This is the Dave Butcher photo diary of a Chamonix to Zermatt Haute Route ski mountaineering trip in 1993. At the time I just made a few small prints but when I built my first website in 2003 I scanned those prints on a flatbed scanner to add them to the site with my daily notes from the trip. Most of the negatives remained unused and unseen, until now. This post contains over 100 images from that trip and better represents the Ski Haute Route and the landscapes it passes through from Chamonix in France to Zermatt in Switzerland. It is probably the best known ski tour in Europe, if not the world.
We took just over 6 days to complete the route and went via Verbier, hoping for better weather than the other route through the Grand Combin range. The weather was pretty good the whole way, which was lucky for us.
Our Guides
Our mountain guides were Brian Hall (from Derbyshire near where I live) and Jon de Montjoye (English but now living in Vallorcine near Chamonix). There was also an aspirant (trainee) mountain guide, Richard Masters, an instructor from Glenmore Lodge in the Cairngorms.
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| Our Haute Route Guides - Brian Hall left, John de Montjoye right, aspirant guide Richard centre, Schonbielhutte near Zermatt ski Haute Route day 6; 100635 |
Our Group
Mark Rogerson (pathologist from Northwich), John Cameron (garage owner and ski instructor from Perth), Mark McDonnell (marketing manager), Michael and son Mathew from Toronto, Gian (Radiologist), John Carney (on extended 9 week leave from his job), Team Purple (7 friends who all wore purple Buffalo windroofs and were dubbed Team Purple as a result, including Kate and Patrick).
We were also joined by professional photographer Jess Stock and Vaila Macdonald (his wife and extreme ski world champion). Jess was taking photographs for a book on ski mountaineering around the world with a chapter and one iconic tour for each month of the year.
Our guides Brian and Jon had arranged for the group to have a practice day using the Le Tour ski lifts to practise off-piste technique, including side slipping down steep slopes and abseiling over an overhang while roped up. We split into 2 groups and I was mainly with Jon and Team Purple was mainly with Brian.
Ordering Black and White Fine Art Prints
Prints are available using the 6 digit number at the end of the caption to uniquely identify the negative to help ordering - just go to the Contact page and send me a message with this number and I will sort the details with you from there.
Wednesday 14th April 1993 Travel to Chamonix
Jan dropped me off at Manchester Airport in the morning for my flight to Geneva Airport. Then I caught the train to Martigny where I changed to the mountain railway to Chamonix for a spectacular ride through the mountains. Then a walk from the station through Chamonix to the Hotel L'Arve.
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| Chamonix Hotel de l'Arve, April 1993 |
Thursday 15th April 1993 Argentiere Skiing
I decided to catch the bus to Argentiere and ski there for the day. On returning to the hotel my room-mate had arrived, Mark McDonnel. He'd also arrived early to have a day skiing before the trip started.
Friday 16th April 1993 Argentiere Skiing, Evening Group Meeting
We agreed to go to Argentiere and ski the Grands Montets a few times to find our touring legs. It was a good day for skiing around the pistes too, there was blue sky with clouds below us. Grands Montets is a good viewpoint for photos as well.
There was quite a group of people in the car park outside the hotel when we returned from skiing and it turned out they were in the same group as us, waiting to ski the Haute Route. I had no idea there would be so many, there were 15 of us in total. At 7pm we all collected downstairs for the welcome meeting and kit check with our guides Brian Hall and Jon de Montjoye. In total the group was 20 people including us clients, 3 guides, Jess and Vaila.
Saturday 17th 1993 Group Preparation Day
We were picked up from the hotel and driven up the road to Le Tour so that, before starting the tour we could have a day with the guides checking out our skiing abilities and other skills, like using an ice axe to self-arrest. We also had a couple of goes at abseiling with our skis on. We were then split into 2 groups which we kept for the trip. There was a group of 7 so they were kept together in Brian's group with one or two others and the rest went with Jon. It turned out we were a faster group which suited my pace better and gave me more chance for taking pictures as there was always a group behind so no chance of being left behind or lost!
Day 1, Sunday 18th April 1993
We started in Argentiere (1251 m) by taking the early lifts up to the Grand Montets (3250 m). Then at 9.10am it was time to put skis on and we skied down with Jon to the Argentiere Glacier. Here we stopped to put skins on and at 10.15am started up the Chardonnet Glacier to the Col du Chardonnet (3323 m), which we reached at 12.45pm. There was quite a queue to descend here and when our turn came the steep descent was aided by a rope so that we could abseil-cum-sideslip down safely and reasonably speedily. We regrouped near the base of the col. Then it was onwards to the Fenetre de Saleina (3261 m) and across the Plateau du Trient to the Cabane du Trient (3170 m) at 5pm for the first night. I was familiar with the route so far because it was the same as the second day with Peter Cliff last year.
