The Haute Route

(longest blog posting ever ... enjoy!)

Back last fall, Greg - a colleague from North Shore Rescue - asked if I'd be interested in going off to Europe to ski the Haute Route. Would I! This was something that I had originally hoped to do with Nick, Ron & Gord, but Nick's inadvertent leap off a cornice a couple of years ago put an end to that plan. So, I gladly accepted - Mike from NSR joined in as well, and brought in his friend Simon, making us a group of 4.

We debated whether to do it on our own, or whether to go with a guide. Ultimately, it came down to the time versus money debate - we had a fairly fixed time that we would be in Europe (plane fares tend to do that), so really wanted to make sure that we maximized our time there - hence, we went for the guide option. We engaged Larry Dolecki of Bugaboo Alpine Guides and owner/operator of the Icefall Lodge for the trip. Larry has been doing his own variation on the Haute Route for many years (and, there are many variations on this famous route!).

I left Vancouver on April 17th with Killaine for a brief stop in Boston on the way to watch Killaine run in the Boston Marathon. After her successful run, I flew onwards to Geneva, and made my way up to Zermatt where I met up with Simon, Mike & Greg.

We spent an "acclimatization day" skiing in the resort of Zermatt, making a dramatic ascent of the Kleine Matterhorn, and having a great meal of cheese fondue later that evening.

Larry, Simon, Mike, myself & Greg in front of the Matterhorn

The next day, we started the Haute Route! In traditional European fashion, we started with the lift back up into the Zermatt ski area, then bid farewell to the ski area and skied down into the valley below the Zmutt glacier.

Skiing towards the Zmutt Glacier

The day was beautiful (as would be most days on this tour), and we made a reasonable pace up towards the Schoenbiel hut, which sits up on a moraine above the glacier.

The Schoenbiel hut

The final slope up to the hut was a steep side hill - although it was reasonably ok going up it, I was a tad concerned as to what it would be like in the morning, after the nightly freeze.

Finishing the last climb up to the Schoenbiel Hut

But, tomorrow was another day! Since we arrived at the hut in about 4 hours after leaving the ski area, we had plenty of time to hang out at the hut and enjoy the sun & views. This was our first alpine hut, and it was quite a place - run by a friendly Dutch woman, the hut is remarkably well organized - beds are reserved and numbered - you know exactly where you'll sleep. You can get tea and beer/wine, and the evening meal was quite delicious. Although quite crowded (I think the hut sleeps about 80 or so people - and it was close to capacity), the hut "works" well.

Simon in front of the Shoenbiel Hut

Day 2

We began the next day quite early - up at 5am, and off by 6am. As expected, the slope from the hut down to the glacier was icy and steep, and took careful skiing to keep the edges into the ice - a slip would have involved a nasty fall onto some rocks below.

Our objective for the day was to reach the town of Arolla, and spend the night there. It was going to be a bigger day, though, crossing over the summit of the Tete Blanche on the way (at about 3500m).

Climbing up the glacier to the Tete Blanche

We had a long, continuous climb up the Tiefmatten and then on to the Stockji glaciers - not too terribly steep and reasonably straightforward. We made good use of our ski crampons on a few icy sections.

There certainly were a staggering number of tracks coming down from the Tete Blanche area - you'd never (or, rather, rarely) see that many tracks in a glaciated backcountry region in Canada (with the exception of maybe the Spearhead glacier near Whistler). There had also recently been a ski mountaineering race between Verbier & Zermatt several days prior, so still some lingering tracks from that. (the day prior, we saw one of these famous ski mountaineering racers at the Schoenbiel hut - tiny narrow skis with the superlightweight Dynafit Titanium bindings - she also had a really cool system so that she could throw her skis across her pack and clip them in with one fluid movement - very cool).

The Tete Blanche

The weather got a bit colder and windier as we reached the top - still had awesome views all around.

Mike, Larry, Simon & I on the summit of the Tete Blanche

The descent down the other side of the Tete Blanche was onto the big, wide Montmine glacier. The ski conditions were tough - breakable crust until we got quite a bit lower - the bouncy turns worked for a while, then we had to resort to the ol' criss-cross scheme to continue our descent.

Descending the Montmine glacier

From the glacier, we had a shorter, and much warmer climb up to the pass leading down into the Arolla valley. The Bertol hut was perched crazily on a spire just above the pass - it would have been a crazy place to spend the night, and has got to be noisy when the wind really blows!

