Been invited on a trip to ski the Haute Route guided in April, just interested to hear what people thing about it

I’m fast on most reds and can competently get down blacks with the exception of classic blacks like the grand couloir in Courchevel – though I’m working on skills in advance of the trip – haven’t ski toured before but have booked a couple of intro sessions in Verbier in March

Any comments/advice/war stories? Cheers

I hate you

I hate you too.

You’ve done that winter skills course, if that didn’t include much on avalanche safety you could do a course on that. Other than that, match the weight of your kit to your fitness and the likely pace of your group – no point being left behind, but no point packing really light when everyone else is bringing the kitchen sink. The best single thing for ski touring is a pair of salopettes with full leg zips for skinning without boiling yourself.

Good fun but the huts are crowded. Soft shell trousers work well with paclite over trousers if it gets shitty. Go for the lightest pack you can without leaving essentials e.g. Think about whether you want a hut t shirt or whether your spare base layer will do. Bring lots of cash and buy food from the huts rather than lugging a weeks worth. Be prepared to change plans as there’s a good chance you won’t have the weather for all of the route.

Interesting – you mean basically the same as what I’d wear for mountaineering – not salopettes? Will scope various kitlists on summitpost etc

Cool to hear about the route, quite excited about seeing the upper Chamonix valley in winter as it’s my favourite place to ride ever in summer…as some of you will know…

It is tough; expect to spend a lot of time going up and traversing relative to going down… think of it more as mountaineering on skis than downhill skiing when it comes to kit. You will bake in downhill Salopettes if it is 10C with the sun shining and you are skinning up yet another glacier..

I seem to recall you were thinking of buying touring kit? If you’ve not and you are planning things like Haute route I think Dynafit might be worth considering…

A friend did the Haute route in hired boots and had to go to hospital due to the severity of the blisters..

Go as light as you can – 35L sack for the week.

Thanks – I decided not to buy skis – advice was resoundingly in that direction if I’m going for less than 3 weeks a year and flying – and I’m increasingly broke – but might buy some Scarpa ski touring/crossover boots on the basis of your story – have had problems with boots before. But hire the skis/skins/bindings when I’m there.

V. sorry for your friend!

Sounds great – like that it’s not all about shredding downhill to the power of 10 – more mostly going up, being in wild country, coping with the conditions etc. And a fat cigar at the end of it

Friends of mine had lined up a guide, who pulled out at the last minute. The went unguided and completed the trip in 4 days. They were a very strong group though – very fit and experienced. They had perfect weather too.

They filled the rest of the time allocated doing tours from Zermatt. No resting…

My advice would be to work on fitness, particularly skinning fitness. Well fitting boots are a must. I went on a shortish Cairngorm based tour on a whim a couple of winter’s ago in my ‘piste’* boots and made a mess of my feet. I could feel it happening, but needed to get back to civilisation. It negatively effected the rest of the touring that week.

You may need to do some ropework too in a couple of places. If you’re confident, good, but if not, knowing what you’re doing is useful, as even with a guide, an exposed windy couloir is no place to get to grips with it, especially if you’re abseiling/stepping on ski. However, if you’re rad, just drop in.

* Given that I’m a telemarker, the only real difference between my piste boots and the ones I use for touring is the stiffness and height of the shells. I often use the same inners. I tend to just pick the driest inners on the day.

++ fitness

Can see that this is going to be quite an undertaking especially given that I’m also doing some fairly hardcore ice climbing this winter. Bring it…bank manager permitting

Fittest I’ve ever been after a massive summer, but for mountaineering and mtbing and to a lesser extent climbing – not skiing

Rocking the low saddle to work my quads but I know there’s no substitute for actual skiing…

And fitness is only going to deteriorate given that I’m currently working weekends and tonight, possibly, an all-nighter (though still fit in a fast 3hr ride and climb at weekend)

Thanks for tips – very welcome

I did it a couple of years ago but we had to bail on the last day due to high winds and snow.
I wish I’d taken a camel bak bladder aswell as a nalgene bottle and a book for the afternoons n the huts . I was encouraged to go for the ultra lightweight kit but would have happily carried that little bit more.
Mountain kit worked well for me : soft shell trousers and jacket but a hard shell top too the the bad days.
Try and get some off piste lessons before if you can.
A great trip and I will go back to finish it one day .

