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Ah that's interesting.
I recently read about the route in an Outside article and doing a week point to point sounds like an interesting alternative to staying in the same place all week.
I suspect I would have to improve my off piste experience a fair bit before signing up to do it though.
ILb-
I’ve found there’s definitely two levels of off piste -
France - steep, gnarly, narrow and terrifying entrances into ok easyish stuff where you never seem far from the piste.
Austria (St Anton specifically)- beautiful fields of unending powder with no one else in sight with a great restaurant at the end in the middle of no where.
I found the guides in St Anton much better at giving a fantastic off piste experience rather than scaring the hell out of me at every turn. -
I suspect I would have to improve my off piste experience a fair bit before signing up to do it though
I assume doing it as part of a guided group?
The two main factors for a successful haute route are mountain fitness and glacier safety skills. I'm not a skier but I'm told the actually skiing is pretty easy. It's a he amount of up that gets you. It really helps to have a guide if you're not comfortable with crevasse rescue techniques etc. You'll definitely want to know what to do if you go in a slot. Or a member of your group does.
Worth pointing out that the winter/spring haute route has something like a 50% DNF rate. Partly due to weather but also because it's physically demanding. Route finding is not easy and it definitely helps to have some winter mountain skills for that.
That said, it's a very doable challenge for even an intermediate off piste skier who prepares properly.
Alan_tbt
Stonehedge
Not on skis, have done most of the mountaineering route though. What do you want to know?