Haute Route 2013 - Day 4

sorry to miss a couple days but computer access can be difficult living in huts.  Beer and wine is plentiful but internet not.  back to the story...

This was to be the day we made it to Zermat so it was gong to be a big day.  We started  skiing at 5:30am and by the time the sun came up we were just reaching our biggest obstacle of the day, the Col du Brule.  This was the first of two passes we had to negotiate that day and was the only one that we would need to walk up on foot with crampons.  This pass is not too bad and we may have been able to skin up it but it was hard frozen.

The pass lead us onto the glacier with the unlikely name of the Haute Glacier de Tsa de Tsan.  This long traverse was just another beautiful traverse until we reached the Col de Valpelline.  

  

The Col de Valpelline is the head of the glacier that feeds into Zermat.  And as everyone knows Zermat is the home of the Matterhorn...as you approach the Col de Valpelline the Matterhorn grows until it totally dominates everything around it.

As usual for notable points along the trip there was copious handshaking, hugging and kissing!!!  In fact on a sunny spring day Col de Valpelline is pretty much a non stop celebration of people arriving at the high point of their trip.

This is the start of a ski run that starts at 3500m and ends at 1800m.  But it is not so bad because you have to stop so often to look at the view.

Like any good ski run this one ends at a pub.  Furi is a small village above Zermat and is the traditional end of most Haute Route trips.  But Jean Maurice was not finished yet.  The group loaded into the Tram to Klein Matterhorn.

The Klein Matterhorn is the highest cable car in Europe at 3880m.  The tram rises to the top of the peak in the photo.  Very impressive!

A short run down from the top of tram and we came to the hut for that night.  This is another Italian hut and at 3480m I would take it easier on the great wine they have next time.  Sleeps 25 and as the sign says "dogs welcome"