Course Notes – Walkers Haute Route

THE PROGRAMME:

We break the route down into two separate chunks of one week each as we have found that this gives flexibility with peoples holidays. You can choose to do one week one year and the other half the following year or you can do both weeks consecutively. 

Week One | Verbier to Grimentz 

Day 0 (Sunday Evening): Meet in Le Chable (Verbier) for our pre-trek drinks and briefing. We can chat through the plans for the trek, the weather forecast and make sure we have the required kit. Once we set off we will need to live in what we are wearing and carrying for the rest of the trek, don’t worry though we will give you plenty of guidance on what to take.

Accommodation – You source your own accommodation in Le Chable – Booking.com will give you lots of choice to suit your budget. 

Day 1 – Chable to Cabanne Louvie – A gentle warm up day using some of the Verbier ski lifts to gain height before heading to the Cabanne Louvie a beautiful mountain refuge that sits at just over 2000m in a spectacular lakeside setting.
Stats: 10km, 600m, 4h

Accommodation – Mountain Refuge – We book this

Day 2 – Cabanne Louvie to Hotel du Barrage – A big adventurous day awaits us as we head across the Grand Desert below the Rosablanche. A day when we head into the higher alpine ebvironments and then back down into the trees!

Stats: 18km, 1300m, 8.5h

Accommodation – Hotel – We book this

Day 3 – Hotel du Barrage to Arolla – A gentle start to the day as we travel along the side of the Lac des Dix before the terrain gets steeper as we traverse beneath the alpine peaks and head over the Pas de Chevres or the Col de Riedmatten and then down to the alpine village of Arolla.

Stats: 18km, 900m, 7.5h

Accommodation – Hotel – We book this

Day 4 – Arolla to La Sage – After two longer days, today we can have a more relaxing start to the day and then enjoy a valley walk with a gentle climb up to the village of La Sage.

Stats: 12km, 500m, 4hrs

Accommodation – Hotel – We book this

Day 5 – La Sage to Grimentz – After a gentle day it is back to heading over alpine cols as we head over the Col de Torrent which is just under 3000m before descending into the ski town of Grimentz. For those that are feeling all the down in their knees there is the option to get the bus down to Grimentz from Barrage Moiry

Stats: 17km, 1250m, 7hrs

Accommodation – We normally reach Grimentz before 5:00pm which means that you can choose wherever to depart from here or stay the night. Either way you will need to book your own accommodation and transport. Useful Links: Booking.com for accommodation and http://www.sbb.ch/en/ for public transport. 

Week Two | Grimentz to Zermatt

Day 1 – Barrage Moiry to Zinal – This morning we will jump on the bus to take us back up to the Barrage Moiry. Once we have finished taking in the views and the marvel of the engineering we head over the Col Sorebois and down into the town of Zinal

Stats: 10km, 600m, 5 hrs

Accommodation – Hotel – we book this

Day 2 – Zinal to Cabane Bella-Tola – Today we head up onto the valley side above Zinal and traverse north to the Cabane Bella-Tola, giving us stunning views down into the Val d’ Anniviers. We will get the chance to stop off for a drink (and possible some cake!) at the famous Hotel Weisshorn on route. A night in the Cabane Bella-Tola will put us in a nice position for the next days walk.

Stats: 17km 1100m, 7.5hrs

Accommodation – A very nice Mountain Hut – we book this

Day 3 – Cabane Bella-Tola to Gruben – As we leave the Cabane Bella-Tola we can head over a high col and then down into the small village of Gruben and the German speaking part of Switzerland.

Stats: 13kn 800m, 7hrs

Accommodation – Hotel – we book this

Day 4 – Gruben to St Niklaus – A big day but perhaps one of the best days on the route as we head to the Zermatt valley. The day has so many changes in character as well as lots if history.

Stats – 15km, 1200m, 7.5hrs

Accommodation – Hotel – we book this

Day 5 – St Niklaus to Zermatt – For our final day we will catch a train along a section of the Zermatt Valley before heading up onto the east side of the valley and traversing along to the Stellisee Lake to give us stunning views of the Matterhorn and then catching a cable car down into Zermatt for a celebration drink. 

Stats – 14km, 1300m, 7.5hrs

Accommodation – You will sort your own accommodation for this night or start your journey home.

We will be finished by 5pm which will give time to return to Geneva by train if required. 

Useful Links: Booking.com for accommodation and http://www.sbb.ch/en/ for public transport.  

NB: Conditions in the high mountains can change very quickly and our program needs to be flexible to allow for this. Actual objectives may change with the weather!

GETTING THERE

You can get to Geneva from London on the train. Alternatively you can fly or drive out from the UK.

From Geneva you catch a train to Verbier. As one would expect in Switzerland the whole journey is efficient and simple. Visit this website for timetable and prices: http://www.sbb.ch/en/
At the end of the trek it is equally simple to return to Geneva from Zermatt.

WHAT IS INCLUDED IN THE COURSE COST?

