Haute Route April 2009 – Chamonix to Zermatt traverse

During the last 8 years of skiing off-piste with the same guide and group of friends we have gone from lovers of the steep couloirs and deep powder to lovers of the ski tour. The ulitmate multi day ski tour is the Haute Route.  So in April 2009 six friends embarked on what would turn out to be one hell of an adventure…

The Chamex site has a nice intro to the route.  If you like the sound of what you read here, give them a buzz and sort out a trip for yourself, it was worth it!

The Haute Route was first completed as a glacier trek during the summer of 1861 by members of the Alpine Club (UK). They named it the High Level Route. It is one of the most spectacular high mountain itineraries in the world, winding its way from Chamonix to Zermatt over remote alpine passes, traversing glaciers and requiring a number of nights in mountain refuges.

In 1903 the Haute Route was skied for the first time, by a group of Frenchmen who translated the name to the Haute Route ski tour, and it passed into ski legend. It remains one of the most famous and most coveted ski tours in the world, with fantastic scenery and exhilarating skiing.

Mont Blanc Summit Day

Mont Blanc Summit Day

After the previous days exertions on the Aiguilee d’Entreves I was pleased to not be suffering from any altitude problems and was looking forward to some well earnt rest. Unfortunately my body had other ideas and I spent the hours wide awake with a mixture of excitment and trepdiation about what was to come. 

This time is wasnt just Rogers snoring keeping me awake but the “noises” of about 50 other mountaineers all trying to rest and recover. Montain refuges are not places of luxury. With no showers and rows of bunk beds all pushed together, they are cosy and smelly, very smelly. After a couple of days of climbing in the same kit and then sleeping without showering you begin to realise how bad one can smell.

Hint: take a pack of wetwipes with you everywhere on the mountains! They are a short moist respite from the grime and filth.

Anyway, we got up at 1am and prepared ourselves for the mornings exertions. I quiet cup of tea and then it was boots on and out the door. The night has been stormy and high winds threatened to cause problems but the early hours brought a clear if very cold morning. For Mont Blanc summits the guiding ratio is 2:1 so we met up the night before with Marco,  a colleague of Paolos who was to be my guide, whilst Roger and Houghty were to be roped with Paolo.

Marco was fresh from a summit of the Breithorn, so well aclimatised and clearly in rude health. We left the hut as one of the first group of climbers and made the walk across the Glacier to the bottom of Mont Blacn du Tacul. 4248m. This is the first of the three M’s that must be climbed before getting to the summit. You can see all three in the picture below.

Now, it appears to be nothing more than a short climb up but when faced with Mont Blanc du Tacul in the pitch black, in the freezing cold, it appeared like a hellish tower and we began the climb zig zagging our way up its steep face.

Huge ice cliffs overhang this area and in fact killed 7 people one week after our climb. They were following our exact tracks when a section of ancient glacier broke off for no reason and avalanched down the face taking them all with it. A terrible accident that could not have been prevented and for which there was no one to blame. When the news broke I have to admit to it causing my blood to run cold and I instantly emailed guiding friends to make sure they were ok.

This image show Mont Blanc du Tacul face with its steep seracs and overhangs with large crevasses to avoid.

See the tracks zig zagging throught the crevasses

This requires some careful footing and stamina with a healthy dose of courage. There were several snow bridges to cross where the glacier has split and slipped down creating a huge crevasse which in the dark appears bottomless.  I estimate it was 2 hours to the foot of this from the Cosmiques hut and then about 1.5 hours to the ridge. The last part has fixed ropes but requires ice axes and is about 55 degrees.  I actually found this section one of the most enjoyable on the summit day.

After a traverse around the back of Tacul we came to the next climb in Mont Maudit which is about 4465m at the top. To get to Mont Blanc we traversed around the flanks of this mountain on the glacier; a long 2  hour climb but not technical. At this point we could see the early greys of dawn and although the snow means you can make out shapes quite well, a headtorch was needed up until this point. We stopped for a ten minute breather but all of us were eager to get on at this stage and the biting wind was cooling us down too quickly to stop for long.

At this point Roger and Houghty had been going like trains whilst I was plodding along at my own pace tied to Marco. I was passed by a few climbers, which irked my competitive spirit but this was one challenge where quite frankly I didnt really care about anyone else.

After about another hour of climbing we started on the slope to the final part of Mont Blanc. At this point the snow and ice are windswept and there is no protection from the elements. Mont Blanc has a reputation as a mountain that needs fair weather and it was easy to see why. Storms could blow in from any where in minutes and you would be left exposed and very vunerable. I was pleased to see that as dawn brokw it was going to be a clear morning.

The views at this point were incredible and despite beginning to feel very tired it brough a huge grin to my face to stop and look around to enjoy it for a few moments. Marco kept up a great pace and after another 20 minutes or so i started feeling fit and could smell the summit.

