Climbing Expedition ‘Cockney Spitting Dogs’ to French & Swiss Alps (The Haute Route), May 2003
The Honourable Artillery Company
An original plan to climb in the Atomfjella Range of the Svalbard Archipelago was scrapped, so the Honourable Artillery Company team of seven, accompanied by one ex army mountain guide, turned its attention to a suitably challenging alternative. The Classic Haute Route or ‘high route’ traverse from Chamonix in the French Alps to Zermatt and Saas Fee in the Swiss. With a total ascent and descent of 10,000m (33,000 ft), more than Everest, and probably managed in its entirety by about 10% of those attempting it, it would be reasonably hard work, particularly as it was getting very late in the season for ski touring.
The initial stages went well, avoiding the persistently threatening bad weather to keep to the schedule of 7 days to Zermatt, staying in some stunning refugees en route, some of which were unmanned. Conditions changed from deep slushy snow in the hot sun, to sheet ice against biting winds, to visibility reduced to a couple of meters on the glaciers, and a couple of stages without snow underfoot at all. The means of covering the terrain was equally varied with skins and crampons on skis, crampons on boots, tabbing on tracks and even a couple of 50m abseiling pitches.
 Descending to the Boquetins Hut |
On arriving at Zermatt, now thoroughly
acclimatized and much more proficient in ski touring techniques than at
the start, there followed a day of recuperation in the shadow of the
Matterhorn before setting off on the second leg to Saas Fee. This stage
took the regulation 3 days, but unfortunately unstable conditions on the
summit areas meant that the team was unable to take in the six 6000m peaks
it had planned to en route. This aside, the team enjoyed some outstanding
glacial scenery and, as a whole, the traverse of the Alps proved to be a
challenging but extremely varied and rewarding experience for all
concerned. L/Cpl Alcock |