, April 22-28, 2018
April 23, 9:00 am . Altitude 9,500ft.
*I just climbed with skins on my skis 1,500 ft, from the Argentiere glacier. I asked myself _*”What am I doing here?”_*. *
*I felt weak, tired-and +*I am not+* used to feel like this. It was hard to catch my breath.*
Francis, my guide-looks at me and says ”Alon, are you OK?”. I was not OK, but I replied ”I will l be fine”.
Francis said ”Something is not right with you. You have to decide-its now or there is no point of return”. I think to myself, no way I am quitting. What the heck, I have rescue insurance with the Helicopter-worst comes to worst ,the Heli will rescue me.
And I continued.
This is how I felt the second day out of the 7 days -the time needed to complete the famous Haute Route.http://www.fall-line.co.uk/a-dummys-guide-to-skiing-the-haute-route/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haute_Route
It’s one of the most famous ski tours in the world , and it is the most famous one in the Alps.
It connects the highest peaks-Mt.Blanc in France and Zermatt in Switzerland. It crosses multiple glaciers and mountain passes, at an average of 3,000 meters .
The world works in mysterious ways. 2 years ago I started A.T by pure chance, and now I found myself touring this incredible tour. I never heard the name of Haute Route ’till a year ago..
However, when I was told that there is an opening for participating in this tour, I jumped on it.
So on April 20 2018 I flew to Milan, and from there to Chamonix. John Kim, a nice and easy going fellow from NY that I met during my last ski trip, was my touring partner. And our guide was Francis Kelsey, a very experienced and no non sense guide ,with whom I skied previously.
I recall asking Francis_” Hey , so you think I’ ll be able to do it with with no problems ?”_ Francis looks at me in the eyes and says ”_You will be able to do it,_ but I did not say no problem “
I did not realize how strenuous this tour will be, and also did not realize that we will above 3,000 m ( around 10,000 ft) all the time. I was not acclimatized at all. John however spent a few weeks in Telluride. I figured that by taking Diamox I won’t need acclimatization.
After all , I did this many times in the past. Taking Diamox and going skiing. But this time I was not downhill skiing. I was climbing !
The first day started in Argentiere, a 10 min train ride from Chamonix.
We took 2 gondolas, and from the Montetes we went underneath a rope in the “backcountry” and onto the Argentiere glacier. We made our way to the Argentiere hut, where we spent the first night .Those huts have dorm rooms that consist of bunk beds-but those are not separate -there are 2 platforms , one on top of the other.
Each platform sleeps 8 people .So 16 people in a tiny room .Imagine the noises and smells at night. I slept before in similar huts , but I don’t think John expected to sleep elbow to elbow with me and the other guys ….
That first night I could not sleep. Even going to the restroom was a hike in the dark.At 5 am we were up, having breakfast -and off we went at 5:30 am .It was cloudy, windy, and there was a mix of sleet/freezing rain .
We skied on ice down the glacier, and than we had to bootpack with boot crampons on and climb on the moraine . And than -we started skinning . And at 9:00 am I asked myself _”what am I doing here?”._
But I did not want to be part of the 50% of skiers that don’t finish this tour (either due to weather or fatigue). So I kept going.
Dunno how, but when I had to start bootpacking again one hour later, in a very steep chute, boot crampons on , helping to propel myself up with the ice ax in my right hand -somehow the adrenaline rush clicked in and pushed all the right buttons in my heart, lungs and brain. And I knew I’ll be fine.
We spent 6 nights in huts. Argentiere was the first night in France, and than we crossed into Switzerland and slept in Cabane du Trient/ Prafleuri/ Des Dix/ Vignettes/ Bertol.
The weather was great after the second day. I only had one full night of sleep, but who needed sleep? I was full of Adrenaline for the whole trip.
We crossed mutiple mountain passes , and I heard many times “Don’t fall here “ .
John had a fall one time in an icy place, and had major abrasions on his face. He was lucky . Worse could have happened.
We used all our gear: skins, ski crampons, boot crampons, ice ax, roped through our harness. (Well, thankfully we did not use our shovel, probe and beacon)
And of course everything that we had for one week was on our back, in the backpack.So yea, We turned into ski-Mountaineers .
The typical day started with breakfast at 5 am, 5:30 departure -and arriving most of the days at our next hut around noon. No stops while climbing, except during “transitions” :adding or removing equipment. It’s extremely hot skinning later on during the day in the sun , when it burns and slowly cooks you, and it’s also more dangerous-avalanches take place in the early afternoon, due to heating of the snow.
Earlier in the morning it’s cold, which is good when you climb up-but the snow is icy and tricky. You can’t have it all .
The food in the huts was simple but nourishing a swiss dish of potatoes, eggs and bacon. We also had great beer and wine.
Water in the Swiss huts its EXPENSIVE. $12 for 1.5 liters . After all the Heli is the only way to bring in supplies .
But those huts, OMG- they were all impressive.
Some more than others ….But Vignettes is incredible -on a huge rocky cliff, like a mirage. And Bertol, perched on a cliff and requiring a death defying ladder to get into .
The highest point of the trip was Pinge d’Arolla( 3,796 m -12, 454 ft.)
The longest descent was from Tete Blanche(3,710 m-12,172ft )across from the Matterhorn to Zermatt. A 7,000 ft vertical drop.
The views were amazing , and the feeling of being by ourselves in this vast glaciated terrain is indescribable .
The tour was challenging-physically and mentally. But this is good, and without being too cliche, one can truly discover what he’s made of.
And we were lucky -3 days after we have been at the Vignettes Hut, a group of 14 skiers got stuck for the night – 500 m from the hut , in a snowstorm which caused a white out.
6 people died from Hypothermia, and the guide fell to his death . Other skiers/ski rescuers died in the Alps that day as well . There is a picture below showing us almost exactly in the same spot that they were stuck . https://www.outsideonline.com/2302926/most-deadly-day-alps-decades
The last day of this tour was glorious: We left the Bertol hut, climbing to Tete Blanche. Skiing down to Zermatt on the glaciers, avoiding the crevasses, skiing thru some huge seracs.
April 28 ,11:22 am-5276 ft
We are finally in front of a little barrier that implies the skis must be taken off. We are entering Zermatt . We made it! I was very thankful we had Francis as a guide . He was able to push, encourage and help at the same time .
From Zermatt we drove to Chamonix, and from there to Milan.
I was so happy to take a hot shower at the hotel.
Aww, what an experience !
https://youtu.be/8qgxGlfxueA ( video done by Francis -using a drone )
