Flew direct from SFO, a 10 hour flight into ZRH. Not much sleep on the plane. Flights were cheap, around $500 USD. 
Flughafen Zürich, then a short train ride into Banhof Wiedikon.
Near the Hallwylplatz where we ate pizza and drank.All our bags showed up at the airport and Jason met us Friday afternoon, sheparding us to the right trains. Lack of sleep was definitely a factor but was very glad to be there.
Originally we had booked to get in on Saturday which meant we would have needed to leave for Chamonix the next day—I mixed it up and rebooking turned out to be a huge headache. Ephraim messaged me “They lost my flight...” the day before we were supposed to leave, but it all worked out.
Originally we had booked to get in on Saturday which meant we would have needed to leave for Chamonix the next day—I mixed it up and rebooking turned out to be a huge headache. Ephraim messaged me “They lost my flight...” the day before we were supposed to leave, but it all worked out.
View from the roof. 
From the window in the flat.
Friday night we had pizza and beers with Jason, his wife and kids in the plaza near their flat—the kids were chasing each other around the fountain. A very ‘en plein air’ approach to dinner which I loved. Then went by the local grocer to get a pack of Quöllfrisch before going back to the house and had another drink on the terrace with a view of the Zurich street traffic and surface trains below. The city was orderly and the buildings were old and beautiful.
We had a full day on Saturday to explore the city and go through our ski gear and rethink the clothing and equipment before leaving and the next day we went to a bakery for pastries and to get a proper coffee in the morning, then took the local trains to the older part of town called ‘Die Alstadt’ and the shopping districts in Zurich.
We stopped in Transa, which was like an REI only ten times bigger, for an international plug adapter and a few other things: lightweight ski harness for Ephraim, retention straps for crampons, etc. then walked around some more and got some lunch. We found a brewery and talked to some other transplants from the US.
We had a full day on Saturday to explore the city and go through our ski gear and rethink the clothing and equipment before leaving and the next day we went to a bakery for pastries and to get a proper coffee in the morning, then took the local trains to the older part of town called ‘Die Alstadt’ and the shopping districts in Zurich.
We stopped in Transa, which was like an REI only ten times bigger, for an international plug adapter and a few other things: lightweight ski harness for Ephraim, retention straps for crampons, etc. then walked around some more and got some lunch. We found a brewery and talked to some other transplants from the US.
As with most Eurpean cities we passed beautiful antiquated churches, some built on the ruins of a former Roman castle dating back as far as the 8th century. Kirche Fraumünster, an 11th-century church is known for its stained glass windows by the early modernist painter Marc Chagall, which is all to say Zurich had a kind of medieval modern feel.
Zurich is clean and the posters there are well designed. We passed one with an the face of Reinhold Messner, an Italian climber and mountaineering legend, who in the 1980s was the first person to summit all 8,000 meter peaks alone and without supplemental oxygen. You can’t help but notice the legacy of alpinism here.
Zurich is clean and the posters there are well designed. We passed one with an the face of Reinhold Messner, an Italian climber and mountaineering legend, who in the 1980s was the first person to summit all 8,000 meter peaks alone and without supplemental oxygen. You can’t help but notice the legacy of alpinism here.
Poster for ‘Reinhold Messner Live’
St. Jakob’s church
We took the trains to Staffaucherstrasse and Badenerstrasse, near the Limmat River in a busier shopping district walked around, got another coffee and then found some vantage points.
Zurich was the birthplace of the absurdist and anti-rationalist art movement known as Dada and it was hard not think about the former artists moving about the city during the early part of the twentieth century, possibly bumping into Einstein who taught math and physics here leading up to his theory of relativity, maybe at one of Zurich’s many public water fountains. It made me think about the foolish trip we were about to embark on and how its purpose and difficulty were hard to explain.
Zurich was the birthplace of the absurdist and anti-rationalist art movement known as Dada and it was hard not think about the former artists moving about the city during the early part of the twentieth century, possibly bumping into Einstein who taught math and physics here leading up to his theory of relativity, maybe at one of Zurich’s many public water fountains. It made me think about the foolish trip we were about to embark on and how its purpose and difficulty were hard to explain.
During the summer months there is a large swimming culture here.
Market near the Badenerstrasse.
Even the time tables for the trains are thoughtfully designed.
After laying all our gear out on the floor the day before and packing only the very basics into our 35L bags we left Zürich around 10 AM.
Stopped in Martigny to transfer. The beginning of the Alps. 
Looking down onto Vernayaz from the train we boarded in Martigny.
