The Tour Soleil is a brilliant and varied ski touring week, starting and finishing in Switzerland, but travelling into the Italian Formazza Valley - home to the Walser people. Reliable snow and good weather, combine with small friendly huts and non of the crowds of the better known areas. Most days it's not unusual to have a classic peak or great descent all to yourself. See - 2007 Trip Report.
NB Please note that this tour meets Sunday night and runs Mon - Sat (rather than the usual Sun - Fri for most tours) in order to give you time for a day or so of pre acclimatisation skiing.
Starting Point We start and finish in Brig, on the Swiss side of the region. Brig is easily reached by road, or by train direct from Geneva airport.
Sample Itinerary Subject to weather and snow conditions, the general plan for the week is as follows - See Photos, movie 1, movie 2, movie 3.
Day 0
Sun
PM, meet in Brig - discuss plans, sort food and kit, overnight in valley.
Day 1
Mon
Early train to Realp, from where we ascend the Witenwasseren Tal to the Rotondo hut.
Day 2
Tue
Traverse the Witenwasseren pass and Rotondo pass, before making the long descent to All' Acqua for lunch. PM skin up into Italy and down to the Maria Luisa Hut (hot showers).
Day 3
Wed
A steady ascent and final climb on foot takes us to the summit of the Grieshorn, before a great ski down for lunch in the valley below. PM ascend to Lago Sabbione and the Mores hut (hot showers).
Day 4
Thu
Skate across Lago Sabbione, before climbing the Offenhorn for a magnificent panorama and great descent (movie 1, movie 2) to the Margioli Hut (hot showers).
Day 5
Fri
Ascent of the classic Hohsandhorn, before a steep ski down and back to the friendly Mores Hut.
Day 6
Sat
Big climb to our final summit the Blinnenhorn, before a great descent down to Munster (movie 3).
Food and Accommodation We run all of our tours on a guiding & instruction only basis to allow you maximum flexibility with accommodation options. Our recommended hotel in Brig is the Hotel Europe *** which is just 80m from the railway station. You are however free to make other accommodation arrangements if you choose (Brig has various other hotels available). The guide will book all hut accommodation for the tour, which you simply pay for as we go along.
Travel Brig is easily reached by reliable Swiss public transport direct from Geneva airport - check out the Swiss Federal Railways website for timetables and information.
Fitness This is a long tour which includes 6-8 hour days and some big (1000m+) climbs. You can expect to be skinning for 3-5 hours a day (see fitness level 3).If you want to arrive a couple of days in advance to acclimatise, this is useful (From Brig, it is easy to ski at Blatten/Blealp, or Zermatt has high altitude glacier skiing at this time of year). We advise you to prepare well in advance with regular training and ideally some skiing.
Skiing AbilityYou need to be a good off piste skier (see ski ability level 3), with previous multiday ski tours already under your belt in order to join this tour.
Equipment We will supply you with a full kit list. You are responsible for bringing personal clothing, a rucsac and ski mountaineering skis, boots and kit (local hire is available). We are delighted to be working on this tour with Back Country UK, who provide excellent service and advice as a leading retailer of ski mountaineering equipment in the UK.
