Multi-Day Ski Tour in the Alps???

[PwdrHound]

I have a very good friend (http://bicycletouringpro.com) who's slacking off in Luzerne, Switzerland for the next 6 months. So, while I'm not usually fond of the 2-week, annual vacation, I'm going to use his hospitality as my excuse to spend some time in Europe.

At this time, I am trying to put together a multi-day ski tour sometime between February 16-27, 2009. I have no expectations other then breathtaking views of the Alps. I have never been to Switzerland. I have yet to familiarize myself with the region. I have no specifics trips or routes in mind. I am a skier first and foremost. I will be touring on my Telemark equipment. I am always open for a true Alpine experience, to include climbing. But, of course, skiing is most important to me :)

Just wondering if anyone can refer a guide (individual or service), Also, does anyone have any Beta on some sweet tours (Hut to Hut or Bivy), or know any locals or transplants that might be willing to play host/guide. I'd really like to do a Multi-Day tour. However, if you know of any super-sweet single day tours....let me know, please :)

Thank you all,

[PWDR8S]

ME! ME! ME! Pick me! Oh... you're not paying my way huh? Bummer....

There's a LOT of mountains and places to ski so you may want to start by narrowing down your region to hit. Did you want to do the Haute Route? There are other hut to hut tours but they are shorter by days. Or you could resort ski and just connect them by skiing down to the next at the end of the day. Soooo many options! :cool:

[pulverschwein]

ME! ME! ME! Pick me! Oh... you're not paying my way huh? Bummer....

There's a LOT of mountains and places to ski so you may want to start by narrowing down your region to hit. Did you want to do the Haute Route? There are other hut to hut tours but they are shorter by days. Or you could resort ski and just connect them by skiing down to the next at the end of the day. Soooo many options! :cool:

C'mon 8's hook a brother up :p - Rich doesn't know what's close and what the options are. Give him some guidance of what areas you'd recommend that are close to his home base in Luzerne - what region's that anyhow? Bernese Oberland? (I've only passed through and never spent any time there). I think there are some smaller ski areas just outside of town. If you take a train ride, you can get to the Jungfrau and I'm sure there are guides / multi-day touring type skiing there.

Zermatt's prolly close to 3 hours away and there are hundreds, if not thousands of qualified guides there. Unfortunately, I don't know any of them. :rolleyes: Saas Fee is a little further than that, involving a bus in addition to a train and there are fewer, but still many touring options there, which I also know little to nothing about (wow, I'm really a valuable resource, eh? :doh:). I can recommend some nice on, off piste stuff, a good, reasonable pension, and a couple of short tours right outside of town that take you to huttes, but the skiing we had wasn't that great - prolly because of the shytti snowpack we had. Really glaciated area with huge objective hazards that you would most definitely want some local guidance on there.

Somebody can definitely do better than me though: either 8s, jumpturn maybe. DMC's been everywhere. Maybe check with those maggots on TGR - they've gotta have some beta. Good luck, be safe and take lotsa pitchers!

[PwdrHound]

Thanks pulverschwein. I was about to bribe 8's with :beer::beer::beer: and :topless: women. But, I understand......it's what he does for a living. I'm a burnt out IT Guy and am that way mostly because I've heard one too many people say, "I have a question.....". Of course, it's never actually work related! Better yet, I'll run into people who I haven't seen in umpteen years and within two minutes they are telling about all their computer problems (Eff the family, who cares about them anyway!)

Anyway, I really need to do some research. I don't really want to spend too much money skiing inbounds. I definitely will be heading up to the heart of the Alps, no matter what the cost of travel!

Besides the mountains and backcountry...anything else I should see or do while in Switzerland?

If anyone wants to chime in on the touring options....let me know. I'd appreciate it! I leave in a month!!!

8's, if that beer is tempting, let me know :)

[surfsnowywaves]

Anyway, I really need to do some research. I don't really want to spend too much money skiing inbounds. I definitely will be heading up to the heart of the Alps, no matter what the cost of travel!

Besides the mountains and backcountry...anything else I should see or do while in Switzerland?

If anyone wants to chime in on the touring options....let me know. I'd appreciate it! I leave in a month!!!

8's, if that beer is tempting, let me know :)

Alright, first things first. I'm going to spit out a list of names near Luzern. Get ready. I won't provide links, I'm sure as an IT person you know about the wonders of the intraweb. Andermatt, Engelberg, Flims/Laax. That's just a few, larger ones. Pick a town in the Alps, you're guaranteed to have a skilift (and mountains).

