For more info please read the Using Alpine Huts article which provides an overview of typical facilities, average costs to help you budget for lunches/drinks, and general info on hut etiquette. The ascent from the Dix Hut involves 900m of climb and takes about 3 hours, passing through some steep glacier terrain, including the passage of the Serpentine, which often has to be climbed on foot. The Walker's Haute Route is first and foremost a walk, but it is essential to note that it is graded a Black4 and is at the very top end of difficulty in terms of Alpine trekking. Further details can be found on our insurance info page. All rights reserved. International Alpine Guides is a world wide mountain guiding company based in California. Even had a bluebird powder day in Zermat the day after the tour. For flights and other travel options, including train, coach and driving, visit our Travel Planning page. From the bottom station of the chairlift, a short walk along the lakeside leads to our hotel, where we can eat, drink, shower and enjoy a comfortable night in the valley. We are a specialist adventure holiday company and mountain guide service for Climbing and Backcountry Skiing in Europe - just get in touch and we'll organise you a great holiday! For further information, please visit our Financial Protection page. Please enter a valid email address. Hotel details can be found on our Accommodation page. all US based skiers in the same group, in order to make such decisions easier. Physical Fitness > you should be at Ski Fitness Level 3. Thanks and I look forward to getting in contact again to discuss next year’s adventures! 550m ascent ~2-3hrs walking time to the hut, plus 2-3hrs skills training in the afternoon. You should have several week’s previous hut to hut ski touring experience. I’ve had many guides in my mountain adventures and I would say that Dave’s performance was the best I have ever seen and enjoyed. This exhilarating alpine adventure combines, off piste skiing and world-class ski touring. From the hut, we walk down a good path overlooking the glacier opposite the North Face of the Matterhorn past the old village of Zmutt, which was once used as summer settlement. You need to bear this in mind if you are booking on one of our trips and live in a different country, where your own governments’ travel advice may be different. Click or tap this notice to hide. At 3790m, the Pigne D’Arolla marks the highest point reached on the trip and is a wonderful viewpoint across the whole of the Western Alps. new participation requirements, travel advice, View calendar for dates, prices and availability, 2 nights accommodation in the Chamonix valley, including breakfast and evening meals, 7 nights accommodation in mountain huts and valley hotels, including breakfast and evening meals, Equipment hire: ice axe, crampons, helmet, harness and belay kit. Fly to Geneva with numerous budget airlines: for an overview of the best options check out the excellent Sky Scanner flight comparison website. The difficulty of the terrain is often underestimated and previous hiking experience in mountainous regions is essential. The summit views from the Pigne D’Arolla are some of the best in the region, so it’s well worth the effort! For further information, please visit our Financial Protection page. © 2020 Alpine Guides. Your guide will have all other safety kit, first aid and survival equipment. Hiring Equipment Please see our Equipment Hire page for more details. We operate what we believe is the finest mountaineering school in the country. Rooms are provided on a twin (or occasionally 4-6 person) sharing basis, but if you prefer a single room please let us know and we will confirm availability. The Walker's Haute Route is a walking trail through the French and Swiss Alps, for 200km (125 miles) from Chamonix in the West to Zermatt in the East. Happy to say that the website is bang on. If you need to top up your fitness for this trip, please see our ski touring training advice page. The Haute Route Ski Tour is the most famous ski tour in the world and a classic mountain journey. Your guide will run through kit checks and safety routines, as well as hand out any rental equipment, before going on to discuss the current weather and mountain conditions and how these affect our plans. On foot: you should be able to do the full Langdale Horseshoe: Langdale – Pike of Stickle – Angle Tarn – Bow Fell – Crinkle Crags – Pike of Blisco – Langdale in a day without finishing up exhausted. Technical Ski Ability > your off-piste ski ability should be at Ski Tech Level 3. Sign up for our newsletter for regular updates from Alpine Guides, 14 Wrenbeck Close, Otley, West Yorkshire, LS21 2BU United Kingdom. A number of our other touring trips are suitable for splitboards however, so