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Haute Route

Kim Kircher

Certified Ski Diva
Last spring, my husband and I ski toured from Chamonix to Zermatt (well, almost to Zermatt. The weather turned foul and we didn't make it over the last col.) What an amazing trip! I would recommend this one to anyone up for a little adventure. The Alps are amazing, the ski history is rich and the turns aren't bad either. The trip takes about five days, and you stay in huts. Some of the huts are better than others, and several have recently been renovated. Gone are the days (and nights!) at the Vignette Hut when one must hover over a 5,000 foot drop above a glacier when using the "loo". This was my second trip on the Haute Route, and I have to admit that I did not miss the old two-seater at Vignette.
Some nights, I found myself the only woman amongst a roomful of boisterous men, none of whom had showered in days. Besides all the olfactory surprises, I heartily suggest a trip to the Alps. It's a classic, and when you go there, you will see why.
 

RachelV

Administrator
Staff member
This sounds amazing.

Can you recommended any guided tours that will take you on this route? I want to get to the Alps this winter, but I have no prospective tripmates at the moment and would like to do it with a group. Not to mention that I don't have the skills to do something like that without a guide, anyways. :smile:
 

Pequenita

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
This sounds amazing.

Can you recommended any guided tours that will take you on this route? I want to get to the Alps this winter, but I have no prospective tripmates at the moment and would like to do it with a group. Not to mention that I don't have the skills to do something like that without a guide, anyways. :smile:

I think Pro Guiding Service out of North Bend, WA, regularly does trips there. It's on my list of things to do, but I don't know when.
 

Kim Kircher

Certified Ski Diva
This sounds amazing.

Can you recommended any guided tours that will take you on this route? I want to get to the Alps this winter, but I have no prospective tripmates at the moment and would like to do it with a group. Not to mention that I don't have the skills to do something like that without a guide, anyways. :smile:

Rachel, I definitely recommend using a guide. In addition to the fact that the Haute Route requires tricky route finding over glaciers, it also demands that you have a place to stay in the huts. And UIAGM approved guides have first dibs on the beds in the huts. Granted, I know some who have navigated both the glaciers and the hut keepers without a French, or Swiss, guide. Still, I think its pretty tough to do.

ProGuiding Service offers a trip. Martin Volken (www.proguiding.com) is a consumate guide, and I would recommend him highly. I've met him, and besides being a great guide, he's also open and friendly. He's a Swiss-born American guide. However, his trip runs a little too early for us. He departs in March. We had to wait until the end of April after the ski season was over since my husband and I work at a ski area.

So we went with Chamonix Experience (www.chamex.com) and they were great. We stayed in Argentiere the night before the trip started, did a shake down tour the first day, and everything else went smoothly. Our guide, Yves Lagesse, was safe, thorough and very competent.

Let me know if you have any other questions. If you are thinking about this trip, take a look at the websites above, so you can start day dreaming about it. Can't recommend it enough.

Cheers!
 

RachelV

Administrator
Staff member
Thanks! The Chamonix Experience guys in particular offer a lot that I might be interested in.
 

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