My Nikon FM slr camera broke a shutter blade and was unusable for the rest of the trip.
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| Argentiere Glacier Group, ski Haute Route Day 1; 100116 |
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Chardonnet Glacier from Argentiere Glacier, ski Haute Route Day 1; 100117
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| Chardonnet Glacier, ski Haute Route Day 1; 100118 |
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| Chardonnet Glacier ascent, ski Haute Route day 1; 100119 |
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| Chardonnet Glacier view north to Chamonix valley and Aiguille Rouges, ski Haute Route day 1; 100120 |
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| Steep ascent of Chardonnet Glacier to Col du Chardonnet, ski Haute Route day 1; 100122 |
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| Aiguille Vertes and Grands Montets from Chardonnet Glacier, ski Haute Route day 1; 100123 |
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| A short break at the top of the first steep section on Chardonnet Glacier, guide Jon de Montjoye on right, ski Haute Route Day 1; 100124 |
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| A short break at the top of the first steep section on Chardonnet Glacier, Grands Montets background right, ski Haute Route Day 1; 100126 |
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| Ascent of final section of Chardonnet Glacier to Col du Chardonnet, ski Haute Route Day 1; 100128 |
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| View above Col du Chardonnet, ski Haute Route Day 1; 100129 |
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| Ski abseil from Col du Chardonnet down steep Swiss side, guide Jon de Montjoye on left, ski Haute Route Day 1; 100132 |
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| Ski abseil from Col du Chardonnet down steep Swiss side, ski Haute Route Day 1; 100131 |
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| Assembly point after Col du Chardonnet descent, looking at base of Aiguille d'Argentiere. Col du Chardonnet out of sight in dip between 2 rocky ridges, ski Haute Route Day 1; 100135 |
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| Fenetre de Saleina Approach from Col du Chardonnet, ski Haute Route Day 1; 094415 |
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| Fenetre de Saleina View to Aiguille de la Neuve, ski Haute Route Day 1; 094421 |
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| Taken below Cabane du Trient on ski Haute Route. Note the supply helicopter left of the hut, ski Haute Route Day 1; 094426 |
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| Aiguilles Dorees from Cabane du Trient in the afternoon, ski Haute Route Day 1; 094433 |
Day 2, Monday 19th April 1993
Breakfast was at 7am and we put our skis on at 7.30am. We skied with Brian steeply downhill keeping to the right flank of the descent route, side slipped a steep section above a heavily crevassed Trient Glacier and then skied the traverse to the foot of the Col des Ecandies (2796 m). From here we walked up to the col and skied down in deep powder and then heavily mogulled slopes and on through woods. Mark M fell and split his lip in the breakable crust snow and Gian did a temporary fix to hold Mark's lip together.
We stopped at a chalet cafe and waited for the other group. Then we skied on to the village of Champex (1465 m) taking skis off just a few hundred yards from the village. From Champex the snow ran out so we were ferried in taxis to Verbier (1490 m), where I bought a Nikon AF2 compact to replace my broken Nikon FM slr. From Verbier we used ski lifts to get above the Cabane du Mont Fort (2457 m) so that we could ski down to it for our second night, reaching it at 4.30pm.
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| View southwest from Cabane du Mont Fort near Verbier, ski Haute Route Day 2; 100201 |
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| Cabane du Mont Fort in afternoon near Verbier, ski Haute Route Day 2; 100203 |
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| Cabane du Mont Fort view to our route east tomorrow near Verbier, ski Haute Route Day 2; 100206 |
Day 3, Tuesday 20th April 1993
We were up in time for 6am breakfast and skiing with Jon by 7.10am on another cold bright morning. There was lots of avalanche debris to ski through, some bits the size of houses brought down by the hot weather. We reached the Col de la Chaux at 8.45am. Then we had a long downhill section on good snow before skinning up to the Col du Momin (3003 m) and on to just below La Rosablanche (3336 m) where we took skis off. From here it was just a short steep snow climb to the top at 11am. The view was spectacular.
Then it was skins off the skis and we skied down to the Cabane de Prafleuri (2624 m) through very heavy difficult snow. At the refuge we had to fend for ourselves (no guardian to cook for us). In fact Jess and Vaila cooked for us as a thank you for allowing them to join our group. We were relieved to be able to unload the heavy food and drinks from our rucksacks that we had been loaded up with in Verbier!