People react differently to extremes physical exertion. I always find that i have more to give at the end and always finish with a sprint no matter what i am doing. Friends of mine work the other way and have a faster pace than me but its all they can do to cross the finish line. I find this interesting. It doesnt matter what sport, its always the same. A good friend of mine likens me to a horse that can smell the water of home. As soon as i am in touching distance I up the pace and get a renewed energy boost. This isnt a conscious thing, and could be dangerous if i did this too early a I’d be left exhausted having burnt through my adrenaline reserves that are no doubt be called on at times like this.

I digress, so back to the subject. The final climb to the summit took about a further two hours, I overtook Houghty and Rog and then burnt my way to the top. What you think is the summit, never is, there is always just one more brow to get over and this happened twice on that final push.

Eventually I reached the summit at 8.07am on the 1st August 2008.  You can see the Matterhorn and Monta Rosa just over my shoulder. What a view!!!

Houghty and Roger joined me about 10 minutes later and Paolo t0ok this shot.

Top of Mont Blanc

 

Then the exertion caught up with me, I got cold and Marco took this shot…not so great.

I was shattered and had a 6 hour descent ahead of me.

I have to say this was the hardest six hours of my life. There is one thing climbing a mountain, when the expectation and excitment can drive you on. When you descend the euphoria of summiting leaves you very quickly and soon waves of fatigue overcome you. I was literally falling forwards trying to control my descent on what are very dangerous slopes. My thigh muscles were burning up and each step became a real effort.

The image above is at the start of the descent and you can pretty much see the climb route as it follows the glacier down the middle of the picture and snakes across to the left at the top of the photo to then drop over the ridge of Tacul. In spite of the sunshine, this was a cold and windy place and the quicker we got off it the better. We passed many climbers coming up who werent going to summit until around midday which leaves them open to the weather closing in on the descent. I was glad for the early morning start!

The descent down the rope at the ridge of Mont Blanc du Tacul was a blur. I hooked in and abseiled as fast as I could and got to the bottom with a huge sense of relief.

Unfortunately this wasnt the end of it. We stopped for a few mintues. This shot was taken by Houghty from the rest stop on the Glacier du Geant. This is me and Marco walking towards the camera with our tracks visible on Tacul behind us.

We needed the break but knew that now we had the crossing of the glacier and then the final walk up to the Aiguille du Midi to contend with.

Only Roger seems to be smiling?

We made the final climb up to the Aiguille cable car at about 1pm, 5 hours after summitting. I was shattered, the last hour being a steep climb with leaden legs. I was tired, hungry, cold and very happy it was over. A wonderful experience and made all the better for sharing it with friends.

These sorts of challenges help you to find out who you are, but also show you what people you friends are and can expose personality traits.

Despite 4 days of damn hard work, little sleep and massive physcial exhertion I dont think we had one argument or crossed word. A great testament to friendship and needless to say, plans are afoot for 2009!

Mont Blanc Summit Day 3

MONT BLANC AUGUST 2009 DAY 3

After a terrible nights sleep; a combination of my headache and Rogers snoring, we woke early and kitted up ready for a second day on the glacier.

The challenge for the day was a traverse of the Aiguilee d’Entreves.  This was to start with crossing the Glacier du Geant and then a climb onto the granite itself. The classic traverse is south to north along the spine with France down to your left and a sheer drop to Italy on the right. Route information can be found here http://www.summitpost.org/route/166202/southwest-ridge.html

a great traverse

With crampons fixed we began the climb and this was going to be a good test for Roger and Houghty who were due to attempt the Matterhorn if our Mont Blanc summit was a success, so getting some technical climbing practise was going to be crucial.

With the three of us roped together with Paolo leading and shouting back instruction to throw rope loops over rocks to secure each other between pitches, we probably looked a motley crew.

It was a great climb cum scramble and one of the best days i’ve had on the mountain. The view from our sheltered lunch stop was truly breathtaking and despite having considerable pain from slicing my finger on my penknife the previous day, the climb was comfortable and not overly challenging.

We descent was great fun, picking our way through the granite slabs that have peeled off from the main spire and trying to avoid looking down to the right where a long drop would have greeted any slip.

At the end of the climb we crossed the glacier to head to the Cosmique hut from where, early the following morning, we would be starting our summit attempt.

Mont Blanc Summit trip Day 2

MONT BLANC AUGUST 2009 DAY 2

For this trip Nigel Shepherd, our usual guide, was unavailable, probably swanning off on a ski test with Salomon, so we called up Paolo Perrini.

