This quieter corner of Western Switzerland often has excellent conditions when higher areas have bad weather and wind affected snow.
The tour benefits from easy lift access at the start, but otherwise the week is spent in remote and wild terrain, staying in mountain huts.
Skill/Stamina
Skill: ***
The intermediate level hut-to-hut ski tours are aimed at newcomers to multi-day hut-to-hut ski touring. However participants should have completed some day tours and have basic ski touring experience – e.g. familiarity with using skins and skinning technique, conversions/kick-turns. You need to be confident walking uphill on steep and exposed slopes with boot crampons.
You need to be a competent off-piste skier capable of skiing 10-12 continuous turns off-piste on most slopes and with the confidence to tackle steeper pitches in tricky conditions.
These tours differ from the beginner level tours in that ascents & descents will be more demanding – i.e. longer & steeper.
Stamina: ***
Most of our progression-level & advanced-level off-piste weeks and intermediate ski tours are of this level of strenuousness. You must be able to cope with continuous, long days out on the hill. On a ski touring week you need to fit enough to cope with up to 3-4 hours of mountain walking or ski-touring up-hill carrying a backpack with all you need for a week staying in mountain huts.
Tour Itinerary:
There are many alternatives, and flexibility is the key to getting the most enjoyable ascents and best snow for the week. We will make every endeavour to carry out the itinerary below but alterations may have to be made owing to weather and snow conditions.
Day 1: Arrive in Leysin and meet up with your guide for an initial briefing and review of the itinerary. Stay overnight in Leysin.
Day 2: A day of off-piste skiing with a short tour around Leysin. Stay overnight in Leysin.
Day 3: From the Col du Pillon in canton Vaud we take the Glacier 3000 lift and descend to the Col du Sanetch. We then climb the Arpelistock (3035m) by the elegant crest of the Arete de L'Arpille. This is followed by a long run down north facing slopes to the Gelten hut (2003m) on the canton Berne side of the range.
Day 4: From the hut we make our way back up to the Gelten glacier to cross onto the canton Valais side and traverse around to the Wildhorn (3247m). From here we make a long descent north-east via the Tungel glacier to the Wildhorn hut (2303m).
Day 5: The following day we make a traverse of the Schnidehorn (2937m) and descend into the remote snow plateau of the Alpage du Rawil, to finish at the Wildstrubel hut (2791m).
Day 6: From the hut we cross the Glacier de la Plaine Morte, and then ascend to the summit of the Wildstrubel (3243m). We descend the Wildstrubel glacier to the Lammeren hut (2504).
Day 7: From the Lammeren hut, depending on conditions, we make an ascent of one of the nearby summits (e.g. Steghorn 3146m, Daubenhorn 2941m). After our final descent, we use the lifts to take us down to Leukerbad or Kandersteg, and transport links back to Leysin.
Day 8: Depart after breakfast.
Notes:
Airfare is not included in the tour price.
The price includes: 6 days guide fees & expenses, 3 nights half-board hotel accommodation (twin rooms), 4 nights half-board accommodation in mountain huts
The price does not include: lift passes and transfers, lunches, beverages, equipment hire, personal insurance, travel to/from Leysin
Single room occupancy may incur an additional charge.
We exclude the cost for lift tickets and transfers because our use of these may vary depending on weather and snow conditions. Based on the standard itinerary, the cost of transfers and lift tickets will be around 210CHF per person.
Also see tour packages in:
Europe
Switzerland
Skiing & Snowboarding
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