if you’d like some advice and recommendations on these, then please get in touch. The whole trek is well over 300km and takes between two and three weeks. I know that some of the success belongs to the team, but it was Dave’s ability to gauge our strength and weakness and his talent in inspiring us that helped lead to this success. You need to be a fit and active Uk hill walker, but no prior alpine experience is necessary, as skills training in glacier travel and ice axe/crampon techniques are provided at the start of the trip. This a great source of info about fitness and experience requirements, the route, average weather and snow conditions through the season and what to expect each day before signing up. With international groups, we will try to put all eg. The trip is ideal for hikers and hill walkers who dream of venturing beyond the valley trails and up into high mountain terrain, but without undue technical difficulty. Here again, in the right conditions it’s sometimes possible to take a different line in order to find fresh snow. In any event, the touring skills you should have before setting out include: The Haute Route is possible on a splitboard, but being a long A to B tour, the route traverses a lot of terrain that it’s far quicker and easier to cover on skis. The trip was a fantastic success. If you have not skied with us before, then please read our Haute Route Advice page and drop us a line before you make an online booking. This is a much shorter day than the previous one, but it’s mostly uphill! I for one will be looking into more tours and I’d love to go on another next year. The route traverses passes, glaciers and easier summits along the way, offering stunning views and scenery. I liked the challenge of trying to complete a route, which gives the whole trip a tangible purpose, though obviously means the skiing is not necessarily always ideal. Alpine touring or Telemark skis no wider than 98mm wide underfoot without a lot of tip and tail rocker. Looking forward to doing something next year, any suggestions would be appreciated! Airport transfer from Geneva to Chamonix: Alternatively hire a car at Geneva airport (1.2 hrs drive to Cham). Either way, at the end of the lake the long climb up to the Dix Hut begins – usually in the afternoon sun. It does, however, require participants to be decent skiers. All rights reserved. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, please get in touch! – preferably hut to hut touring, but a week’s day touring is ok.  NB By a day tour, we mean a minimum of 2-3 hours uphill skinning in the day – ie  a shorter skin off the top of a lift in order to get a nice descent is something we’d consider as a regular off piste day. I can’t say enough about your company and the experience it provided us all. Recommendations and Advice Visit the Knowledge Base section of our website or our blog for equipment advice. The Haute Route This is an eight day high level glacier trek, linking the famous Alpine centres of Chamonix in France and Zermatt in Switzerland. From the amazing backcountry freeride ski terrain of Chamonix & Alagna to the famous Haute Route ski tour to the Ortler ski circuit of the Italian Alps, we ski guide the best skiing Europe has to offer. The Haute Route is 60 percent trail and 40 percent glacier travel and each day you will trek though high mountain passes, while skirting through alpine meadows and wildflowers. I think the rest of the group feels the same. Pushing onto Zermatt the final day ahead of foul weather was a tough call, but one we all appreciated. Leaving the village, we head up the valley and follow the hut approach path zig zagging up to the grassy Plans de Bertol, which makes for an ideal mid way rest spot. 3 or 4 nights accommodation in the Chamonix valley, including breakfast. If you need any help with this, then drop us a line and we’ll give you some recommendations. You also need some basic mountaineering experience, using ropes and crampons/ice axe. High alpine passes, quaint Swiss villages and sweeping mountain vistas are all found on the Haute Route Trek. * The Summer Haute Route Trek is justifiably world famous and makes for an amazing high mountain journey, traversing peaks, passes and glaciers between the famous Alpine centres of Chamonix and Zermatt. We’ll also have maps and guidebooks to show you. I would just like to say that Neil our guide was fantastic, he went above and beyond his duties as a guide – I can not express enough how grateful we are to him. If you want to get into ski touring, try a touring course or intro level ski tour. After breakfast, we head back down the ladders and onto the glacier, for an early morning trek across to the summit of the Tete Blanche (3707m). For the Haute Route we offer both weekend and mid week departure dates.