Monday, September 03, 2007

Arolla to Zermatt Walkers Haute Route

I have spent the last 2 weeks working in the Swiss Alps. I drove out to Arolla on Saturday 18th August and arrived about lunchtime. I had a day and a half to spare before the course started and decided to go and play on the local Via Ferrata at Evolene. I remember thinking that I must have been spending too much time bouldering indoors - at one point I used the rock instead of a metal rung for my left boot and acused myself of cheating!
I met up with the Evans family who were my clients for the first week and we headed off on the Monday from Arolla to La Sage in beautiful sunshine. We arrived as the heavens opened and woke up Tuesday morning to a fresh covering of snow. This made for some stunning views as we headed over the Col du Tsate and the clouds would part every now and again to show us snow capped peaks and tantalising patches of blue sky.


That night was spent at the Cabane de Moiry, an Alpine hut that is perched at 2800 metres and looks out on the Glacier de Moiry. We had stunning views the following morning with blue skies and sunshine. The whole family did very well and we arrived in Zermatt on Friday afternoon to well deserved views of the Matterhorn.

On Saturday morning I headed up the Klein Matterhorn on my own and took some lovely photos of the Matterhorn itself from 3800 metres before meeting up with a friend for lunch and heading back to Arolla.
The second week was spent with Sean and Annette and Simon & Claire. The week ran smoothly although a big lightening storm meant that we could not head over the Col du Sorbois and had to use the bus!

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