Troutwrestler speaks the truth.

If it is your first serious ski tour think of it as a massive learning experience. If you are inspired by it, you will come away with a whole load of new information about kit choice and preferences.

Check out the Alpine Guides blog for probably the best advice you’ll find on the web for kit lists, fitness levels and training.

this is a wee page we published about ski touring the haute route a while back – may be some other interesting pages in there too for you.

ski tour

(hope nobody minds the link to my site!)

its meant to be an awesome tour, one which i’m keen to do myself this winter.

+1 on reading material for the huts (An afternoon paperback makes the rest between skiing, eating and sleeping so much more relaxing.

You can cut down on expenses by doing it quicker:

Lionel Bonnel and Stéphane Brosse did the route in style, using no ski lifts or other motorized assistance. The two walked or ran in the valleys and skied the rest of the way, carrying all of their own gear. (They cached food and drinks at three stops along the way). Along with Laurent Fabre, they started from the church in the center of Chamonix, France, at 1 in the morning, and arrived in downtown Zermatt, Switzerland, at 10:11 p.m. the same day, for an elapsed time of 21 hours 11 minutes. En route, Bonnel and Brosse climbed more than 28,000 vertical feet and descended about 26,000 feet. Exhausted, Fabre abandoned the quest in midafternoon.

Not much to add to the above. Second being pragmatic about the guide. (maybe not relevant to you as your joining one) They’re good, but they’re not superhuman. A friend of mine did the HR a few (9! 😯 getting old!) years ago and chose a different couloir at one point because they didn’t fancy the conditions. A guide behind them did, the route slid with him and a guest on, and my friend and his mates ended up helping the guide in front for the rest of the day with his now double-sized group.

Rare event, I know, but shows having a guide isn’t a magic bullet for being safe. Someone fit, with some tours under their belt, some glacier/avy knowledge, rope skills and nav skills might find if they might go faster with like minded friends than with a guide seting a conservative pace. More liberating too: you’re not being led about, you can connect more with the mountains and you’re master of your own destiny.

Edit: don’t want to be too gung ho (and I haven’t done the route myself so I shouldn’t really be spouting off)

Navigation in the high mountains, and travel on glaciated terrain takes acquired skills. If you are in any doubt, go with a guided party, there are plenty of them.

Nice page, hungry!

oh yeah – be careful you don’t eff your knees up with the low saddle shenanigans!

Sounds like you’ve got a fun winter lined up! Enjoy!

Did it last April, amazing experience but very hard work. You seriously need to get some experience with hut-to-hut touring beforehand, not least because you need to make sure all your kit is ok and you know what to pack. 3 of us hired a guide so that we could go at our own speed and do it mid-week; even so, the huts were full and the route was busy. You won’t get that “Scott of the Antarctic” feel of being out in the glaciers on your own but on the plus side if it all goes pear shaped there’ll usually be someone along to help.

Pack light – I use a 30l rucsack with my crampons on the outside. Use lightweight kit – I’d certainly recommend Dynafit bindings and proper lightweight touring skis. It’s a ski-mountaineering trip so you’ll need appropriate insurance, there’s plenty of ropework and climbing with crampons and your skis on your back (depending on what route you take). Take wetwipes – water in some of the huts is of limited supply! And plenty of money in Euros or SFR.

We had fantastic weather – sunshine all day every day. Others are not so lucky so be prepared to fail if it gets bad. Overall a fantastic trip but one not to be underestimated. Enjoy! Oh, and take plenty of pictures. This is I think the Arolla hut. The former long-drop toilet at the right of the hut has been replaced by a more civilized indoor device but it still smelt a bit outside!