Touring on telemarks, the journey continues - Philip Maddox
Sunday September 5, 2010 - Email this article to a friend

Last Spring Philip Maddox led a group on the classic high mountain tour. He did it on his telemark skis.

For the first part of his story see here; for the next part, including some changes to the original plan, then read on..........

Day 3 - The weather was kind to us and it was warm with clear blue skies. We went onto the glacier and put skis on and toured along the Tre La Tete glacier until we could see the Les Conscrits hut high up on the left side of the valley and the Mt Tondu high up on the right.

A decision had to be made now to either go up the Mt Tondu or go straight to the hut. My decision was to go to the Conscrits hut and complete some crevasse training on a safe area before taking on a fairly major ski tour.

I was concerned that safety training had yet to be done.

The hut is very comfortable with spectacular views and in an amazing setting with no crowds of "punters" in their one piece grow-bags spoiling the view.

Once we'd had a hot drink we ventured back out to conduct crevasse rescue drills. This is vital for all members on a rope travelling across a glacier because anyone of the team could need rescuing or pulling out.

We practised assisted & unassisted hoists and the variations of each system and finished off with every member having a go at falling down the hole to then be rescued.

Day 4 - Up early the next day and fed & watered, ski skins on and off we went.

The plan was to tour up to the Domes De Miage, which is just shy of 4000m, and although not a very high mountain it helps with acclimatisation.

People will generally feel the effects of altitude as low as 2000m to some degree or another and regardless of 'sea level' fitness altitude has a whole different way of messing with your system making things a bit more difficult to perform as you would down at sea level.

One of the group was already feeling the effects and struggled almost all of the day, especially during the ski descent when the snow conditions were a little challenging. If someone slows to a snail's pace they could be exhibiting early signs of AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness).

The fastest recovery for AMS is to descend safely to a level where they feel at more at ease.

Once at the top of Domes De Miage we decided to descend quickly as the temperature on the summit had plummeted and the winds were picking up. Traditionally winds pick up the higher up you go and the temperature drops as the air cools. 

Cold air sinks down the mountain which can catch out unsuspecting tourers who are on the hill later than expected.

The ski off was terrible as the snow was a double layer of crust which generally grabs your ankles as you try to ski resulting in lots of falls or lots of frustration because it is very difficult to get turns in where or when you need to.

We eventually skied all the way back down the glacier and back to the Tre La Tete hut where we had a drink and a sandwich before skiing most of the way back down to Les Contamines for a day's rest and a shower.

Some stunning scenery en route

Day 5 - AMS had affected one of the guys who stayed in for the next tour to recover. 

From Les Contamines we drove to the Swiss town of Tasch which is situated just down the valley from Zermatt.

From here we took the train up into Zermatt, walked through the village up to the lift station and got the lift up to the Kleine Matterhorn.

From the top of the Kleine Matterhorn lift which is already at about 3800m, we only had a height gain of just over 400m.

This is probably the easiest of all Alpine 4000'ers and is therefore very popular. So we set off up the hill and followed the tracks already in place left the countless other groups from previous trips during the season.

The route is very straight forward, though Bob Lovett was starting to feel the altitude and had now slowed to a snails pace.

Despite this we all topped out and enjoyed the view from the summit of the Breithorn.

Marvelling at the Matterhorn sitting proud all on its own and looking very intimidating.

After a few moments and the obligatory photo shoot on the summit we decided to clip the skis into ski mode and ski down the lovely steep mountain and head back to the top of the lift station.

From the Breithorn you can ski down the "Schwarztor" gully and over to the Monta Rosa hut and then down to the valley from there. However as the snow cover lower down was not very good it was decided to go to the top of the pisted area and ski all the way down and this was a smarter choice considering one of the group was showing signs of AMS. 

I would much rather consider a rescue from the pisted area than deep in Off Piste/Back country area.

For the final stages of the expedition check back in a few days as accute mountain sickness strikes again and the tour takes on an historical perspective as we hear about the battle between French and German troops high above Chamonix during World War Two.

Telemarking the Haute Route, Part One.

For the spirit of the mountains

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