Fitness for the Haute Route - any tips?
 

A group of five of my friends, all early 40s in age, want to do the Haute
Route this spring. Some have had a little ski touring experience and we all
have had only a very little mountaineering experience. We are all good hill
walkers though and some can ski very well, others are good intermediates.
We plan to take a guide. The main concern is if we are physically up to the
job.

Is it very strenuous? How can you describe or compare the effort that is
involved?

Thanks,
John

In article , John Mason
wrote:
A group of five of my friends, all early 40s in age, want to do the
Haute Route this spring. Some have had a little ski touring
experience and we all have had only a very little mountaineering
experience. We are all good hill walkers though and some can ski very
well, others are good intermediates. We plan to take a guide. The main
concern is if we are physically up to the job.

Is it very strenuous? How can you describe or compare the effort that is
involved?

Thanks,
John


Yes it is very strenuous and this is also dependent on the weather
conditions. I did it some 4 years ago (I'm now 46) in fairly extreme
conditions and it was very tough going. Most groups who set out at the
same time as us abandoned their attempts along the way.

Weather and snow conditions are the biggest factor. Many experienced
tourers make several attempts before they are lucky enough to have a
weeks good weather and the right snow conditions.

My website shows some details of the route

URL:http://www.path.cam.ac.uk/~mrc7/cccc/hauteroute/

and also the altitude profiles of each day

URL:http://www.path.cam.ac.uk/~mrc7/cccc/hauteroute/profile.html

We all lost a fair amount of weight over the 10 days of our trip, but
none of us experienced blisters which are a common problem for some
parties. We all owned our own kit and had boots that were fitted
correctly by a specialist shop - "Footworks" in Chamonix.

We also kept our pack weights to a reasonable 20 lbs (i.e. well under
10kgs).

I did lots of walking and cycling in the weeks leading up to our trip.
The major point is that you have to repeat a long days effort for day
after day.


Mike
--
o/ \\ // |\ ,_ o Mike Clark
\__,\\ // __o | \ / /\, "A mountain climbing, cycling, skiing,
" || _`\,_ |__\ \ | immunology lecturer, antibody engineer and
` || (_)/ (_) | \corn computer user"

In article , John Mason
wrote:
A group of five of my friends, all early 40s in age, want to do the
Haute Route this spring. Some have had a little ski touring
experience and we all have had only a very little mountaineering
experience. We are all good hill walkers though and some can ski very
well, others are good intermediates. We plan to take a guide.

I can make some comments based on conversations with numerous guides.

Most of the guides I have spoken to would prefer to have a party for the
Haute Route that consisted of good skiers, rather than those who were
experienced mountaineers but who were poor skiers!

I started out my attempts at ski-touring in that second category in that
I took up skiing very late compared to my mountaineering. I remember
after a couple of days with a Guide touring in the Grande St Bernard
area, we were told that if we wanted to come touring again we should
first improve our skiing on piste! We did and we did.

Basically on routes such as the Haute Route the days are quite long and
the snow conditions can often be very difficult, with problems such as
breakable crust, ice, heavy wet snow, and combined with limited
manoeuvrability as you ski around crevasses and rocks. If you're skiing
ability is poor then no matter how fit you are, you're going fall over
frequently and will in consequence burn up lots of energy and tire
quickly. Good skiers will be able to conserve their energy.

If you're*fit hill walkers and have a reasonable head for heights a
guide will be able to compensate for any failings in your mountaineering
skills.


Mike URL:http://www.path.cam.ac.uk/~mrc7/
--
o/ \\ // |\ ,_ o Mike Clark
\__,\\ // __o | \ / /\, "A mountain climbing, cycling, skiing,
" || _`\,_ |__\ \ | immunology lecturer, antibody engineer and
` || (_)/ (_) | \corn computer user"

But most of the multi-day routes in the Alps are _not_ like the Haute Route.
Typically you just cross one pass to get to the next hut, unlike the HR
where you often cross two or three 3000 meter passes in a single day.

Basically on routes such as the Haute Route
the days are quite long . . .

There are several other hut-to-hut tours in the Alps that offer a much
higher ratio of fun + skiing to work + commitment than the HR. The HR is an
especially inferior to other tours for parties with a wide range of skiing
skills and climbing speeds.

Most of the guides I have spoken to would prefer
to have a party for the Haute Route

I bet those guides would be even happier if the party approached them to
aski for a route more suitable as a first ski mountaineering tour in the
Alps.

Ken

In article ,
Ken Roberts wrote:
But most of the multi-day routes in the Alps are _not_ like the Haute
Route. Typically you just cross one pass to get to the next hut,
unlike the HR where you often cross two or three 3000 meter passes in
a single day.

Basically on routes such as the Haute Route
the days are quite long . . .

There are several other hut-to-hut tours in the Alps that offer a much
higher ratio of fun + skiing to work + commitment than the HR. The HR
is an especially inferior to other tours for parties with a wide range
of skiing skills and climbing speeds.

