Night before the trip begins:
We meet in the alpine climbing center of Chamonix for a dinner meeting to discuss the logistics of the trip.
Day 1
Today we take the amazing Aiguille du Midi tramway to access the famed Vallee Blanche. We spend the day touring the Vallee Blanche area to get acclimated and doing avalanche beacon practice before skiing down the Mer de Glace back to town...9,000 vertical feet and 16 miles.
Day 2
We begin the Haute Route Tour by taking the Grand Montets tram out of the town on Argentierre and skiing down to the Argentierre Glacier. Then it's up the Chardonnay Glacier to the Col du Chardonnay and then an exciting rapell down the other side into Switzerland. We make our way across the Trient Glacier to the Trient Hut where we spend the night.
Day 3
We have a great ski down to the Champex, Swizterland, down the Val d'arpette where we transfer by taxi to the ski resort village of Verbier. There we take the ski lifts back up to the high alpine terrain and then ski down to the Mont Forte Hut, where we spend the night. The Mont Forte hut has been recently remodeled and is very comfortable.
Day 4
We leave the Monte Forte Hut and the Verbier area and make our way to towards the Prafleuri Hut across the Grand Deserts Glacier. Today there may be some extra time for some great ski descents in the area of the hut.
Day 5
Today we travel over the Col des Roux and then climb up to the Dix Hut
Day 6
This day is spent climbing up the Pigne d'Arolla and then making a fantastic descent down to the Vignettes Hut which occupies an amazing position perched on the side of a large cliff overlooking the glaciers.
Day 7
A long day, but one of the most spectacular, as we ski across numerous cols and seven glaciers and then down the Stockli Glacier, passing under the North Face of the Matterhorn before arriving in the town of Zermatt.
Day 8
This day is reserved as a weather day in case we need it during the tour or we will use it to do an off-piste tour in the Zermatt area. Possible options include ski tours and descents from the Kleine Matterhorn lift such as the famous Schwartztor tour back to town.
