am also indebted to each of my fellow authors who so enthusiastically agreed to take part in this project, and who regularly lifted my spirits by producing such inspiring text and photographs. It’s been a real privilege to work with them.
As ever, I wish to record my gratitude to all the team at Cicerone who work wonders in transforming a disc full of words and another of photographs into the attractive volume you hold in your hands. My fellow authors and I have the pleasure of walking the trails and reliving them through our work; the production team in Milnthorpe weaves the magic.
My thanks, then, to everyone involved in Trekking in the Alps – and to you for buying a copy. May it inspire you to follow some of these treks and give you as much pleasure as we gained while walking and reliving them.
Kev Reynolds
Updates to this Guide
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Front cover: The Grand Combin massif seen from above Lac de Louvie (photo: Jonathan Willilams) Back cover: The higher slopes of the Cheval Blanc (Tour of Mont Ruan) (photo: Hilary Sharp)
CONTENTS
Trek 1 Grande Traversata delle Alpi: GTA – Gillian Price
Trek 2 Tour of the Queyras – Alan Castle
Trek 3 Tour of the Oisans – Kev Reynolds
Trek 4 Tour of the Vanoise – Kev Reynolds
Trek 5 Gran Paradiso Alta Via 2 – Gillian Price
Trek 6 Tour of Mont Blanc – Kev Reynolds
Trek 7 GR5: Through the French Alps – Paddy Dillon
Trek 8 Tour of Mont Ruan – Hilary Sharp
Trek 9 The Walker’s Haute Route – Kev Reynolds
Trek 10 Alpine Pass Route – Kev Reynolds
Trek 11 Tour of the Jungfrau Region – Kev Reynolds
Trek 12 Tour of the Matterhorn – Hilary Sharp
Trek 13 Tour of Monte Rosa – Hilary Sharp
Trek 14 Tour of the Rätikon – Kev Reynolds
Trek 15 Across the Eastern Alps: E5 – Gillian Price
Trek 16 Stubai High-Level Route – Allan Hartley
Trek 17 Zillertal High-Level Route – Allan Hartley
Trek 18 Dolomites Alta Via 1 – Gillian Price
Trek 19 Dolomites Alta Via 2 – Gillian Price
Trek 20 Julian Alps Traverse – Roy Clark & Justi Carey
Appendix A Useful contacts
Appendix B Glossary for trekkers
Tiny Lac Flégère may not be as well known as Lac Blanc, but views from its shore are no less impressive (photo: Kev Reynolds)
Lac Combal in Vallon di Lex Blanche (Trek 5) (photo: Gillian Price)
Locations of the treks
At Pian dei Cantoni (Dolomites Alta Via 2) (photo: Gillian Price)
Torrents cascade down the hillside below Refuge des Bans (Tour of the Oisans) (photo: Kev Reynolds)
OVERVIEW OF ROUTES
TREKKING GRADES
Each of the treks has been rated according to difficulty within the following guidelines:
moderate: 6–12 days of trekking, with some reasonably demanding ascents/descents, but on mostly good paths.
strenuous: 7–14 days with some high or steep passes to cross – could involve exposed sections.
demanding: 10+ days with a succession of high or steep passes, occasional difficult and exposed terrain and/or glacier crossing.
Where a trek’s classification falls between these categories either a + sign is given to indicate a higher level of difficulty, or two grades have been amalgamated. The table below lists all 20 treks showing their total distances, ascents, average