The Bertol Hut

It was a long descent off the other side, down the Bertol glacier and down into the Arolla valley - crusty conditions again at the top, but mellowed into some better corn lower down until eventually getting quite slushy towards the bottom - spectacular views of an icefall coming down into the valley from approximately the Pin D'Arolla to the south.

Mike surveys the Arolla valley

Finally, 10 hours after leaving the Shoenbiel hut, we wandered into town and to our dorm room at the hotel. Showers and a bit of food shopping for the next was followed by a hearty meal at the hotel and an earlier sleep.

Walking into Arolla (our hotel is ahead)

Day 3

Our objective for the day was the Dix Hut. It would end up being about a 4 hour ski to get there, which was fine with us 'cause we were all quite whipped from the prior day's efforts.

Once again, in fine European style, we headed for the lift. The local town lift was an ancient poma-style lift. It was run only between 8am and 8:30am, and exclusively for the benefit of ski tourers heading over towards the Dix Hut and points beyond.

So, a short walk from the hotel brought us to the lift, and up we went.

The lift at Arolla

Above the lift, it was a pleasant ski up the "Montagne d'Arolla" valley - a very steady climb. There were many signs of wet snow avalanches across all of the south facing slopes - a sight that we were growing quite accustomed to over the last few days.

Heading up the valley

Now, at the top of the valley was a col leading across to the Glacier de Cheilon (note I'm starting to use the full vernacular names for the glaciers now!). But, getting down from the col was a bit of an adventure. The other side of the col sported a small fence with a ladder beside it - the ladder led down about 40 or so metres down a quite steep cliff down to a steep snowslope leading down to the glacier proper.

The fence guarding the cliff

Larry belayed each one of us down the ladder - it was good to have a belay while downclimbing the ladder, with ski poles in our hands and our skis strapped to our packs. At the time, it seemed like a long, long climb down - with a break half-way down to change ladders (the new ladder was put in, I believe, as the glacier and snow slopes had retreated further down the cliff).

Mike descending the ladders

Once down the ladders, and down the steep, icy snow slope on the other side, it was time to soak up the views of the Glacier de Cheilon, dominated by Mt. Blanc de Cheilon (which we were planning to climb the next day).

Crossing the Glacier de Cheilon, below Mt. Blanc de Cheilon

A quick ski across the glacier, then a bit of a climb brought us to the Dix Hut.

Approaching the Dix Hut

The Dix Hut was definitely the epitomy of the hut-based, European ski mountaineering world! It sleeps about 125 people - comfortably - and it's again super well organized. The fellow who runs it with his wife is renowned for being quite a strict disciplinarian and runs a tight ship, but as long as you stay on his good side (i.e. don't change clothes in the common areas, like a woman he caught!), then he's a great fellow. Plus, he does a really, really good rosti!

Ice axes hanging up in the Dix Hut

Mmmm ... rosti!

We had a fun time that afternoon & evening - we met up with Chris - an assistant guide that works with Larry - and a couple of Canadian buddies of his (Paul & Andy) that run a bar (La Crevasse) in Champery in Switzerland - they were a pile of laughs.

In spite of the size of the hut, everyone went to bed at vitually the same time, and by 10pm lights were out and everyone was in bed - how's that for Swiss efficiency!

Day 4

The day dawned clear once again and we left the hut early. Our objective for the day was to ski up Mt. Blanc de Cheilon and then continue on to the Cabin de Chanrion that afternoon.

We left the Dix Hut quite early - around 7am - the sun was rising above the mountains and the snow was cold and hard. It was a nice morning.

Leaving the Dix Hut

From the Dix Hut, we climbed up the Glacier de Cheilon to the ... you guessed it ... the Col de Cheilon. From the col, we contoured around across the top of the Glacier du Gietro, gave a wide berth to the icefalls on the west face of Mt. Blanc de Cheilon, and then gained a broad west-facing ramp that led up and around and eventually on to the south facing ridge.

The icefalls on the west side of Mt. Blanc de Cheilon

Simon, on his heels, ski crampons digging into the hard snow

Unfortunately, Greg decided to stop part way up - he'd been having some pretty serious problems with his feet in his boots, so felt it was best to give them a break.

Simon, Mike & I continued up as Larry set a solid pace all the way up. Truly spectacular, and many other folks from the Dix Hut were also making their way up the mountain.

Approaching the summit

The final summit was a short scramble up. A little bit of exposure, so Larry put the rope on us for the short climb up. As to be expected, the view from the top was fantastic - we continued to see Mt. Blanc (the real, big Mt. Blanc) in the distance, Italy to the south, and peaks stretching in every direction. After having spent so many years in the mountains, one would start to think I would tire of views like this - but they continue to awe and inspire me.

