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"