2.5 Day Haute Route
Iain Kennedy is raising money for The Muscle Help Foundation
“Iain Kennedy's fundraising”
on 14 February 2011
Story
The Haute Route the fast way for charity
Chamonix to Zermatt in two and a half days.
1 – 3 April 2011
The team: Iain Kennedy, Duncan Berry, Iain Hill-Trevor, Oli Stewart, Jon McIntosh, Cameron Jack & Mark Richardson
This trip was germinated from an idea of Iain K’s and the counsel of his long standing Chamonix guide. The team consisted of a gathering of ski fanatics and mutual friends. The usual 5-6 days Chamonix to Zermatt high mountain crossing did not seem ambitious enough for the challenge anxious (and in some cases time poor) team. The aim was to take on an adventure to raise for “The Muscular Help Foundation”. We succeeded and as a thank you for the support here is an account for those interested, or indeed for those who may want to recreate this ski tour.
Thursday night: The 3 man London contingent arrived in Chamonix at 20.30. Matthieu our effervescent guide was there to meet the team and hand out gear to the relative novices (Cameron and Duncan). The bewildering array of kit we faced included: Skins (for sticking on the base of skis & walking uphill), avalanche transceivers, probes and shovels, harnesses and carabineers all somewhat familiar; the ski and boot crampons were less so. The 7 man team were given stern warnings about keeping our packs light. This was less of an issue for 3 acclimatised ski tour veterans who had had weeks in the Alps already. For the rest of us, the mountain hardwear, plus 2 litres of water, plus daytime food and night time clothes; minus discarded extra layers, but plus sun caps to shield us from the glare on the glaciers weighed in at 10kg. We grabbed a late supper and a restless 6 hours sleep waiting for the 6.30 am alarm so that we could regroup, kitted up and ready to go with our two guides.
Friday: (1700m[1] of climbing) (Key route points are in bold)
After a rushed breakfast we make the first lift to the top of the Grands Montets and ski down to the Argentière Glacier. This was disconcerting for a couple of us tumbling down in ankle deep crud on the still unfamiliar, freshly out of the shop rental touring skis. The pro’s in the group were flying.
Climb up to the top of Chardonnet Pass: (750m of up) This takes around two and a half hours. The novices are still getting used to sliding the touring skis and skins forward as effortlessly as possible, an important technique to conserve energy for 5 - 7 hours of ascending a day. The first dreaded kick turn[2] came on a 45 degree hairpin in our track up a steep icy slope with a guide pinned below us to catch us if we fell.
Ski down the Saleina Glacier. This hellish descent starts with a “classic” abseil off the ridge, we thread the rope around our arms and across our shoulders and then skitter sideways off the edge and down a traitorous couloir with skis on. Then next ordeal we faced comes in the form of leg sapping crud, with an encore of slush and avalanche ice boulders lower down. To conclude our descent we fought our way over a seemingly endless web of bare rocks, streams & trees intermittently covered by snow with the consistency of porridge. This was a nightmarish hour of struggling and stumbling, skis on, skis off, pouring with sweat we just make our rendezvous with the taxi from Praz de Fort to Verbier.
Top of Mont Fort in Verbier. Starving by now we have forced down dry bread sandwiches before making the last lift only to have to divert for an additional hour and 250m ascent over the ridge in Verbier due to avalanche risk. We finally skin up below the Rosablanche, 500m of plodding up with the toe bindings on the skis click clacking under us at an ever slowing rate. This is tortuous 2 hours, most of us have run out of water and some are sucking on small mouthfuls of snow to stave off dehydration.
Ski down to Prafleuri hut. Skiing off the top we hit a short field of powder which almost goes unnoticed as our jelly legs try and glide the skis through it. We collapse into the hut just in time for supper at 6.30pm and before it goes dark.
Saturday (1800m of climbing):
Early start, 4.30 am alarm after sweltering restless night in the 10 man bunk room laid out 3 abreast on mattresses across the wooden platforms. We’re not sure who won the snoring contest. Some of us have blisters to fix as we force down as much breakfast as we can manage and try and fully hydrate before another day under the scorching sun arcing over us in cloudless crystal clear blue skies.