Mike, Simon, Larry and an unidentified, possibly European, climber on the summit

Skiers descending

The ski down was, once again, not that great - mixed crust n' stuff. I popped out of one of my skis on the way down - my first (and only) ski release of the trip. We met up with Greg, and continued along the Glacier du Gietro over the the Col du Mt. Rouge. There was a bit of a steep drop down off the col over an old cornice onto the slopes below - Larry dropped off very casually, and I let Mike and Simon (the better skiers in the group) show me how it was done. Then, just to be sure, I let Greg go next "so I could keep an eye on him". My turn - a "short" 4 foot or so drop and onto the slopes below the col - fortunately, the slopes were great corn snow, so it was very pleasant skiing down from there, and then a high traverse across to the Col de Lire Rose.

Looking from the Col du Mt. Rouge across to the Col de Lire Rose

Looking down from the Col de Lire Rose

From the Col de Lire Rose, it was some more pleasant skiing on corn, which eventually turned into heavier mush, which then gave way to grass, and some "skis on / skis off", until the Cabin de Chanrion came in to view.

Cabin de Chanrion

The Cabin de Chanrion was one of the smaller huts that we stayed at - sleeping a mere 50 or so people. The hut wasn't full, and there were just a couple of groups passing through. One of the groups was led by a couple of American guides based in Chamonix - they were interesting to chat with.

Day 5

As you can probably guess by now, the next day once again dawned clear, although there were a few clouds in the sky.

Our objective for the day was to ski up the Glacier de Fenetre, through the Fenetre de Durrand, drop down into the Valpelline valley and eventually emerge at the town of Glacier. From Glacier, we were to do the "taxi traverse" to Courmayeur (all of the Haute Route variations invariably require some sort of taxi/bus/car connection through this part).

On the way up to the Fentre de Durrand, Mike, Simon, Larry & I tried to ski up Mont Avril. It's a pretty straightforward ski ascent, but with the morning freeze, it made it a hard and icy proposition. We eventually pulled the plug about 2/3rds of the way up - I was getting pretty concerned that a slip could have pretty serious consequences (oh, did I mention that we weren't carrying ice axes on this traverse?).

Mont Avril

The four of us going up Mont Avril

So, the client chickened out, and we skied over to the Fenetre du Durrand, and descended into Italy. Skiing into Italy, we encountered our first patch of bad weather - low cloud and whiteout as we began the ski down into the Valpelline valley.

Clouds boiling up from Italy

Fortunately, the whiteout was short lived, and we emerged out of the bottom of the clouds after about 20 minutes or so of skiing by braille. From there, a relatively flat traverse out through the valley, past farm houses waiting for spring, and then down past the snow line and into the trees and spring itself.

Gregg skiing in the valley, below the Fenetre du Durrand

Descending through the trees

Down at the quiet town of glacier, we had a chance to hang out and wait for our taxi.

Waiting for the taxi

Now, Larry has done this particular Haute Route two times prior, so the taxi driver was well acquainted with Larry & his business. We were delighted when the taxi driver pulled up - and pulled out a beer for each of us! A great way to end the day's skiing, and a nice way to start the taxi traverse.

The taxi driver brings beer!

Pre-taxi beer

It took around an hour or so to drive across to Courmayeur and to our hotel - the Hotel Dente del Gigante. A great hotel, comfortable rooms, great sitting area, super friendly innkeeper / barkeeper / waiter (he did everything)! We had our meal in the hotel restaurant - of course I can't remember exactly what we ate, but it was really, really yummy! (When I showed some of these photos to Killaine, she remarked "So, it really was a tough trip, huh?")

Hotel Dente del Gigante in Courmayeur

That afternoon and evening it rained and poured ... the prognosis for tomorrow with rain down here (and inevitably snow up high on Mt. Blanc) started raising flags for a possible change of plans for tomorrow. We went to bed hoping that we'd still be able to make the final push into Chamonix tomorrow on skis - and not under Mt. Blanc on the bus.

Day 6

The final day of the Haute Route! How would it turn out ...

The plan for the day was to take the lifts up to Pointe Helbronner, up at 3407m high on the south side of the Mt. Blanc massif, then ski down the Vallee Blanche to the end of the Mer de Glace, and then from there finish up by taking the train down into Chamonix.

