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Oberland Aletschhorn Ski Tour

"A challenging tour for accomplished skiers and a rare chance to ski one of the Bernese Oberlands' finest summits. During the week we aim to take in various other great peaks in the range and finally ski the legendary descent down the south face of the Nesthorn. Both your fitness and all round mountain skills will be put to the test on this tour, so expect to see the rope out to reach our objectives."
  
6 days
Advanced
3:1
Dates: By Arrangement
Price: Private Guiding Rates
Ski Ability: 4-5
Fitness: 4
Experience: Previous multiday ski touring experience essential. Roped climbing or cramponing experience required. You must to be able to safely do kick turns when skinning on steep, hard frozen spring snow.
Included: Guiding Fees and Expenses.
Other Costs: Hut nights, food, travel and uplift during the tour ~ £450
 
Summary
This is a technical ski mountaineering week, involving the ascent of one or more 4000m peaks. Roped climbing is involved most days, together with steep ski descents. Two nights are spent at an unmanned hut and stable conditions are required to complete the tour.
We offer this itinerary as a private guiding special - with dates by arrangement from April to May. Prices are as per our private guiding rates, up to a maximum of 3 skiers per guide.
 
Starting Point
We start and finish in Brig on the southern edge of the Bernese Oberland. Brig is easily reached by road or by train direct from Geneva, Zurich or Basel airports.
 
Sample Itinerary
Subject to weather and snow conditions, the plan for the week is as follows:-
oberland aletschhorn ski tour itinerary
Day 0 - Sat PM, meet in Brig - discuss plans, sort food and kit, overnight in valley.
Day 1 - Sun
Early train round to Grindelwald and the Jungfraujoch, from where we climb Trugberg (3880m) to get a great descent down to the Konkordia hut.
Day 2 - Mon
Climb the or Grunegghorn or Gross Grunhorn and return to Konkordia.
Day 3 - Tue
Approach the Mittelaletsch bivouac hut via the Aletsch Glacier or the Dreieckhorn.
Day 4 - Wed
Ascent of the Aletschhorn (4193m), before returning to the Mittelaletsch bivouac hut.
Day 5 - Thur
A shorter day traversing the Geisslucke (3582m) to the Oberaletsch hut.
Day 6 - Fri
Climb the Lotschentaler Breithorn (3785m) before a huge 2000m descent to Mund and the bus back to Brig.
oberland aletschhorn ski tour
 
Food and Accommodation
We run all of our tours on a guiding & instruction only basis. 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 pay for direct 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. If you are arriving by train, then you can save a lot of money on this tour by purchasing a swiss travel pass (various options are available - click on the English version of the website).
 
Ability and Experience
You need to be a strong off piste skier in all conditions (see ski ability level 4-5), with previous multiday ski tours already under your belt in order to join this tour. It is a demanding week which includes 8-10 hour days and roped climbing, so you can expect to be skinning for 3-5 hours a day (see fitness level 4) and also need some snow/ice climbing experience too. Due to the nature of the terrain, your skinning skills also need to be up to scratch - ie you need to be able to safely perform uphill kick turns on 35dg slopes and also have some experience of skinning with harscheisen on in order to join this tour.
 
Acclimatisation
Due to the altitude of much of the route, arriving a couple of days in advance to acclimatise 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.
 
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 Backcountry UK, who provide excellent service and advice as a leading retailer of ski mountaineering equipment in the UK.
 
     
 
 
 
         
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