As far as guides go, all these aforementioned places will have guiding services located right in town. Often, you can get links through the websites for the ski area, which almost act more like tourism boards. BC options are endless. Note also that at most ski areas, they groom a few select runs, the rest of the runs are left unpatrolled, uncontrolled, and ungroomed. So the slackcountry experience can be much more easily achieved.

Things to do in Switzerland? Cheese. Emmentaller and Gruyere are two that come to mind. (The term "swiss" cheese is an American invention. "Swiss" cheese is bland and tasteless. Cheese from Switzerland is amazing. Try some fondue.)

[PWDR8S]

Rich... I'm digging up more info than snowflakes in a blizzard so bear with me a day or two before I share... I need to take care of paying clients 1st so I can eat my next meal.

Snowy.. has made some good suggestions but I have some detail which involves studying the terrain so you can do more BC in a given location vs having to hop from place to place.

Will you be getting a Eurail pass? I can help you get one without extra cost. Having a pass frees up your travel flexibility... for example, you have a great 20KM run and end up at a tiny train platform in some small farmtown way down valley, you can hop the next train back up or to your next bed...(or even sleep on the trains some nights. I've done that several times)

Swiss Flexi Pass -2nd class - 3 days in 1 month = $228 , 4=$276, 5=$319, 6=$364
The Swiss Pass(and flexi pass) offers unlimited travel on Swiss Railway trains, lake steamers, alpine post-buses and some mountain excursions covering a network of over 16,000 kilometres. It also allows travel on transport services of 37 Swiss towns and cities. For groups of between 2 and 5 people travelling together see the Swiss Saver Pass. For those aged 16-25 years inclusive see the Swiss Railpass Youth.

Bonus Discounts:
- 50% discount on most mountain top railways and aerial cable cars that are not already included in your pass.
- 30% discount on RailAway excursions including: Gornergrat, Saas Fee-Allalin, Stanserhorn, Mystery Park Interlaken, Rigi, Titlis Glacier Park, Olympic Museum, Rochers-de-Naye, Schilthorn and Pilatus. To book a RailAway excursion please call us.
- 20% discount on the famous Furka Steam Train.
- Free admission to over 400 museums and exhibits in Switzerland.

The Swiss Pass is for consecutive days only... 2ns class - 4 days = $238, 8 days = $345, 15 days = $415

[Castlerock]

Hans learned to ski at Smuggs, moved to Europe, and became one of the first Americans to be certified by the Swiss Guides Association. He was a longtime friend of Doug Coombs and guided at Doug's Steep Camps.

Here is a link to his site. http://www.swissguides.com/

[PwdrHound]

Hans learned to ski at Smuggs, moved to Europe, and became one of the first Americans to be certified by the Swiss Guides Association. He was a longtime friend of Doug Coombs and guided at Doug's Steep Camps.

Here is a link to his site. http://www.swissguides.com/

Hans and I have been in contact, actually! Thank You for the reply! I appreciate the reference :)

[bucksaw]

Just wondering if anyone can refer a guide (individual or service), Also, does anyone have any Beta on some sweet tours (Hut to Hut or Bivy), or know any locals or transplants that might be willing to play host/guide. I'd really like to do a Multi-Day tour. However, if you know of any super-sweet single day tours....let me know, please :)
Thank you all,

You do not need to do over nights unless you really want to. There are nearly an unlimited number of day trips with great towns to stay in, beer, food all with in arms reach. Also if you do go to huts you will not to carry a ton of crap so that's sort of nice.

There are a few guide book series for the country. The ones I have are from www.olizane.ch (http://www.olizane.ch/articles.php?page=4&articles=76") last I checked there were two down sides one they do not ship international and second they are not in English. You could have them shipped to your friend. If you need help figuring out which book you may want I can help.

You'll also want to get some good maps. The swiss have that covered too (www.swisstopo.admin.ch/ (http://www.swisstopo.admin.ch/)).

The nice thing is everything is totally accessible.

Also there is www.slf.ch (http://www.slf.ch) which is the swiss avalanche forecasting (also not in english). Things have been a bit faack'd lately after a relative lull in snow it's been dumping with 60cm of snow in places this week.

Have fun dude there is lots so skiing to be had!

Oh ya here's from pictures from the Sion/Nendaz area from last year. 2008 trip (http://www.timefortuckerman.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9658)

[jumpturn]

Check out the snow for the euros thread on TGR. Some good material in there to give you some ideas. I posted my recent activity in there back to december.

I would bag the multi-day touring and stick to schralping some good lines.

Hit the backside of Mont Fort at Verbier. Hit the couloir rectiligne we did yesterday. Hit the Aiguille de midi and do the Grand Envers. Skin over to Pointe Hellbronner and ski the glacier Toule. Then, take the tram back to the top and ski the combe de la noire. Then, do the Glacier Rond and the Cosmiques.