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| Cabane du Mont Fort after Verbier ski area closed, ski Haute Route Day 2; 100209 |
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| Cabane du Mont Fort from Haute Route, ski Haute Route Day 3; 100217 |
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| Our guide Jon de Montjoye on Col de la Chaux near Verbier, ski Haute Route Day 3; 100220 |
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| Col de la Chaux view west and Vaila Macdonald near Verbier, ski Haute Route Day 3; 100221 |
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| Col de la Chaux descent near Verbier, ski Haute Route Day 3; 100224 |
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| Traverse across plateau between Col de la Chaux and Col de Momin near Verbier, ski Haute Route Day 3; 100226 |
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| Approaching ascent to Col de Momin near Verbier, ski Haute Route Day 3; 100230 |
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| Aspirant guide Richard Masters left, near Col de Momin top, ski Haute Route day 3; 100231 |
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| Jon de Montjoye guide, on La Rosablanche near Verbier with Matterhorn in background right of centre and Dent Blanche to his left, ski Haute Route day 3; 100233 |
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| La Rosablanche view northwest to Verbier Mont Fort ski area, ski Haute Route day 3; 100302 |
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| View from La Rosablanche summit southwest to Grand Combin, near Verbier, ski Haute Route day 3; 100304 |
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| La Rosablanche summit view south to La Sale and Pleureur, ski Haute Route day 3; 100306 |
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| Mark Rogerson left and John Cameron right, outside Cabane de Prafleuri, ski Haute Route day 3; 100309 |
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| Drying gear outside Cabane de Prafleuri, ski Haute Route day 3; 100310 |
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| Richard Masters aspirant guide sitting on window ledge at Cabane de Prafleuri, ski Haute Route day 3; 100312 |
Day 4, Wednesday 21st April 1993
Breakfast was at 6am and we were skiing with Brian by 7am. We reached the Col des Roux above the hut at 8am and then it was down and across the slopes above the frozen Lac des Dix (2360 m), covered in fresh avalanche debris and difficult to ski through.
Then it was time to zig-zag up a steepish slope at the head of the valley to the Pas du Chat and around to a snow covered moraine bank. From here we skied around the back of the Tete Noir until we were quite a bit above the hut. From here it was a good ski down to the Cabane des Dix hut (2928 m), a busy hut, at 1pm. Fantastic views all around from here.
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| Mark Rogerson at avalanche field above Lac des Dix, ski Haute Route day 4; 100316 |
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| Crossing avalanche field above Lac des Dix, ski Haute Route day 4; 100317 |
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| Our group having a break at south end of Lac des Dix, ski Haute Route day 4; 100321 |
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| Ascent of the Pas du Chat above south end Lac des Dix, ski Haute Route day 4; 100326 |
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| View north to Lac des Dix from ascent of the Pas du Chat, ski Haute Route day 4; 100327 |
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| Pas du Chat ascent, ski Haute Route day 4; 100328 |
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| Approaching Pas du Chat, ski Haute Route day 4; 100329 |
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| Above Pas du Chat, John Cameron, ski Haute Route day 4; 100331 |
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| View north to route from Lac des Dix and Pas du Chat, ski Haute Route day 4; 100332 |
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| View near Tete Noire above Cabane des Dix, ski Haute Route day 4; 100334 |
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| Uphill skiing on moraine bank at around 2800m north of Tete Noire near Cabane des Dix, ski Haute Route day 4; 100336 |
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| Tete Noire near Cabane des Dix with Mont Blanc de Cheilon range behind, ski Haute Route day 4; 100402 |
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| Descent to Cabane des Dix near Tete Noire, ski Haute Route day 4; 100404 |
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| Cabane des Dix with Pointes de Tsena Refien left and Mont Blanc de Cheilon right from near Tete Noire, ski Haute Route day 4; 100407 |
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| View east towards Dent Blanche (partly behind and left of flag) from Cabane des Dix, ski Haute Route day 4; 100412 |
Day 5, Thursday 22nd April 1993
It was breakfast at 5.30am and skiing with Jon at 6.30am the short distance down to the glacier to put skins on. We headed up the steep and crevassed slopes of the Glacier de Tsena Refien with a couple of inches of snow on the slopes overlooking the very impressive Mont Blanc de Cheilon (3870 m).
Next was the Col de Tsijiore Nouve and then under some very large ice cliffs and over a heavily crevassed area to the Col de Brenay, a large plateau which heli-skiers were using as a drop-off point to ski back to Arolla in the valley below. It seemed somewhat perverse that it had taken us 5 days to reach the point they had reached in 5 minutes!
