will be for another year! It is a stunning area!