The prior night's storm did deposit a significant amount of snow up in the alpine and held up operations on the lift up to Pointe Helbronner.

Larry checks on conditions at the lift

We ended up drinking alot of coffee, and hanging out ... and waiting to see if the lift would open. We were very patient ...

Waiting for the lift to open ... patiently.

At around noon, the signal was given that the lift was about to start! We loaded up, and started the series of 3 lifts up the mountain. Eventually emerging back into winter in a wonderland of swirling clouds, granite spires and rolling glaciers.

Mike exiting the final lift at Pointe Helbronner

Mountain panorama madness - granite spires and glaciers

Now, we could ski - and what a ski it was! The storm had deposited about a foot of fresh, light powder across the mountain - we began a spectacular, multi-hour descent down into the Mer de Glace - all the while surrounded by the spectacular granite peaks of Mt. Blanc. It really was a cool area - and ranks as possibly the best ski run of my life (I'm having trouble thinking of a better run!)

Making tracks down from Pointe Helbronner onto the Glacier du Geant

Tracks

We were, of course, still on a glacier, and there were big, BIG holes around. Larry led us through and across the main expanse of the Glacier du Geant to ultimately join up with the "standard" ski route coming down from the Aiguille du Midi (where skiers from Chamonix take the lift up the french side of Mt. Blanc and ski down).

Larry gives some sort of guidance to Mike

Crossing the Glacier du Geant

On the main descent route of the Mer de Glace - Larry looks down onto the Glacier du Tacul, Mer de Glace around the corner to the left

The snow quality deteriorated the lower we got - the light powder turned into mashed potatoes and heavy mush the lower we got. But, hey, the views were great, so it really didn't matter that much!

Big icefalls

All around us, we were surrounded by massive icefalls and glaciers merged in from valleys unseen.

The Grand Jorasse emerges through the clouds above the Glacier de Leschaux

The Dru above the Mer de Glace

The Grand Jorasse

Eventually, we reached the toe of the Mer de Glace, and our ski of the Haute Route had come to an end. From here, we had to get up to the train which required hiking up along a series of stairways and platforms bolted onto the rock walls above the Mer de Glace. Once again, this intricate route has been built and expanded as the glacier has shrunk and receded, requiring extensions to be built rather frequently.

The walkway to the lift to the train

Mike on the walkway

Finally, on to the train and half an hour later, we were walking into Chamonix!

Walking into Chamonix

And ... so ends our Haute Route, but not our trip. Two days later, we were back into the mountains for a ski tour on the Argentiere glacier ... but that's a story for another blog posting.

Reflections

I'm actually writing this story about 3 months after returning from Europe. Certainly, it was a great trip, and many thanks to Gregg for being the spark behind our trip along the Haute Route. Many thanks also to Larry for guiding us along the route.

As I mentioned back at the beginning, one of the big decisions was to go guided or not. On reflection, with this group of folks, I'm glad we went guided - it really made it into a holiday and we could just turn off our brains and ski. We started when we wanted, and ended when we were supposed to, so it worked out well.

Of course, having a guide did take a lot of the challenge out of the Haute Route - no tricky descents on questionable ground - no hard route finding decisions. And, staying in huts sure made it easy (and, to boot, our packs were light!)

I'd do it again - although next time I'd like to try the "classic" Haute Route, and extend it out to Saas Fee. I'd certainly go guided again, but I'd also consider going unguided - depending on the group and the usual time constraints.

Oh, it was an expensive trip (when you add in doing the actual route, the flight & associated other costs), but when I think about it, the amount we actually paid Larry to guide us along the route (and for meals, lifts & accomodation), the amount was similar to what you would pay for a week of backcountry skiing at any one of the lodges in B.C..

All-in-all ... a great trip!

Ok, one last note ... it's Europe, so you don't go there for the wilderness - go there for the spectacular scenery, and the opportunity to share the Alps & their unique culture with the local folk.

Resources

The standard book for doing the Haute Route The Haute Route by Peter Cliff.

The best source for maps is the Swiss Federal Office of Topography (swisstopo). The maps needed are the 1:50,000s for:

• Arolla (covers most of the route that we took)
• Martigny
• Mischabel (covers Zermatt and east to Saas Fee - a Haute Route extension)

Rescue insurance is a good idea, and is easy to get in Switzerland. For 30 Swiss Francs (or something like that), you can get helicopter rescue insurance to cover you for a year. (I got insurance from Rega, while the other guys got theirs from Air Zermatt). You can easily pick up insurance at any Swiss post office (really - it's that easy!).