We dumped our gear and quickly skied up to the top of the Pigne d'Arolla (3796 m) at 9.50am. There was blue sky and a few clouds but the weather started to turn and we skied down through thick cloud to the Cabane des Vignettes (3160 m) which we reached at 11.20am. This has a very impressive position on top of high cliffs. The outside toilet is the most impressive of all, reached by a narrow metal walkway, both of which were bolted to the side of a cliff with an enormous drop beneath the toilet seat!
By 2.30pm the weather had closed in completely and blizzards raged outside. Without a doubt this was the most spectacular hut of the trip.
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| Mont Blanc de Cheilon from Glacier de Tsena Refien, ski Haute Route day 5; 100426 |
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| Ascent from Col de Tsijore Nouve, ski Haute Route day 5; 100427 |
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| Helicopter landing at Col de Brenay, ski Haute Route day 5; 100429 |
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| View southwest from Pigne d'Arolla to Pointe d'Otemma at end of ridge on left, snowy dome of La Serpentine on right, ski Haute Route day 5; 100432 |
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| Dent Blanche view from Pigne d'Arolla, ski Haute Route day 5; 100434 |
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| Mont Blanc de Cheilon from Pigne d'Arolla, ski Haute Route day 5; 100436 |
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| Matterhorn and Dent d'Herens from Pigne d'Arolla, ski Haute Route day 5; 100437 |
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| Dave Butcher on Pigne d'Arolla summit with Matterhorn and Dent d'Herens in background, ski Haute Route day 5; 100500 |
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| Lunch break below summit of Pigne d'Arolla, Mark Rogerson, ski Haute Route day 5; 100504 |
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| View East from Pigne d'Arolla over Mont Collon to Matterhorn and Dent d'Herens, ski Haute Route day 5; 100509 |
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| Descent to Cabane des Vignettes from Pigne d'Arolla, ski Haute Route day 5; 100510 |
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| Descent to Cabane des Vignettes from Pigne d'Arolla, ski Haute Route day 5; 100511 |
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| Final traverse on descent to Cabane des Vignettes from Pigne d'Arolla, ski Haute Route day 5; 100515 |
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| View back to descent to Cabane des Vignettes from the hut, ski Haute Route day 5; 100517 |
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| Cabane des Vignettes view south to Mont Collon (left) and l'Eveque (centre), ski Haute Route day 5; 100519 |
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| Cabane des Vignettes view southwest to Petit Mont Collon, ski Haute Route day 5; 100521 |
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| Cabane des Vignettes view from covered entrance walkway to l'Eveque, ski Haute Route day 5; 100522 |
Day 6, Friday 23rd April 1993
Breakfast was at 5am and we needed crampons just to get out of the hut door and along the covered walkway because of the sheet ice. Once across this we changed to skis and with Brian we were off with 3 cols to cross.
The first was Col de l'Eveque 3392 m which was in the clouds but with a good ski down on a slightly mogulled slope, round a rocky bit called La Vierge and onto the plateau opposite the Refuge des Bouquetins.
Then it was a long easy skin most of the way up to the next col but with a sting in the tail of very steep ice near the top so lots of kick turns on ice needed to reach the top of the Col du Mont Brule 3213 m. We had a long break and lunch at the top waiting for the others.
Then it was time to take off the skins for a long traverse and then down to reach the plateau of the Haut Glacier de Tsa de Tsan in clouds, so it was a bit cooler now and with a cool breeze. It took us 2.5h to skin up to the Col de Valpelline 3568 m but there were no views to the Matterhorn because of thick cloud. Shame, should have been one of the highlights of the trip.
From here we skied down the heavily crevassed Stockji Glacier where part way down Jess Stock thought it would make a good shot for the book if we skied into a crevasse with a snow bridge part way down and back out again, which several of us did. He photographed each of us as we skied out of the crevasse.
Then we skied south of Stockji to the Tiefmatten Glacier. It was quite dull now and we went under some enormous ice cliffs keeping fingers crossed nothing would break off as we skied past. Finally, we put skins on again to ski above the hut, take skins off and have a final ski downhill for the last section to reach the Schonbielhutte (2694 m) at 2.30pm for our last night in the mountains.
It was a long day which ended with us sitting on the terrace of the Schonbielhutte sipping beer looking straight across the valley at the north face of the Matterhorn (4478 m) as the clouds parted later on. Quite a way to end the day.