Most of the guides I have spoken to would prefer to have a party for
the Haute Route

I bet those guides would be even happier if the party approached them to
aski for a route more suitable as a first ski mountaineering tour in the
Alps.


Yes I agree with you absolutely on that one. When I started out
ski-touring I probably made the same mistake of just setting my sights
on the Haute Route as a "classic tour". Luckily we completed it first
attempt and only three years after I starting ski-touring, and thus I
got it out of my system.

My philosophy since has been very simple. Wait until March/April and
then just go touring wherever the conditions seem to be best. Be very
flexible with the itinerary, take lots of advice from locals, and just
enjoy the delights of ski-touring. If the weather turns bad where you
are, then check the forecasts, and more than likely you can get better
conditions by moving on to somewhere else.

As a result I've toured in France in the Valais and the Vanois, in
Switzerland in the Oberland, on the Swiss/Italian border, and in Italy,
and had a thoroughly enjoyable time each year. I've often come across
people who have spent most of their vacation in Chamonix just waiting
for the conditions to be right to start on the Haute Route and on
occasions this is the 2nd or 3rd attempt at the route.

Mike URL:http://www.path.cam.ac.uk/~mrc7/
--
o/ \\ // |\ ,_ o Mike Clark
\__,\\ // __o | \ / /\, "A mountain climbing, cycling, skiing,
" || _`\,_ |__\ \ | immunology lecturer, antibody engineer and
` || (_)/ (_) | \corn computer user"

Thanks for your comments and thanks for the webpage links - I had already
read it from doing a search of the web; I found your site very useful,
particularly the altitude profiles.

We have already discussed what might happen if we can't cope and it seems
that alternative tours may be not just an option but the preferred option.

If I can paraphrase, I think you are saying that if we are fairly fit then
it most likely will be skiing ability and weather/snow conditions that may
spoil things?

John


"Mike Clark" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Ken Roberts wrote:
But most of the multi-day routes in the Alps are _not_ like the Haute
Route. Typically you just cross one pass to get to the next hut,
unlike the HR where you often cross two or three 3000 meter passes in
a single day.

Basically on routes such as the Haute Route
the days are quite long . . .

There are several other hut-to-hut tours in the Alps that offer a much
higher ratio of fun + skiing to work + commitment than the HR. The HR
is an especially inferior to other tours for parties with a wide range
of skiing skills and climbing speeds.

Most of the guides I have spoken to would prefer to have a party for
the Haute Route

I bet those guides would be even happier if the party approached them to
aski for a route more suitable as a first ski mountaineering tour in the
Alps.


Yes I agree with you absolutely on that one. When I started out
ski-touring I probably made the same mistake of just setting my sights
on the Haute Route as a "classic tour". Luckily we completed it first
attempt and only three years after I starting ski-touring, and thus I
got it out of my system.

My philosophy since has been very simple. Wait until March/April and
then just go touring wherever the conditions seem to be best. Be very
flexible with the itinerary, take lots of advice from locals, and just
enjoy the delights of ski-touring. If the weather turns bad where you
are, then check the forecasts, and more than likely you can get better
conditions by moving on to somewhere else.

As a result I've toured in France in the Valais and the Vanois, in
Switzerland in the Oberland, on the Swiss/Italian border, and in Italy,
and had a thoroughly enjoyable time each year. I've often come across
people who have spent most of their vacation in Chamonix just waiting
for the conditions to be right to start on the Haute Route and on
occasions this is the 2nd or 3rd attempt at the route.

Mike URL:http://www.path.cam.ac.uk/~mrc7/
--
o/ \\ // |\ ,_ o Mike Clark
\__,\\ // __o | \ / /\, "A mountain climbing, cycling, skiing,
" || _`\,_ |__\ \ | immunology lecturer, antibody engineer and
` || (_)/ (_) | \corn computer user"

In article , John Mason
wrote:
Thanks for your comments and thanks for the webpage links - I had
already read it from doing a search of the web; I found your site very
useful, particularly the altitude profiles.

I must get around to adding some more of my tours. I've been into the
Oberland twice, and also traversed the Grande Paradisso for example.


We have already discussed what might happen if we can't cope and it
seems that alternative tours may be not just an option but the
preferred option.

That is a very good attitude. There are plenty of exhilarating
opportunities to be had touring in the alpine region. One of my
favourite areas is currently the Vanois. One advantage of avoiding the
Haute Route is that many of the other tours take in much less crowded
and more friendly huts, often with great cuisine.


If I can paraphrase, I think you are saying that if we are fairly fit
then it most likely will be skiing ability and weather/snow conditions
that may spoil things?

John


Yes that is a reasonable summary. The worse the snow and weather
conditions, the bigger the consequences of poor skiing ability.

Mike Clark, URL:http://www.path.cam.ac.uk/~mrc7/
--
o/ \\ // |\ ,_ o Mike Clark
\__,\\ // __o | \ / /\, "A mountain climbing, cycling, skiing,
" || _`\,_ |__\ \ | immunology lecturer, antibody engineer and
` || (_)/ (_) | \corn computer user"