Your two weeks is probably over after you apply some filler.

Closer to your base are Andermatt, Engleberg, Zinal, Saas Fee. Alagna could be pretty fun too. Write us some TRs if you hit these or other interesting places we should know about.

[bucksaw]

I would bag the multi-day touring and stick to schralping some good lines.

Ya almost nothing is far from the civilized... How is Chamonix treating you this winter?

[PWDR8S]

Jumpturn is having too much fun chasing Chamois!

[RR]

Jumpturn is having too much fun chasing Chamois!But not too busy to help a fellow Tuckermaniac!

A most reputable gent!

[jumpturn]

I got back yesterday suffering serious withdrawal! Looking up ticket prices for March-April today ....

Here are some examples of how the Alps were treating me over the past week:



Ceilac (http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2207537&postcount=5479)

Cousin Hubert (http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2208639&postcount=5489)

Crévoux (http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2211922&postcount=5513)

Grand Envers and Couloir des Cosmiques (http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2217408&postcount=5548)

Courmayeur (http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2219487&postcount=5581)

Couloir Rectiligne (http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2220615&postcount=5591)

[StuckInJersey]

no words just drool.

[RR]

Nice JT, wicked nice!

[PwdrHound]

Thank You Jump Turn!!!! TGR sent me a birthday reminder so I was about to head over there and post an inquiry like I did here.....

The timing of my trip is all wrong but, I'll have to make the best of it!

Anyone know of any sites with reliable weather and avy forecasts for the Swiss Alps? I would like to begin monitoring conditions!

I've realized that Switzerland is probably the easiest and friendliest country to visit, as well as the most expensive. I don't have a real appreciation for what is is the ski in the confederation, however, I am still trying to circumvent lift service and still have a fun time! Just wish I had some partners.....hopefully a few nights at a hostel will remedy that problem.

Honestly, I'll probably loose my mind when I see the resorts and start forking over the cash. Of course, that is a very finite resource and good planning will prevent such unnecessary spending. I'm not saying I won't snag a day or two of lift service...I know I'll hit up a few of the smaller areas (Titlis & Andermatt) with Darren (http://bicycletouringpro.com)! But, my really passion is for the off-piste! For those of you who've been, I probably sound like I have no clue....which is true! Let me just say, I am seeking a pure alpine experience, climbing, skiing, and maybe a night or two in the bivy!

Thanks everyone!

[jumpturn]

Well, La Grave and Alagna are two really good lift-served off-piste areas.

La Grave is 33€ per day whereas Ceillac was 21€, Crévoux is 15€ and Abries was 11€. So, the smaller places can be winners.

See also Zinal and Champex in Switerland. Val d'Isere is another big french area. See also Serre Chevalier at 38€ and Montegenevre near briancon. Serre Chevalier is the 3rd largest in France and a really fun place with lots of off-piste.

Personally, I would rather go to areas that have more elevation, like 3300m or better (Chamonix (http://www.compagniedumontblanc.fr/), La Grave (http://www.la-grave.com/), Verbier). Then, you can get big descents like 2800m Glacier Rond to Chamonix or 2300m Couloir Rectiligne to Chamonix.

BTW, a number of the TGR skiers are afraid of Cham because it is serious and people get killed all the time -- especially the inexperienced who lack mountaineering skills. There is lots of low angle powder fantasy but no heuvos for 50º couloirs. Whereas in Cham, there are a pack of pro skiers running laps on 50º couloirs.

Low budget skiers will camp at the Col des Cosmiques and hike couloirs out of there. Very good altitude training. But, your timing is a little early. Maybe better just go to Alagna (http://www.alagna.it/) and write us a good TR!

http://www.alagna.it/immagini/varie/skirama_big.jpg

http://www.andermatt.ch/dateimanager/pistenplan09.jpg

http://engelbergred.elca-services.com/site_repository/1/resources/source/winterkarte08_09.jpg

[bucksaw]

Anyone know of any sites with reliable weather and avy forecasts for the Swiss Alps? I would like to begin monitoring conditions!

Thanks everyone!

If you are going to do pure touring or try to your avo resource is SLF.ch This is the swiss national avalanche service most the ski mountains post this information verbatum from SLF. SLF has decent weather forecasting for a few days in advance and that part is in english.

The guide books are pretty good, see my first post. You can pick one or two up for less than a lift ticket and spend your time learning the area.

[The Lisa]

I too am droooling. Great collection of pics there, JT.
http://www.clicksmilies.com/s1106/grinser/grinning-smiley-043.gif