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| Dawn view northeast from near Cabane des Vignettes, ski Haute Route day 6; 100528 |
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| Instructions from our guide before the descent from Col de l'Eveque, Mark Rogerson left, Vaila Macdonald right, ski Haute Route day 6; 100530 |
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| La Vierge traverse near l'Eveque with Haut Glacier d'Arolla below and Col du Mont Brule top right, ski Haute Route day 6; 100531 |
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| Descent to Haut Glacier d'Arolla near La Vierge and l'Eveque, ski Haute Route day 6; 100532 |
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| Descent from La Vierge traverse to Haut Glacier d'Arolla with line of skiers heading for Col du Mont Brule right of centre, ski Haute Route day 6; 100533 |
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| Skiing up Haut Glacier d'Arolla towards Col du Mont Brule, ski Haute Route day 6; 100534 |
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| Start of ascent from Haut Glacier d'Arolla to Col du Mont Brule, ski Haute Route day 6; 100535 |
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| Looking down at final sectipon of ascent to Col du Mont Brule, ski Haute Route day 6; 100536 |
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| Dent d'Herens from Col du Mont Brule, Matterhorn hidden in clouds on left, ski Haute Route day 6; 100600 |
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| Col du Mont Brule group lunch break, ski Haute Route day 6; 100604 |
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| Descent from Col de Valpelline on Stockji Glacier, ski Haute Route day 6; 100608 |
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| Jess Stock photo session at a Stockji Glacier crevasse, ski Haute Route day 6; 100610 |
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| Skiing into Stockji Glacier crevasse for photos, ski Haute Route day 6; 100612 |
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| View up from Stockji Glacier crevasse, ski Haute Route day 6; 100613 |
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| Stockji Glacier Descent, ski Haute Route day 6; 100616 |
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| View east towards Zermatt. from Stockji Glacier, ski Haute Route day 6; 100619 |
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| Stockji Glacier Photo Shoot - Jess Stock and Vaila Macdonald, ski Haute Route day 6; 100621 |
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| Stockji Glacier descent to Zmutt Glacier, ski Haute Route day 6; 100623 |
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| View back to our Stockji Glacier descent route, ski Haute Route day 6; 100626 |
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| Approach to Schonbielhutte, ski Haute Route day 6; 100629 |
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| View east from Schonbielhutte over Zmutt Glacier towards Zermatt, ski Haute Route day 6; 100631 |
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| View of Stockji Glacier snout from Schonbielhutte - not our descent route! Ski Haute Route day 6; 100632 |
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| Matterhorn from Schonbielhutte late afternoon, ski Haute Route day 6; 100633 |
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| Our group in the Schonbielhutte dining room waiting for dinner, ski Haute Route day 6; 100636 |
Day 7, Saturday 24th April 1993
Breakfast was at 6.30am and we started skiing at 7.30am. It was quiet in the hut, most on the Haute Route carry on to Zermatt instead of stopping here.
We skinned away from the hut before skiing down onto the Schonbiel Glacier on fresh snow. Then down through the trees to the Restaurant Stafelalp at 9.30am. We had hot drinks while we waited for the others. Jess took the team photo outside the restaurant and we skied down the Weisse Perle ski piste where we had a leisurely ski down to the flesh pots of Zermatt (1614 m) ending at the Furri lift as the snow ran out!
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| Dent d'Herens and Stockji Glacier from Schonbielhutte, ski Haute Route day 7; 100712 |
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| Descent from Schonbielhutte to Zermatt on Zmutt Glacier, ski Haute Route day 7; 100714 |
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| Matterhorn from Zmutt Glacier, ski Haute Route day 7; 100716 |
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| Matterhorn from near Zermatt, ski Haute Route day 7; 100718 |
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| Stafelalp Restaurant above Zermatt with Mark Rogerson and Gian, ski Haute Route day 7; 100721 |
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| Stafelalp Restaurant above Zermatt with guides Brian Hall, Richard and Jon de Montjoye, ski Haute Route day 7; 100722 |
Cameras
Nikon FM 35mm camera + 28mm lens to start with but the shutter blades broke on the first day.
I bought a small Nikon AF2 35mm compact camera in Verbier so that I could continue taking mountain photos during this trip. The Nikon AF2 went back for repair after just 6 months (the rewind mechanism broke).
I bought a Mamiya 6 MF medium format camera and sold most of my Nikon gear after this!
Film
Ilford FP4 and 100 Delta 35 mm
Equipment
Kastle Tour Randonee 180cm skis
Silvretta 404 Touring bindings and Harscheissen (ski crampons)
Kastle Collapsible Ski Poles
Pomoco climbing skins for skis (orange colour on left of photo)
Dynafit Tour Lite 2 ski mountaineering boots with Vibram-type sole for when not on skis
Mountain Technology 50cm ice axe
Camp Arctic 10 step-in crampons - fast to put on and take off
POD Outside 40 litre rucksack
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| Chamonix to Zermatt Ski Haute Route Equipment 1993 |
