2018 has seen very unsettled weather during the spring touring season this year in the Alps, with many tours being modified to avoid avalanche risk and keep our trips running safely. Non more so than the Haute Route Ski Tour – however, lots of fresh snow does bring other benefits: namely plenty of powder and excellent skiing…
This year I had the opportunity to revisit the Haute Route after a number of seasons guiding trips further afield – and it was a great reminder of just how brilliant the trip is, even for an old guide who’s been round the block a few times! After a warm up day in Chamonix, high avalanche risk dictated a transfer round to Switzerland, where we enjoyed day touring in some wild weather before heading into the Dix hut to pick up the Haute Route for the final 4 days.
At last the weather cleared, allowing us to traverse the Pigne D’Arolla and enjoy some excellent powder down to the Vignettes Hut. From here we added an extra hut in, traversing across to the Cabane de Bertol via more excellent skiing off the Col de L’Eveque and a long hot climb up to the hut, topped off with the final ascent of the ladders. This positioned us ideally for a final day ascent of the Tete Blanche, before the classic 2100m descent down to Zermatt, where beer and pizza awaited. All in all a great week with a super fun team – thanks everyone!