Paolo is quite a character, one hell of a ski guide, and as it turned out, just the kind of character you need with you when you have 3 tough days ahead of you. I can highly recommend him if you are in the chamonix or courmayeur region and need a good guide.  This is his website http://www.paolopieroni.it/en/

We met Paolo at the bottom of the cable car in Courmayeur after driving through the Mont Blanc tunnel, from here its the Arp cable car up to the top and then onto the Glacier.

On day 1 Paolo decided we would climb to the shoulder of the Aiguille du Geant in time for lunch. We would be getting to around 3900m, the summit being 4,013m.

See description on SummitPost here

This ended up being a cracking climb with crampons needed for the main steep ice section. When attempting to cut a a larger hold in the plastic toe strap I managed to slice my finger down to the bone which held us up an hour whilst doctor Paolo dressed the wound. This was going to play havoc with my ability to hold ropes and ice axes over the next few days not to mention getting dressed and other basic things.

The views during the climb were quite amazing with the mont blanc massif behind us and the monta rosa ski area in front. You can see the glacier snaking down the mountain in the first image above.

We reached the snowy shoulder after about 4 hours and stopped off for lunch. The picture below was taken right on the shoulder and you can see the snow layers clearly on the overhang behind Houghty. If you look closely tracks lead off along the ridge and two figures can just about be seen in the distance.

The last image here shows the Aiguille du Geant itself, the snowy col we climbed to is just to the right of the pinnacle itself.

A great climb, a great day with Paolo and good altitude training. We all felt the altitude and ended up pretty tired at the end. The climb down was equally good fun and challenging and arrived back at the hut ready for a decent feed and good nights sleep. Not before a well earned beer though! 

Mont Blanc Summit trip Day 1

 

MONT BLANC AUGUST 2009 DAY 1

Two good friends of mine had been planning a third attempt at Mont Blanc having failed twice due to bad weather conditions close to the summit. On both those occassion they attempted to climb it by skinning from the valley floor in Les Houches. That quite a hike on skis. From a village that is around 950m to the summit at 4807m.

I decided to go with them this time and as it was last minute decision didnt get much fitness training in. I only managed a couple of long walks with heavy packs through the streets of London and the various parks. Not the ideal preparation!

So Roger, Houghty and I turned up in Argentiere on the Wednesday afternoon to be welcomed by a beautiful sunny day and clear views to the summit.

We decided to get some early altitude training in and jumped on the Aiguille du midi up to 3,842m fully kitted up and ready to get onto the glacier.

Aiguille du Midi

 We descended the dreaded ridge onto the Vallee Blanche.  After an hour or so of just taking in the awesome surroundings with Mont Blanc in front of us and the Glacier du Geant across from us, it was time to get back to make sure we got the last cable car down. As always Houghty took his chance to have a cigarette. It always amuses me that we can be in the most stunning places on the planet and Houghty still wants to pollute the air around us with tobacco smoke.

 The climb back up the ridge is always tough after a long day on the glacier and I climbed it that afternoon knowing that if we managed to summit in 3 days time that this would be the last excruciating climb at the end of an exhausting 13 hour summit day. This was the first time I felt nerves for what we were about to embark on.

climatisation begins

smoking at altitude is bad for your health

Haute Route – the Nigel Shepherd way

So we made the decision to do the Haute Route this year. Ski touring usually makes up a good part of my mountain time, but this is another thing altogether.

5 days, hut to hut from Chamonix to Zermatt. The guys are looking forward to it and i’ve been studying the maps for weeks. If anyone has any experiences to share let me know…

Usually this involves far more climbing time than descent but with Shep as our guide we have been promised a slightly unusual route.

Hoping to do a heli up to the macugnaga ridge the day after we arrive in Zermatt to do the Marinelli Couloir.

This is the mother of all extreme descents in the European Alps. A nice video is posted here http://www.alpine-guiding.com/trip-gallery/Marinelli2002/marinelli_low_res.mov/view

The route starts on the top left of this picture, involving a very steep traverse across to the right, where the couloir starts. 2500m right down the white icy finger. I have been wanting to do this for about 5 years since skiing the Grober and Eagle couloirs from Gressoney.

Marinelli Couloir

Lyngen Alps Day 4

stock fish hanging up to dry

drop off point

leaving the village of Uloya

a hot slog up to the summit

does it get any better?

a bit tricky in the trees

almost back to the boat

Our second trip to the island of Uloya. This time a different drop off on the other side of the island at a small fishing port.

Tonnes of stock fish were drying in the cold air and we had a chance to look in the old village shop, just about the only building on the island with any signs of life.

We took a line up through the trees to about 380m and after a short stop continued a traverse with views out over the fjord. we really lucked out compared to the previous day with blue sky and temperature at about -2c just about perfect for 5 hours of skinning!

