The Western Oberland Traverse is a classic ski mountaineering week, with great summits and superb descents each day. Starting from Les Diablerets, we take in some of the finest ski peaks in the region, culminating in the famous 1600m descent down to Kandersteg at the end of the tour.

Trip Info

This is a classic traverse style hut tour, involving sections of ski mountaineering, glacier skiing and spectacular scenery each day. It is an intricate and at times exposed route, requiring very solid ski mountaineering skills and a good margin of fitness and ski ability. During the tour, we climb some great summits which offer both fine viewpoints and long, varied descents.   Due to the uplift available at the start, there is more down than up on this tour. Good conditions are required for a safe and enjoyable crossing, especially so on the Arpelistock – a key section near the start of the route.

Suitability

This is an advanced level trip. To take part you should be at Fitness Level 3/4 and Tech Level 4 (see our Fitness/Experience guidelines).  You need previous multi day hut touring experience, and also some mountaineering experience/be comfortable using an ice axe and crampons in order to join this tour.  For reference, Ski Club of GB High Purple/Gold off piste ski standard is required for this trip.  As this is a multi day tour, if you haven’t skied with us before, then we may ask for a reference to confirm your experience/ski ability for the trip. Typically there will be 800-1300m of climb a day, so you can expect to be skinning for 3-4 hours a day. Type of ascent: we use 20% uplift and 80% skinning – approx 5000m skinning up, and 6200m skiing down, plus off piste skiing on day 1.

Guiding ratio

One IFMGA guide skiing with 6 clients, or occasionally 2:7, with one Aspirant guide joining the team too.

Included in price

• 6 days of guiding
• All guides expenses
• 2 nights hotel accommodation in Martigny, including breakfast
• 1 night hotel accommodation in Les Diablerets village, including breakfast and evening meal
• 4 nights accommodation in a mountain hut, including breakfast and evening meals

Excluded from price

• Uplift
• Travel to and from start/end point of tour
• Lunches and evening meals in Martigny
• Flights and transfers
• Insurance
• Equipment hire

Hotels

We will stay in a comfortable hotel close to the station in Martigny, within easy access of local restaurants and transport links. Rooms are provided on a twin sharing basis, but if you wish to book a single room please let us know and we will confirm availability. Evening meals can be taken at a selection of restaurants in Martigny. Hotel details can be found on our Accommodation page.

Huts

For overnights in the high mountains we will use mountain huts. The huts in this region of the Alps are small, quiet and very friendly, with excellent food. For more info please read the Using Alpine Huts article which provides an overview of typical hut facilities, average costs to help you budget for lunches/drinks, and general info on hut etiquette.  Also, our Ski Touring FAQs page answers some of the most common questions we are asked about multi day ski touring and logistics etc.

ABTOT Protected

This trip is protected by ABTOT – Alpine Guides Ltd, Membership Number 5394.  For further information, please visit our Financial Protection page.

Subject to weather and snow conditions, the plan for the week is as follows. Please note that this is a sample itinerary only – for safety reasons we regularly vary the final itinerary, taking into account the current snow, weather and avalanche conditions. This is an essential part of safety planning for all backcountry skiing, so please be ready for variations as part of your trip.

Saturday

You should arrange outward travel to arrive at your accommodation on Saturday Evening.

Evening Briefing. Your guide will run through kit checks and safety routines, as well as hand out any rental equipment, before going on to discuss the current weather and mountain conditions and how these affect our plans.

Sunday

Warm Up Day at Les Diablerets 3000 Resort.

The trip starts with a rail and bus journey up to Col du Pillon and Les Diablerets 3000 ski station.

Here we enjoy some warm up runs, off piste skiing and skills refreshment, before skinning up to the summit of Les Diablerets (3216m) and then back to the ski area, before heading back to the valley for the night.

Overnight in Diablerets.

Monday

Diablerets – Arpelistock – Gelten Hut.

The day starts with an early lift, a skin away from the resort and a gentle descent to Col Senin, before climbing on foot up the magnificent Arete D’Arpille, to the summit of the Arpelistock (3036m).

