The Haute Route – Part 2

June 07, 2010 | By Toby Mallock

We were amazingly lucky with the weather considering that the forecast was for snow. We were up at 5am which is a ridiculous time to be getting up to do exercise. But we rose to a clear, cold morning which was stunning to say the least.

Our walk around Lac du Dix to the Cabine was a hard slog due to the flat slope the majority of the way. It’s amazing how time flys when you have an iPod.

Day 3 saw us assent up to the highest peak Pigne d’Arolla at over 3,700m. A long but satisfying day. The ski down to Arolla was fantastic, great spring snow. a decent of over 3,000m.

We accented 1,800m up to Cabine de Bertol on day 4. Just the most dramatic scenery although at times it felt like we were in battle due to the amount of helicopters buzzing over head setting up the PDG. That night we stayed in the highest cabine in Switzerland perched on the top of a rock crop. The climb up to it was surprisingly challenging.

Our last day was a smallish climb up to Tete Blanche and then the long ski down the glacier to Zermatt. All in all an amazing experience for all. I would recommend the trip to anyone, pretty much regardless of their off-piste experience.

Video to follow….T