First leg is 800m up. As we ascend in the early dawn head torches mark our meandering procession into the stillness of the high mountain air. The sun creeps upon us in time for a jarring icy traverse into an infamously dangerous valley littered with recent avalanches. One of us takes a head over heels fall, both skis pinging off as a boot is caught while trying to navigate fridge sized blocks of debris. Two of the group are shaken and bruised by the time we eventually make it over a groaning ice crust to the frozen stream at the foot of the Pigne d’Arolla ascent (900m+ up).
Despite a stop after 2 hours of climbing to eat every step on this slope saps our energy. Through one of the flatter sections the back markers are roped up as the risk of hidden crevasses rises. At one point our guide tells us we have got lucky as we can zigzag up a normally blue ice step. Our ski crampons crunch into a yielding ice pack rather than having to switch to ropes & boot crampons. The last 90 minutes are interminable, the group is strung out over half a mile, those of us sea levellers (having come straight from London) are suffering from the altitude, our vision is blurring from sweat and effort. We are all reeling from hours under the sun’s hammering glare while exposed on an anvil of dazzling snow and ice.
We collapsed at the top to prepare for the way down to the Vignette hut. It is a short ski down but requires some juddering side slipping and a few jump turns on the steeper ground. Our legs and blistered feet are struggling to respond. We finally arrive at 15.30 at the hut perched like an eagles nest at an altitude of 3160m high above the valley floor. Most of us strip off our soaking gear and collapse into our bunks to try to doze before supper. There is no running water in this hut but at least the food is plentiful and good. A few beers and litres of bottled water help bring us back to life. The refuge is at full capacity, touring kit is hanging from every hook and wire. Tonight’s room has 16 snoring mountaineers to contend with. Iain K’s feet require special attention as we gawp at the fresh steak texture of the open wounds over his heels. We repack our dry gear and are lying down by 21.30; sleep is snatched an hour at a time as we wrestle with headaches from the altitude.
Sunday – Zermatt is in reach! Only 1050 m of climbing today
4.45am alarm, we crawl out of our sleeping bag liners in the dark. Working our way into the blackness we teeter across the arête from the hut to an icy slide along the valley with head torches picking out the way. Our skis are clattering in frozen tracks and throwing up sparks on rocks before we get to the climb up the L’Eveque Pass. We are pushing hard to make time in the cool morning air and pass a couple of slower groups. A short ski down then skins back on. The final leg of the ascent on the Mont Brulé pass requires us to don boot crampons and strap our skis on to our packs. The next 25 minutes are spent kicking our way up the 55 degree slope, we stab at it with ice axes to help pin ourselves onto the wall of hard packed snow. The respite at the top is very welcome, our guides tells us eat in preparation for another 2 hour skin up the Valpelline Pass. This is the last climb but we are all settled into our private battles as the ascent over the glacier stretches away to the horizon. The last ramp pits us against a glistening slope, pressing down as we go the skins fight to gain traction.
The view at the top of the pass is breath taking, we are sitting at the head of a circle of mountains and glaciers. Zermatt is in miniature 2 hours ski time away in the distant valley bellow. Having drunk the last of our water we shoot down over powder fields, followed by slopes of hard crusted snow littered with football sized shattered ice fall from the glacial cliffs that loom ominously above us. As we plummet, skirting open crevasses, the temperature rises and the spray from easy yielding spring snow draws whoops from our guide. The vista opens up and the Matterhorn now towers above us, another 30 mins of traversing and we shuffle onto Zermatt’s peripheral pistes.
When we make it into the town the restaurant terraces are sun drenched and basking in 25 degrees. We are sunburnt, dishevelled and elated; beer has seldom tasted so good.
Job done most of us sleep at every opportunity on the journey back. A taxi to Chamonix, and then late evening flights out of Geneva. We all agreed we had not expected to work that hard for the sponsorship and are extremely grateful to our supporters.
We hope you are inspired to dream up the next challenge, we need our feet to have healed up and legs stopped aching first.
[1] As a rule of thumb every 250m of vertical takes roughly 1 hour on skis with skins on. It varies depending on snow conditions & angle of slope.
[2]Turns made on steep ground by turning the skis through >90 degrees and kicking the uphill ski round while it is dangling from the boot toe binding – not easy and energy sapping, the balancing on one leg through the change in direction is precarious, if you lose traction and slide or get tangled up there are usually dangerous drops when you need to turn like this.