Mar 31, 2024

Two friends left Chamonix at the beginning of this week.

Thankfully, I’ll see them again soon because they love to travel, they love the mountains, and they love Europe. We’re off to hike in the Dolomites together this August. I plan to spend a whole month there to extend the trip a little too. But that’ll be an adventure for a future blog.

They came over from Canada to ski the Haute Route (The High Route) - a classic ski traverse, travelling from alpine hut to alpine hut across the Alps from France to Switzerland. I was meant to go with them, except, you know, the knee. Still not remotely ready for 7 days of intense skiing on complex conditions. Plans foiled.

To be honest, It didn’t exactly go as planned for them either.

The first day was stormy, and they were drenched in rain. They had to skip over the next section of the route due to inclement weather. The middle section went fairly well. Beautiful views, bad snow and a lot of sweating in the sunshine. On the second to last day, a twisted ankle led them to bail early in Zermatt. They lost their phone. They found their phone. They were led by a guide who wouldn’t let them take breaks, and accompanied by an aspiring instagram influencer carrying a Swarovski crystal ski suit to be photographed in at every refuge. Thankfully there was an architectural photographer in the group too who helped them capture the perfect shot.

It sounded like an extremely tough week, and they are both very keen to come back next year and try again, at more great expense. They plan to drag me with them again, and thankfully they at learned a lot of lessons about packing for it which I can benefit from next time around. They key one being: Do not pack ANYTHING that isn’t essential. No spare clothes, no spare cameras, no spare gear. Your life will be significantly improved if you live, breathe, eat, and sleep in just one outfit for the whole trip week. Yes, you will smell. No, people won’t care. They’ll all smell as bad as you, or worse. This is not a place for luxuries. (Unless you are a wannabe influencer of course, carrying your heavy crystal-covered onesie)

Spending two days in Zermatt, they were able to witness the glory of the Matterhorn, an almost pyramidal peak that hits a height of 4478m. (Here’s a nice photo, not by me)

Photographing the Matterhorn is high on my bucket list.

At least, it was until I discovered this week that I’d already done it.

One of the areas my friends skied through was the Arolla region. They shared how they had to climb a huge metal ladder up a cliff face, in ski boots, carrying their heavy backpacks and skis on their back. Not their favourite part of the trip!

I thought to myself, I’m pretty sure I’ve been near a big ladder in the Arolla region. Maybe even stayed in a hut there.

The nice thing about living in the 21st century is that you can travel back in time by scrolling through thousands of photos to see if you’re right.

I must have been 18 years old at the time, so it was a long scroll. Half my lifetime away. I’ve taken a lot of photos. Google says I have 20,000+, but it doesn’t get more specific than that unfortunately.

My school (Eltham College) took a gang of us on a mountaineering course in the Swiss Alps. It was the summer after I completed my secondary education, and it was one of the best trips of my life. A week of hiking through the summer Alps, camping, crossing glaciers, summiting 3000+ m peaks, and staying in my first ever Alpine hut.

The best part was the toilet.

Outside the main refuge, along a walkway was a small outhouse. Inside, a toilet seat shaped hole cut into some wood. Through the hole - nothing but a sheer drop over a cliff face. Poop and pee fell to their death against the rocks below. A brutal, but magnificent end.

I finally found a photo of the hut.

I looked at the photo of the hut.

I looked at my friends photo of their hut.