HAUTE ROUTE

The 'Haute Route', (or The High Route or Mountaineers' Route) is the name given to a route (with several variations) undertaken on foot or by ski running between Chamonix, France and Zermatt, Switzerland.
First charted as a summer mountaineering route by members of the Alpine Club (UK) in the mid 19th Century, the route takes around 12+ days walking (or 7+ days skiing) running the 180 km from the Chamonix valley, home of Mont Blanc to Zermatt, home of the Matterhorn.
Since the route was originally walked by members of an English club they dubbed it the 'The High Route'; however, this became translated into French when it was first successfully undertaken on skis in 1911. Now it is commonly referred to by English speakers only by the French title for both summer and winter routes.

Contents

Walking Haute Route

Huts and villages on the walking route

Low level variation huts and villages

Ski Touring Haute Route

Verbier Variation (ski)

Classic Route (ski)

Peaks and passes on the route (not necessarily sumitted, but visible)

Reference

External links

Walking Haute Route

The classic route's popularity has been hit lately due to dangerously collapsing glaciers. Some parts of the route have become virtually impassable. This is believed to be due to global warming; however the glaciers have been receding since the end of the Little Ice Age.
However it should be noted that a lower level variation^[1] exists that crosses no glaciers at all ''(as of the 2001 revision and the latest; Feb 2007)''.

Huts and villages on the walking route

★ Le Tour village, France

★ Albert Premier Hut

★ Trient Hut or Orny Hut

★ Champex town, Switzerland

★ Valsorey Hut or Chanrion Hut

★ Vignettes Hut

★ Arolla village, Switzerland

★ Bertol Hut

★ Schonbiel Hut

★ Zermatt town, Switzerland

Low level variation huts and villages

★ Chamonix town, France

★ Argentière village, France

★ Trient village, Switzerland

★ Champex village, Switzerland

★ Sembrancher village, Switzerland

★ Le Chable village, Switzerland

★ Verbier village, Switzerland

★ Arolla village, Switzerland

★ Les Haudères village, Switzerland

★ Zinal village, Switzerland

★ Gruben village, Switzerland

★ St Niklaus village, Switzerland

★ Zermatt town, Switzerland

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.

Verbier Variation (ski)

★ Day 1: Argentière, 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 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.

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.

Peaks and passes on the route (not necessarily sumitted, but visible)

★ Mont Blanc

★ Pigne D'Arolla

★ Col de L'Eveque

★ Grand Combin

★ Col du Mt. Brule

★ Col de Valpelline

★ Dent d'Hérens

★ Matterhorn

Reference

1. Reynolds, Kev, ''Chamonix - Zermatt: The Walker's Haute Route'' ISBN 1-85284-327-6
2. Cliff, Peter, ''The Haute Route: Chamonix-Zermatt'' ISBN 1-871890-21-7

External links

★ Haute Route 2003 - report - Czech

★ Haute Route 2001 - report - Czech

★ Cosley & Houston Guides This web-site includes an equipment pack list, maps, photos & route descriptions of the winter Haute Route.

★ Mark Seaton, Mountain Guide This web-site includes an equipment pack list, photos of Haute Routes, links to snow, avalanche & mountain conditions on the Haute Route, stories about the Haute Route & other climbs, a blog with descriptions of recent trips & Google-Earth coordinates for the winter Haute Route.

★ Swiss Topo the Swiss make beautiful 1:50,000 topographic maps with ski routes--including Haute Route variations--in red. ''5003: Mont Blanc - Grand Combin'' and ''5006: Matterhorn - Mischabel'' cover the area the Haute Route runs through specifically.

★ Vanishing Glaciers Skiing the Haute Route grows more difficult each year, as global warming shrinks the glaciers.

★ Walks in and around the Chamonix Valley

★ Pro Guiding Service This web-site includes photos and video of the winter Haute Route.

★ Kev Reynolds Writer of ''The Walker's Haute Route'' ''(see #Reference)''

★ ''The Walker's Haute Route'' updates Updates to ''The Walker's Haute Route'' are posted here.