A little tour of Monte Rosa
A beautiful ski tour among the giants of the Valais, in breathtaking scenery.
With Aude.
The Valais is one of the most important glaciated massifs after the Oberland, and its reputation for ski touring is well established.
For a first discovery tour, we choose a loop starting from Zermatt, the car-free town where the Matterhorn is reflected in a thousand gleaming shop windows. So the journey begins by train, then on foot, putting the skis on just above the last chalets.
Coming out of the forest, we cross the small hamlet of Findeln under the gaze of the majestic Matterhorn. With its typical buildings, the place embodies our picture of Switzerland.
No tracks except those of the many animals we meet along the way: this magnificent day is wildly long.
Our steps find their rhythm to climb the huge Findelgletscher, at the end of which the Città di Luino bivouac hut tightropes, discreetly guyed on a ridge straddling the border with Italy. Away from the classic routes, this providential hut offers the ski tourer unexpected comfort in these parts. Melting snow and rehydrating, the last light of the day fades in the glow of the stove.
The night was cold; we tidy up and carefully close this draughty shack and set off again. The snow, tightened by the frost, crunches under our feet. The bluish flatness of the sleepy dawn suddenly bursts into flame under the first rays flooding the massive eastern barrier of Monte Rosa.
Wandering nonchalantly across this glacial vastness, we calmly reach the recent Monte Rosa Hütte and the crowd of hopefuls for the Dufourspitze, of whom we are part for the next day.
The Dufourspitze is the main summit of Monte Rosa, rising to 4634m. Ski touring offers an elegant and comfortable way to climb it. This year, conditions are excellent and the crevasses are well filled. To reach the summit, a short, more technical couloir equipped with fixed ropes is climbed in crampons.
After setting off at the end of the night, we enjoy a climb on a ready-made track at daybreak. The altitude is noticeable, but the horizon opens onto the giants of the Valais.
Our pace is good and we reach the summit a little ahead of the crowd, which guarantees a more serene time in the final couloir.
This time, the descent is very mixed, on changing and always difficult snow: heavy powder, crust, wind crust, slush; this whole detestable range forces physical skiing that the altitude doesn't help. With burning thighs we finally reach the long Gornergletscher, where soft, smooth snow at last lets us glide.
The exit from this glacier threads into a narrow gorge where all the water of this wide glacial basin gathers. Under the snow bridges, the water is boiling. Today this last passage is easy to cross, but it can become very complicated later in the season.
Improbable remnants of pistes finally let us glide down to Zermatt in green surroundings!
Despite the extensive lift development of this massif, this majestic glacial environment has managed to stay wild and offers many classic or more original high-mountain ski routes.
Photo gallery...