We hadnt seen many people out here in all the previous days but today we passed an old italian guy on snow shoes, by himself, at about 1000m edging his way up to the summit. He turned out to be from gressoney, which is a cracking little italian resort in the Aosta valley where houghty and I have skied a couple of times with Shep. He seemed to be enjoying himself.

Another 2 hours and we reached the summit in the most perfect conditions. All of us were eager to start the descent having had celar views of the powder fields lying below us almost the entire way down to the beach. The majority of the descent looked like a wide open powder paradise and all of us were brimming with anticipation.

It did not disappoint. It is no exaggeration to tsay that this was in the top 5 best descents of my life.

At the top the powder was shin to knee deep and soft with about a 35 degree gradient, just about perfect for safe fast quick turns and Houghty and I put in some great tracks. A little lower down a thin wind crust had developed which made the turns more solid and required slighlty more effort but wow was it worth it!! 

We were all shouting for joy the whole way down and a few short stops for Shep to set up the camera were welcome in order to savour the moment.

In the distance we could see the boat leaving the harbour to come and collect us having radioed them at the half way point. We continued the decent down to the dense tree lien where we shot through the trees and into short stream valleys until we hit the road and shot straight over to the beach. The boat annchored off and sent the small dingy to collect us and several ferry trips were needed  for all the kit and the 7 of us. As we motored away from the island our entire track line could clearly be seen rolling off from the summit and snaking down the side of the mountainm then disappearing into the trees. Quite a sight!

What a day! 

Lyngen Alps Day 3

A bad weather day to say the least. After getting up early anticipating a long day we changed the plans and skinned up the home mountain behind Lyngen Lodge.

More great scenery to take in during a cold slog uphill. With 10cm of fresh snow overnight we had to break trail all the way to the top which took its toll on is all, although mostly Shep at the front! A short hot chocolate break and then a final 2 hour puch to summit, surrounded by cloud.

We could just make out the cornice at the top of mountain but darent get to close and the gps said we were at the summit. That’s good enough for us given the sheer cliff over the edge.

We decided to descend straight away due to the cold and precarious nature of the summit so quickly packed away skins and clicked into ski mode for the descent. With flat light most of the way down it took concentration but the snow was good and with careful navigation we found some nice clear bowls where the cloud cleared and we could put in some fast turns.

At about 500 metres we got to the tree line and had great fun zipping in between the tight silver birches and dropping off covered boulders until we reached the road.

Durks and I decide to ski straight over the road and onto the beach so claim another summit to sea!

A short 300m walk back along the road to the lodge and a very welcome hot tub was waiting for us.

Lyngen Alps Day 2

summit to sea

Spriit of Lyngen

leaving the village on the hike up

weather took a turn for the worse

summit to sea!

We woke to a small amount of snowfall overnight. Today we decided to take the boat and explore one of the many islands in the Lyngen area, Uloya.

The plan was for a traverse of the island from east to west taking in the summit of Blaatinden.

We got dropped off at an old fishing village

and after a brief look at the old fishing factory where they dry fish to export, mostly to Italy. Its a delicacy apparently but one that requires a strong lager to help it go down, so i’m told!

Todays climb started by a very pleasant walk up through the trees into a long shallow valley. Two very large golden eagles were sitting on rocks and taking it in turns to circle for prey. A great experience.

Unfortunately the weather gradually closed in and visibility was reduced to only a few feet as we approached the summit. In addition we were approaching the edge of the summit with a 800m drop so took it easy. We diverted to another option for the descent. The skiing was good and we ended up on the beach for the boat pick up.

 

Lyngen Alps Day 1

Steve the squirrel decided to hitch a ride on the back of houghty’s sack.

We began the week with a skin up behind the lodge to the summit of Sorbmegaiser. Not great weather and although good snow visibility was poor higher up. This was a great first day kit tester and no failures to report.

Enroute we crossed some animal tracks, possible from a lynx

With the cold weather I had trouble getting my body temperature right. Started with 4 layers, then 3, then up to 5 at lunch and back to 3 for the descent.

Its interesting how fabric technology makes it a lot easier to regulate temperature but of course everyone heats and cools in different ways. Trial and error is the only way.

I tour in a SKINS base layer followed by a Marmot mid layer, a fleece gilet and a RAB Extreme shell. It works out well and i usually carry my RAB summit jacket and a softshell in my pack. As you can see in the photo below Durks chooses to skin in short sleeves whilst Houghty is fully kitted up in his shell!

The ski down was in very good snow but limited viz, making it challenging, but as a first descent in the Lyngen Alps, a real pleasure, with fun to be had in the trees.

We returned to the lodge a very happy bunch after a great introduction to Lyngen alps ski touring. And to top it all off I spotted several whales swimming about 500m off the beach when drinking a cold beer before supper.

The day finished with a test of the hot tub and a fantastic king crab meal.