Then it’s time to enjoy a superb 1000m north facing descent down to the Gelten Hut, which sits in a gorgeous location and has hot showers available.

Overnight in the Gelten hut.

Tuesday

Gelten Hut – Wildhorn – Wildhorn Hut.  

The biggest day of the tour, climbing the Wildhorn (3250m) is a long and serious route, passing through some amazing scenery.

From the summit we cross 2 glaciers on another long, nearly 1000m, north facing run down to the Wildhorn Hut.

Overnight in the Wildhorn hut.

Wednesday

Wildhorn Hut – Schniderhorn – Wildstrubel Hut.

A shorter day, but still one with plenty of interest. Directly overlooking the Wildhorn hut lies the Schniderhorn (2937m), which is our main objective for the day.

A few tricky passages lead to the summit, from where a lovely series of vallons lead down the east flank to the broad Col du Rawyl and a final steady skin up to the Wildstrubel Hut.

Overnight in the Wildstrubel hut.

Thursday

Wildstrubel Hut – Wildstrubel – Lammeren Hut.

A short climb and descent leads to the huge Glacier de la Plain Mort, which we traverse in order to make an ascent of the Wildstrubel (3244m ) – the super classic ski peak of the area.

Depending on conditions, we may be able to skin all the way up the Wildstrubel, or we may need to climb the steepest section on foot. A varied glacier descent then leads down to the Lammeren Hut – hot showers available.

Overnight in the Lammeren hut.

Friday

Rotertotz and down to Kandersteg.

First we make an ascent of another classic local ski peak, the Rotertotz (2847m), before skiing out of the range down the huge 1600m descent to Kandersteg.

Train and public transport back to Martigny for the final overnight.

Saturday

AM Depart for home.

Your trip hotel and base is in the well known Alpine town of Martigny, in the Rhone Valley. The most common way to reach Martigny is to fly into Geneva, then take a train direct from the airport terminal to Martigny.

Flights and transfers

• Fly to Geneva with numerous budget airlines: for an overview of the best options check out Sky Scanner or Google Flights.
• The train from Geneva airport to Martigny takes approx 2 hours: https://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html (integrated Swiss travel website, displays all connecting bus and train services).
• Alternatively hire a car at the airport (~2 hours driving time).

For flights and other travel options, including train, coach and driving, visit our Travel Planning page.

To enjoy this trip you should be comfortable operating at Fitness Level 3/4, and Ski Tech Level 4:

Fitness Level 3
You do 3-4 hours cv training/sport per week. At this level you are happy doing a 5-6 hr hillwalk, 40-50ml cycle or 3-4hr mountain bike ride without being totally exhausted. If you are into challenges – then the thought of doing a road sportive, or training to do a 1/2 (or maybe even a full) marathon, wouldn’t seem too ridiculous. On foot: you should be able to do the full Langdale Horseshoe: Langdale – Pike of Stickle – Angle Tarn – Bow Fell – Crinkle Crags – Pike of Blisco – Langdale in a day without finishing up exhausted. On skis: you can skin uphill at 300-400m/hr for 3-4 hrs a day (ie 8-1200m of ascent each day)

Fitness Level 4
You do 4+ hours CV training/sport per week. A 70+ mile cycle ride, or 20+ mile hillwalk on a weekend would hold no fears. If so inclined, you might be the kind of person who has done longer road sportives/challenge rides, a ~3.30hr marathon or other similar endurance events. Keen hillwalkers who happily knock off 3-4+ munros in a day also have this kind of fitness and endurance. On skis: you can skin at 400m+/hr or could handle 4-6hrs skinning a day. (ie 1000-1400m+ of ascent each day).