After so much travel, there was a nervous energy going into France.
Argentiere
Mont Blanc, Chamonix
The forecast was calling for a weak system to move in towards the end of the trip.Took a shuttle bus down to Chamonix and saw Mont Blanc before dusk. Had a pasta dinner, then walked around. Next day was ‘Day 1’ and I still hadn’t slept much. Our hotel was tiny but charming.
We didn’t have much time there but ended up in a bar with some Brits singing Arctic Monkeys. The bathroom door in the bar opened up right onto the dartboard, in a precaroius way, so you really had to be careful coming out unannounced or you might get one straight away.
We didn’t have much time there but ended up in a bar with some Brits singing Arctic Monkeys. The bathroom door in the bar opened up right onto the dartboard, in a precaroius way, so you really had to be careful coming out unannounced or you might get one straight away.
Musée Alpin Chamonix
DAY 1 - MON, MAR 28TH
Traditionally the Haute Route starts in Chamonix and six or seven days later you ski into Zermatt. On most days there’s an objective. We left Argentiere around 8 AM and walked down to the gondola at Les Grand Montets with our heavy packs, skis and poles and met our guide Adi. Jason had suggested we bring a pair of throw away shoes with us to make traveling from Zurich easier, so we ditched our old shoes in a nearby trashcan, put on our ski boots and harnesses for the first time in the parking lot. I rented an ice ax and crampons from the guide service, so packed them away and then we bought tickets and rode the gondola up. We took another chairlift up even higher.
The upper gondola wasn’t running and there was a gas leak at the Cabane de Argentiere which had forced it to close, this meant there was a change of plans; we’d have to travel on further than expected to the Cabane du Trient instead, effectively combining Day 1 and Day 2 into the first day.
It had been unseasonably warm and dry the two weeks leading up to the trip and you could really tell looking around the valley. The snow level was pretty high and it had gotten warm and then the snow had frozen again overnight making for some challenging spring skiing conditions down from Chamonix to the start of the skin track up the Glacier d’Argentierre.
Traditionally the Haute Route starts in Chamonix and six or seven days later you ski into Zermatt. On most days there’s an objective. We left Argentiere around 8 AM and walked down to the gondola at Les Grand Montets with our heavy packs, skis and poles and met our guide Adi. Jason had suggested we bring a pair of throw away shoes with us to make traveling from Zurich easier, so we ditched our old shoes in a nearby trashcan, put on our ski boots and harnesses for the first time in the parking lot. I rented an ice ax and crampons from the guide service, so packed them away and then we bought tickets and rode the gondola up. We took another chairlift up even higher.
The upper gondola wasn’t running and there was a gas leak at the Cabane de Argentiere which had forced it to close, this meant there was a change of plans; we’d have to travel on further than expected to the Cabane du Trient instead, effectively combining Day 1 and Day 2 into the first day.
It had been unseasonably warm and dry the two weeks leading up to the trip and you could really tell looking around the valley. The snow level was pretty high and it had gotten warm and then the snow had frozen again overnight making for some challenging spring skiing conditions down from Chamonix to the start of the skin track up the Glacier d’Argentierre.
We skied down inside the ski area, then put on skins and ski crampons for the approach to the Glacier d’Argentiere.
Everything started to feel real, the pack was heavy and the snow was firm, the skin track was steep. We had waited for what seemed like forever to get there with the flight and the extra day of travel by train. Usually it takes a litle bit to find your form and so much had to line up for this trip to happen. Then all of a sudden you’re there and you need a moment to settle in.
The ski down from the lift in Chamonix in the morning had been treacherous, but now the snow was warming up as the day let on. We kept the ski crampons attached during the skin up to the Col du Passon, then switched to boot crampons for one small incline. Adi told me “spikes down” and we had a good laugh.
Pretty soon we were getting ourselves over the Col du Passon (3028m) and the Col Superieur du Tour (3,288m). At a bakery in Argentiere I bought a baguette sandwich, but couldn’t stomach it until we got all the way to the hut.
The ski down from the lift in Chamonix in the morning had been treacherous, but now the snow was warming up as the day let on. We kept the ski crampons attached during the skin up to the Col du Passon, then switched to boot crampons for one small incline. Adi told me “spikes down” and we had a good laugh.
Pretty soon we were getting ourselves over the Col du Passon (3028m) and the Col Superieur du Tour (3,288m). At a bakery in Argentiere I bought a baguette sandwich, but couldn’t stomach it until we got all the way to the hut.
