Introduction
Stage 1 Sulden – Zaytal Hut – Zayjoch – Schafbergspitze – Zaytal Hut
Stage 2 Zaytal Hut – Zay glacier – Angelusscharte – Laaser glacier – Lyfijoch – Zufritthaus, 1880
Stage 3 Zufritt Hut – Gramsenferner – pt.3285 Martellerjoch – Hintere Schranspitze, and Hintere Rotspitze (optional) – Careser glacier – Veneziaspitze (optional) – Köllkuppe – Hohenfirner – Marteller Hut
Stage 4 Marteller Hut – Zufallfirner – Monte Cevedale – Monte Pasquale (optional) – Pizzini Hut
Stage 5 Pizzini Hut – Gran Zebru glacier – Königspitze (Gran Zebru) (optional) – Col Pale Rosse – Miniera pass – Cima Della Miniera (optional) – Vth Alpini Hut, or Bertarelli Hut
Stage 6 Vth Alpini Hut, or Bertarelli Hut – Monte Zebru – Ortlerpass – Niederer Ortler glacier – Bergl Hut – Trafoi
Appendix A Summary of the Tours
Appendix C Alpine Ski Mountaineering, Volume 1: Western Alps
Perfect powder snow conditions near the Jenatsch Hut
FOREWORD
As ski mountaineers, we need to be thankful that the great tectonic plates of Africa and Europe collided. When they did, the European Alps were formed to create a snaking barrier of mountains that at first glance seems to be piled against northern Italy in an arc resembling a monstrous moraine. The mountains created from this collision extend for over 1000km from the Hochschwab in Eastern Austria to the Colle d'Altare in the Gulf of Genoa. This monumental pile-up was the answer to a mountaineer's prayer – the Alps it created provide the perfect playground for ski touring for at least five months of every year.
Within their length, the European Alps contain the finest selection of ski tours in the world. They are easy of access, have the most comprehensive and convenient hut system to be found anywhere, and, thankfully, there are few restrictions on those of us who seek adventure and enjoyment in them.
The selection of routes in this guide includes tours in the most important ski-mountaineering areas north and east of the Rhône from Lake Geneva to its glacier source on the Furka pass. The routes extend eastwards to include the major glaciated mountain groups from the Bernese Alps through central Switzerland to Bernina and beyond. They embrace the important Eastern Alpine regions of Ortler, Silvretta, Ötztal and the Stubai Alps. I admit that there are important areas I've bypassed and others beyond my limits that are worthy of a guidebook, including the Dolomites, Zillertal, Hohe Tauern and so many others. But this selection is based on my experience and the limits of available space. After all is said and done, I know of few ski mountaineers willing to burden themselves with too heavy a guidebook.
In making my selection, I've aimed to provide routes that would appeal to novice and experienced ski mountaineers alike, although it should be obvious from the gradings and description that a few are better suited to experienced tourers looking for a more difficult and demanding challenge. Those planning their first tour could do no better than look to the Silvretta or Ötztal for stimulation.
Arnold Lunn wisely wrote that ‘Guidebooks merely describe the skeleton, leaving the memory to clothe it with romance.’ I would add to that and say that I hope these tours provide you with the information, inspiration and motivation to explore new areas, pour over maps, study routes and plan a new season, so that later your experiences can put flesh on the bare bones of this guidebook.
Bill O'Connor
International Mountain and Ski Guide
Cumbria
Putting in a fresh track to the Mittaghorn above the Hollandia Hut – this peak offers one of the finest descents in the Bernese Alps
INTRODUCTION
For most English-speaking skiers, there is probably only one high-level route – that between Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn, often called the Haute Route. Most people are astonished to learn that long before it was skied in 1911, it was a recognised high-level hike established by members of the Alpine Club as a relatively quick, high-level crossing between the bourgeoning villages of Zermatt and Chamonix. They called it the High Level Road. Today, this route between Chamonix and Zermatt is arguably the most famous and sought-after ski tour in the world. It may therefore come as a surprise to many that regard it as the one and only Haute Route that there are in fact a whole host of outstanding high-level routes throughout the Alps.
Traversing the summit ridge of the Mittaghorn – the Aletschhorn is the peak beyond, with the Hasler Rib well defined on the left
In reality, the Alps are criss-crossed with stunning ski tours, many of which have gained a classic status. It is difficult to define what ‘classic’ means. It is certainly more than a matter of being popular. The skiing on a classic tour should, in my opinion, demand a range of skiing and mountaineering skills, call for good navigation, and be challenging but nevertheless remain logical as a ski tour. The need to carry skis should be an occasional and logical necessity, whilst the prospect of some outstanding downhill must be high. Once completed, a classic tour should leave you with a better understanding of an area's physical geography, and above all it should be an enjoyable journey. Each tour in this book is arguably the best of its kind and standard in a particular mountain area and epitomises what is best about ski mountaineering in that region.
The tours in this guide cover significant part of the Northern as well as the Central and Eastern Alps. They range across Alpine Switzerland from its north-west corner to its south-east tip, from Vaud to Graübunden, before sliding east, following the vast arc of the Alps into the Austrian Tyrol and South Tyrol of north Italy.
The mountains beyond Mont Blanc and the Pennine Alps trending eastwards tend, with the exception of Bernina, to be regarded by many climbers as less serious and more benign, with lesser climbs and smaller glaciers. It is true that to the east of the Urner Alps and the Rhöne/Rhine watershed there is only a single outlying 4000m peak, Piz Bernina. It is true that there are no glaciers that compare in length with the Grosser Aletsch or Mont Blanc's ice streams, but it would be wrong to underestimate these areas when it comes to skiing. In many respects, what they lack in size and fame (compared to, say, Mont Blanc and other regions of the Western Alps), they make up for in terms of their suitability for ski mountaineering. In this matter, they are equal in every respect to the Western Alps.
All the tours described in this guide are in areas that bristle with 3000m peaks, glaciers and extensive permanent snowfields. In fact, these are the very things they all have in common. The Central and Eastern Alps also have an enviable snow record, and in many instances can offer ski touring when other areas are waiting for better snow cover to fill crevasses and make travel on dangerous glaciers possible. This is especially true of the Western Bernese region along with the Urner and Albula Alps.
Within