Tech Level 4
Advanced Off Piste Skier. You can put turns in through heavier snow and on icy 40dg slopes, but difficult breakable crusts and skiing a fresh track off piste in zero visibility are still somewhat challenging! *Equivalent to Ski Club of GB Off Piste Level: Gold – Expert*
Likely to say: I’ve been skiing ten/twenty years – I’d like to do your ‘……’ tour.
Our Advice: You will enjoy our advanced level trips, but don’t overlook the touring skills and physical fitness needed as well. Mileage is the best way to improve your ability level.

To view all of our Ski Fitness Levels and Off Piste Technical Levels, please visit our Ski Ability page.

If you need to top up your fitness for this trip, please see our Ski Touring Training Advice page.

Off Piste Ski Ability Levels

To join this trip, you need to be skiing at Tech Level 4 or higher on our 5 point scale. Use the descriptions above and the following video to help work out your current off piste ski ability level.

Hut to Hut Touring Equipment List

Just remember, every extra kilo on your back knocks 10% off your enjoyment on the descents – so try and keep the weight down!

Technical Clothing

• Waterproof Jacket – preferably lightweight and breathable
• Overtrousers/ski pants – preferably with side zips
• Fleece mid layer – or equivalent
• Socks – specialist ski socks or a warm loop lined pair of mountain socks
• Wicking thermal top – not cotton please…
• Thermal leggings or ski pants
• Thin inner gloves
• Warm ski gloves or mittens, if you suffer from cold hands
• Warm hat
• Spare fleece/lightweight duvet jacket

Personal Items

• Water container – at least 1 litre
• Personal medications and blister kit – regular meds, zinc oxide tape, compeed and painkillers etc
• Lightweight head torch
• Ski goggles
• Sun glasses – CE rated 3 or 4 with side protection
• Sun and lip cream – factor 30+
• Wallet, passport, Alpine Club/BMC card (hut discount) and insurance docs

Hut Overnight Items

• Small wash kit
• Spare lightweight t-shirt/socks/pants
• Silk sheet liner
• Ear plugs
• (Hut slippers for indoor use, blankets/duvets and pillows are provided by the huts)

Technical Equipment

• Rucsac 35/45l – try and avoid ones covered in too many features, just ski and ice axe attachments required
• Ski mountaineering boots
• Skis with touring bindings – lightweight pin binding setup required. Heavy freeride setups not suitable. Older style bar/rail bindings (Fritschi Freeride, Marker Duke etc) not allowed – please update your kit!
• Ski strap – to keep skis together on your rucksack if we need to carry them
• Ski poles – with good size 5cm+ baskets (telescopic poles are not needed)
• Climbing skins – they come with the skis if you hire your kit
• Harscheisen (ski crampons) – they come with the skis if you hire your kit
• Metal snow shovel – must be a full metal shovel (plastic blades don’t work in real avalanche debris!)
• Avalanche probe
• Avalanche transceiver – must be a modern digital model (older analogue models are now obsolete)
• Harness, with 120cm sling and locking karabiner
• Crampons – lightweight model
• Ice Axe – lightweight model
• Ski Helmet – lightweight ski touring or backcountry model preferred.  Wearing a helmet is compulsory on descents and may be needed on other parts of the route depending on conditions

Your guide will have all other safety kit, first aid and survival equipment.

Recommendations and Advice
Visit the Knowledge Base section of our website, where we publish an annual review of the years best new skis, boots and touring equipment, plus a range of other interesting tips and recommendations. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, please get in touch!

Purchasing Equipment
Backcountry UK in Otley offer an excellent ski touring boot fitting service, one of the best ranges of ski mountaineering equipment in the UK and top notch advice.

Hiring Equipment
Please visit our Equipment Hire page for recommended hire shops in your resort, and Alpine Guides hire equipment price list (safety equipment is provided free of charge on certain courses – please consult price inclusions).

For this trip you must have specialist travel insurance providing medical, emergency search/rescue and repatriation cover for off piste skiing and ski touring, as outlined in the trip itinerary. We also strongly recommend that you purchase cancellation cover, in case you’re unable to attend your trip due to personal circumstances or injury. Please arrange your insurance as soon as your trip is confirmed to run.

Further details can be found on our insurance info page.