At the start of the col the snow had gotten soft, which was much better for gaining purchase with the skis. The start of the climb up the boot pack felt like an enormous solar dish, the three walls of the snow covered cirque surrounding us like an cupped mirror focusing the sun’s rays. I was surprised how hot it was and how high up the bottom of the col the skin track went.
We kick turned and the last few switchbacks of the skin track shot up like a series of crooked ladders. I found a small platform only as wide as the skis to transition to boot crampons, careful not to knock or drop anything. The sweat dripped off the end of my nose and I realized I would soon run out of water. I attached the crampons to my ski boots, affixed the skis to my pack and used my poles to balance as we went stepping up the boot pack, head down, breathing hard. Climbing up being a kind of mental puzzle, a game between your mind and body—as we made progress the snow turned mostly to slush which made it easier in the footholds.
We kick turned and the last few switchbacks of the skin track shot up like a series of crooked ladders. I found a small platform only as wide as the skis to transition to boot crampons, careful not to knock or drop anything. The sweat dripped off the end of my nose and I realized I would soon run out of water. I attached the crampons to my ski boots, affixed the skis to my pack and used my poles to balance as we went stepping up the boot pack, head down, breathing hard. Climbing up being a kind of mental puzzle, a game between your mind and body—as we made progress the snow turned mostly to slush which made it easier in the footholds.
View from the Argentiere Glacier.
The col was steep but manageable. Other teams lingered and there were a few climbers ahead and behind us. On the way up I realized my collapsible poles were too tall, but didn’t change them so as to have one less thing to worry about. Each step a mix of mild hazard and meditation. We zig-zagged up the col, no one talking, everyone with a job to do of putting boots in place one after the other, lunging ahead and lifting ourselves to the next step that had been kicked into being by someone else before us, careful not to lose our footing and end up at the bottom.
At the top it was calm and sunny. Unexpectedly another climber was singing ‘Happy Birthday’ with a cupcake to the compatriot, others gazed across the wide open expanse above the Agentiere glacier taking in the blue panorama. We chatted with another group and gathered ourselves, drank water then switched back to skis.
On the other side of the col, there was a huge convex breakover that looked like a giant wave, we skirted around it skiers left and when we crossed the Glacier du Tour the jet lag and the altitude kicked in again. The Glacier du Tour was enormous and mostly flat and open with a gently rising traverse to the bottom of the Col Superieur du Tour, another steep incline with a giant talus field at the top.
We stopped at the base of the climb up the second col as a group, Adi said to keep the skis on even when we ventured off to take a piss because of the risk of falling into a crevasse, the skis increasing our surface area. After a quick break where I complained, we continued on skins halfway up the steep col to another tiny platform to put on boot crampons. Along the way Ephraim kick turned and stepped out of both skis, luckily nothing happened. I set my pack teetering upright on the skinny flat snow packed area where others had done the same, then fussed with the boot crampons reattaching my skis to my pack. On we went up the remaining snow field to the pile of talus and climbed and picked our way through the ardous boulders scraping our packs and ourselves, pressing the metal prongs of the crampons into the rock until we reached the top. By now I was completely out of water.
At the top it was calm and sunny. Unexpectedly another climber was singing ‘Happy Birthday’ with a cupcake to the compatriot, others gazed across the wide open expanse above the Agentiere glacier taking in the blue panorama. We chatted with another group and gathered ourselves, drank water then switched back to skis.
On the other side of the col, there was a huge convex breakover that looked like a giant wave, we skirted around it skiers left and when we crossed the Glacier du Tour the jet lag and the altitude kicked in again. The Glacier du Tour was enormous and mostly flat and open with a gently rising traverse to the bottom of the Col Superieur du Tour, another steep incline with a giant talus field at the top.
We stopped at the base of the climb up the second col as a group, Adi said to keep the skis on even when we ventured off to take a piss because of the risk of falling into a crevasse, the skis increasing our surface area. After a quick break where I complained, we continued on skins halfway up the steep col to another tiny platform to put on boot crampons. Along the way Ephraim kick turned and stepped out of both skis, luckily nothing happened. I set my pack teetering upright on the skinny flat snow packed area where others had done the same, then fussed with the boot crampons reattaching my skis to my pack. On we went up the remaining snow field to the pile of talus and climbed and picked our way through the ardous boulders scraping our packs and ourselves, pressing the metal prongs of the crampons into the rock until we reached the top. By now I was completely out of water.
Basin before the Col du Passon.
Climber on the bootpack, Col du Passon