Haute Route Report
7 Day Ski Tour from Chamonix to Zermatt

All in our group really liked the Haute Route, we had a great time, and thanks to our guide, we managed to make it all the way, below are a few tips that might it enjoyable for you also:

• If you do not like crowds, avoid the Easter vacation period, we were on a less popular variant of the Haute Route, but towards the end, all versions come into the same huts and that means a lot of people. As i am not a big fan of crowds in general, and especially in the mountains, if i were to redo it, i would avoid the Easter period, even though it means taking extra vacation days
• Bring spare colapsible poles. While colapsible poles are not really necessary (unless you are snowboarding), a few spar poles, colapsible to make for easier trasvel are usefull. We had 3 broken poles in our group., i would suggest one extra pole per 2 people, but talk to your guide and see what they suggest
• Leave early...On our last day, we had the luck of having left early before the weather became too bad and made it over the col de l'Evêque before the visibility got too bad. Some groups we were at the hut with left later and were forced to go back and cut the last day short and not makr it to Zermatt, while it is not the end of the world, it felt good to have finished it as we planned it.
• Get a (certified) guide, there are many dangers on the route. The high mountains are no ski resort, many danger, crevasses, avalanche, weather, getting lost, just to name a few, don't take a chance (many people die in the mountains each year....
• In the huts, keep as much of your equipment as possible with you. The early morning rushes to get out mean that some people might "mistakenly" take some of your gear. One of our group wound up "missing" a sole for their boot and somehow, my nice silk hut sleeping bag went "missing" after the Cabane de Chanrion
• Get in shape before, ski touring at relatively high altitudes, for 7 days in a row means quite a lot of effort, make sure you are ready for it before starting
• We were a group with a few telemarkers and a few skiers, the telemarkers all had fat skis (min 100mm underfoot) and we had no problems (people had warned us before that the skinning track might be a problem with our wider skis, but it was not. Being also a snowboarder, i think it would be possible with a split board, maybe a few annoying flattish parts in some places, but nothing snowboarders aren't used to...as long as you have knives (crampons for the skis/split part of the board) on top of the regular touring gear
• Knives and crampons, i am pretty sure they are part of the necessary equipment, but boy were they usefull.....don't even think of skimping on these... there are many telemark bindings that take knives, get them...
• Food, we were eating all our meals at the huts, wich makes for a more expensive option, but makes for lighter packs, we would eat breakfast, ski and when at the next hut have a late lunch, and then dinner. Of course snack breaks with nuts, dried fruits, chocolate (good scotch, sometimes) and a power bar or so, were part of the daily routine.

What can i say, loved it and would do it again, the fact that we managed to get some powder was an added bonus