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Ski Touring Haute Route
First successfully completed in 1911 The Haute Route ski tour is likely the most famous and coveted ski tour in the world. Using high mountain huts to allow skiers to stay high and cover substantial distances, it winds through the highest, most dramatic peaks of the Alps. It requires good weather, favourable snow conditions and strong effort to complete this line. Because of this, only 50% of the skiers who begin the tour complete it.
While all Haute Routes work their way between Chamonix and Zermatt, there are many variations of the HLR (High Level Route 2 including Grand Lui Variation, Zermatt-Saas Fee, Verbier-Zermatt. The purest skiing line, and the most frequently done, is the Verbier variation. The Classic route is the route's original line which crosses over the Plateau du Couloir on the Grand Combin. It involves long climbs and mountaineering with ice axe and crampons.
[edit] Verbier Variation (ski)
Day 1: Argentière, France, over the Col du Chardonnay and the Fainter du Saleina to the Trient hut.
Day 2: Champex-Lac via the Val d'Arpette. Bus or taxi to Verbier and the Mont Fort hut.
Day 3: Over the Rosablanche to the Prafleuri hut.
Day 4: Around Dixence reservoir and up to the Dix hut.
Day 5: Over the Pigne d'Arolla to the Vignette hut.
Day 6: A long day to Zermatt over the Col de l'Eveque, Col du Mont Brulé and Col de Valpelline, then a long descent under the shoulder of the Matterhorn and Dent d'Herens.
Day 7: Optional extension to Saas-Fee over the Adler Pass.
[edit] Classic Route (ski)
Day 1: Argentiere village, France, over the Col du Chardonnay and the Fenetre du Saleina to the Trient hut.
Day 2: Champex-Lac via the Val d'Arpette. Bus or taxi to Bourg-St.Pierre.
Day 3: Long climb up to the Valsorey hut on the shoulder of Grand Combin.
Day 4: Over the Plateau du Couloir and down the Glacier du Mont Durand to the Chanrion hut.
Day 5: A long climb up the Otemma glacier to the Vignette hut.
Day 6: A long day to Zermatt over the Col de l'Eveque, Col du Mont Brulé and Col de Valpelline, then a long descent under the shoulder of the Matterhorn and Dent d'Herens.
Day 7: Optional extension to Saas-Fee over the Adler Pass.
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