1001 – ‘Lung Buster’ – Alps, Haute Route

The weather and views were stunning, and the long walk provided an excellent opportunity to acclimate ourselves to our ice gear and to practice the principles that would keep us safe while journeying across ice and crevasses for the duration of the trip. The gradual ascent became quite steep as we neared the 3300m col that would serve as our lunch stop. This climb was a good challenge for the panting teams, and offered a firsthand chance to experience the difference of exertion at altitude as opposed to sea level.

After lunch, we descended past Cabane du Trient (3170m) and into the Col d’Orny. The rope teams separated from each other, and were given the opportunity to practice navigation and leadership while descending over glaciers and then following the winding, rocky path to the Cabane d’Orny (2826m), our home for the night. In total the day involved 10km of trekking, 1095m of ascent, and 462m of descent.

Sunday 1 August: Orny Hut to Panossiere Hut

The group had been briefed to expect a reasonably easy day, and this perception was reinforced by the fun and relaxing morning rock climbing. Consequently, the degree of difficulty of the afternoon’s walk came as quite a surprise to some. The path offered an excellent opportunity to practice navigation and leadership, and involved significant and sometimes steep periods of ascent intermixed with stretches of rapid descent, often providing the feeling that little altitude gain progress was being made overall. In this way, the route up to Cabane FXB-Panossiere (2641m) was both mentally and physically challenging. In all, the day entailed 1km of lift journey encompassing 696m of descent and 10km of trekking that included 632m of descent and 538m ascent.

The focus this day was on navigational skills and leadership. The group split into two smaller teams, and team members were each assigned responsibility for navigating a specific portion of the route. Before departing, teams discussed map reading and pathfinding techniques and these skills were reinforced through practice and continued instruction along the way.

We then ate dinner and retired for the night, hoping that rain and visibility would clear for our early start and big day the next morning. In all, our walk to Mauvoisin involved 5.5km trekking, 205m of which was ascent and 1005m descent.

We followed a winding dirt track up to the Col de Tsofeiret (2628m), where we encountered a picturesque lake and herds of cows. The ascent then became somewhat steeper as we continued to the Col de Lire Rose (3115m) and broke for lunch en route.

We descended somewhat and crossed a surreal landscape of enormous boulders, hopping from rock to rock, before reaching our final steep climb of the day. This rocky and muddy segment led us to the Col de M. Rouge (3326m), where we caught our breath, affixed our crampons, roped up, and embarked upon a mushy and crevasse-filled glacier crossing. Once across the Glacier du Gierto, we reached the Col de Cheilon (3237m) and began the descent over ice and then along a dirt and rock path to our evening’s lodgings: Cabane des Dix (2928m). The day had involved 15.5km of trekking, 1485m of ascent, and 398m descent.

This was the day many of us had been most looking forward to: summiting the Pigne d’Arolla (3790m), the physical high point of our trip. In order to make the trek under optimal conditions of crisp snow, we departed Dix Hut (2928m) early in the morning, having gathered for breakfast at 0515.

By approximately 1030, both teams had summited the Pigne d’Arolla (3790m), taking advantage of the photo opportunity and enjoying the vistas of the Matterhorn and Mont Blanc.

We grabbed a quick snack just below the summit, then began a steep, slushy, but speedy descent of about 1.5km to the Cabane des Vignettes (3160m). Perched on a remote rock and with a helicopter sitting atop its attached helipad, this hut made for an awesome sight as we approached. We roped up once more to access it via a rocky ridge, then devoured soup and settled into our lodgings, congratulating ourselves on a day well done. We had covered 8km of distance, to include 862m of ascent and 398m of descent.

After breakfast, we stepped outside to finish donning our kit and realised that our streak of favourable weather conditions had come to an end – we found ourselves being pelted with snow and socked in with minimal visibility. Gore-tex and gloves became essential, so after adding these layers we were then able to set out.

Roped up, we crossed glaciers leading us to the south and east around Mont Collon. Visibility cleared somewhat and the snow subsided a bit as we joined (and passed) several other teams following the same route.

The highest of the huts at which we’d spend the night, this facility lacked running water, had primitive toilet facilities, and offered only mediocre food, but we were happy for the good company and place to sleep, as the amount of snow falling outside increased, wind picked up, and visibility lessened.

That evening, we conducted a group de-brief, during which members could reflect upon their strengths and weaknesses and provide feedback to the rest of the group. This opportunity for open and honest dialogue certainly facilitated self-improvement – as a leader, follower, and peer participant – and allowed individuals to come away from the trip with a sense of personal growth and earmarked areas to improve. In a nod to the worsening weather conditions outside, Stu led a discussion about emergency planning and mountain safety, which was hugely informative for the group. We then went to bed, fingers crossed for improved weather, having trekked 13km, ascended 1023m and descended 801m that day.

The decision was disappointing, but we had no choice: weather conditions on the morning of the 6th made it unsafe to continue on to Zermatt. Fresh snow combined with poor visibility meant that the hazard posed by crevasses was particularly high, and that navigation would be extremely challenging and thus time consuming, leaving us insufficient hours of daylight to make the final push to the end of the Haute Route. Not a single team was departing the Bertol Hut for Zermatt that day, and the only group to have attempted the route was forced to turn back.

Though our group wanted badly to finish, these circumstances provided a valuable lesson in safety, prudence, and contingency planning, and left us all alive and healthy to attempt the route again another day.

Therefore, we roped up and retraced our steps down the rock supporting the hut and over the Glacier de Bertol. There, we picked up the path down to Arolla, trekking 6km and losing 1343m of altitude. Once there, we perched at an outdoor cafe for refreshments and browsed around town while waiting for the taxi back to Chamonix.

In Chamonix, we immediately sorted kit so that it was all accounted for and would be ready to return to stores immediately upon our arrival at Benson. Afterwards, we cleaned up, enjoyed a hearty and relaxing dinner and celebrated our achievements as a team with an enjoyable night of socialising and dancing. In total, we had trekked 68km (42miles), gained 5208m of height, lost 5342m, and proven our ability to push ourselves, utilise technical skills, and work together as a team.

Oxford University Air Squadron would like to thank all agencies that made this expedition viable. Special thanks go to The Ulysses Trust for their kind donation that enabled 10 Officer Cadets to embark on this life changing journey.