The course fee includes leadership and logisitical organisation.
You will need to pay for your own flights and transfers. I will arrange the accommodation prior to the trip and you will need to pay for it on a daily basis. Hut fees and hotels are generally about 120 Swiss Francs per person per night. You will also need to pay for your own insurance, cable cars and other meals during the trip.

There is no need to carry much cash. We are able to pay by card everywhere that we visit. The most cost effective way of doing this is to use a travel card such as the Post Office Travel Money Card or Revolut. You can then avoid the transaction charges associated with your normal bank cards. Sometimes local buses are cash only but even they can be booked and paid for online in advance. 

Prior to the departure date we will email a list of the accommodation that has been booked together with the costs. We will also set out any other costs involved so that you can plan your finances for the trip. 

Insurance: 

We do not include insurance within our course fees. For all overseas trips you will require travel  insurance and we will require a copy of the policy. The cover needs to include:

• Cancellation/curtailment 
• Emergency medical expenses
• Search & Rescue Expenses (helicopters are expensive in Switzerland)
• Personal accident 

For this trek the BMC “Trek” policy is ideal but you are equally welcome to source your own cover. 

Kit List

If we are very lucky and have perfect weather there are things that you might not end up using but more likely you will be very glad to have them! There will probably be things on here that seem odd but bear with me – all will become clear on your trip. Here is a video where Sandy runs through the kit and now to pack for an enjoyable trip: https://youtu.be/XDm3cdbZGNY

What to wear:

Light weight trousers – quick drying and not cotton

Long sleeve wicking top – preferably in white or a light colour so that it is not so hot

Sun hat

Sun glasses

Sun cream – preferably a mountain cream and we recommend Factor 50

 Fleece jumper in the morning

Walking boots and walking socks

What to carry:

Rucksack – 30 litres approx 

Lightweight Waterproof jacket

Lightweight Waterproof trousers 

Head Torch

Drinks bottle

Hat and Gloves

1 x spare gloves

Fleece jacket

Lightweight T Shirt and Shorts

Spare food

Personal First Aid & sanitary supplies – include head ache tablets

Sunglasses and Sun Cream

Silk sleeping bag liner for huts

Ear Plugs for the huts

Spare underwear x 3 to include spare walking socks

Trekking poles – can be useful but not essential

Waterproof rucksack liner and a couple of drybags to pack sleeping bag liner, gloves and spare warm layer in.

Insurance Certificate – photocopy will be fine

Passport

European health card

Travel tickets

Money 

Blizzard Survival Jacket (Emergency kit)

BMC Article on Risk & Safety in climbing & mountaineering.

The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) is the representative body in the UK for hill walkers, climbers and mountaineers. It has produced a Participation Statement for anyone involved in walking, climbing or mountaineering to say that:

The BMC recognises that climbing and mountaineering are activities with a danger of personal injury or death. Participants in these activities should be aware of and accept these risks and be responsible for their own actions.

If you join one of our courses you acknowledge and accept these risks and so we thought a few facts and figures might be useful in explaining what you are accepting.

Injuries

Injuries are possible in climbing, hill walking and mountaineering, as in all sporting activities, as a result of over-training, inappropriate training regimes, or poor technique as well as those that might be sustained during a slip or fall, or if something or someone falls on a person.

Risk

Risks need to be put in context. There are currently about 5 million climbing wall user visits annually and it has bee estimated that between the 1960s and 2005 there were approximately 50 million climbing wall user visits in the UK alone. During that period there was only one fatality at a wall in England and Wales. There are 13 million young people in this country. Of the approximately 700 fatal accidents that occur every year, there is approximately one child death per year in organised adventurous activities in comparison with 457 land transportation accidents (National Statistics).

Risk is an integral part of the activity and can play a vital role in helping young people to acquire these extremely important life skills. Minimising the risk boils down to having the right level of skill and experience relative to the difficulty of the activity. Our courses will help you to understand and assess these risks for yourself. Accidents can happen due to circumstances over which the climber has no control, such as a rockfall, and in these events first aid training can make all the difference.


Accident rates

Because experienced climbers strive very hard to know their own limitations, the sport enjoys remarkably low accident rates. Incidents that make news headlines often involve individuals operating in environments for which they were ill-prepared, and this can give a somewhat skewed impression of the dangers involved in the sport. Many of the ‘climbers’ reported in the media as having been involved in accidents, died or got lost in mountainous areas are not dedicated climbers. Often they are tourists who have gone out walking or people who don’t have much experience in the mountains. Therefore some of the tragedies that hit the

headlines may reflect poorly on dedicated mountaineers who are more likely to be better prepared and not as likely to require mountain rescue.
Even on a course there is a need for personal responsibility and self reliance in all mountaineering activities. We will have contingency plans in the event of an emergency and are first aid trained but you should also carry basic first aid equipment as detailed in your course notes. All of our courses aim to teach you to assess the risks for yourself, to make you an independent climber/mountaineer or hillwalker but there are some risks that we cannot completely remove.

If you feel uncomfortable at any time you should say so and don’t be afraid to ask why we are doing what we are doing. There is no pressure whatsoever for you to take part in any activity that you do not want to take part in.

The BMC has produced an introductory booklet for parents of young people who participate in climbing-related activities.