Introduction
This is a day-by-day account of a multi-year ski tour following the entire arc of the European Alps from Menton on the French Mediterranean coast to Vienna. There was one simple rule from the outset: no use of vehicle transport or ski lifts. The entire journey was done on skis except for short sections with insufficient snow cover that were done on foot. As we could not ski the ‘easy bits’ and drive between them, one of the greatest challenges was to identify a route that followed the high ground as much as possible. This was essential to maximise the distance covered by ski and reduce road walking to a minimum. There are several waymarked long distance hiking trails traversing the Alpine chain but no recognised ski route. Several parties have made this journey adopting different styles and following different variants of the route. Some of the sections are popular with ski mountaineers and have well known ski routes. Other sections are rarely visited in winter and have no obvious ski routes. This is a record of my journey and the route that I chose to follow, along with suggestions for how future parties could benefit from my experiences and improve the route.
France 2015
9 February – 12 March
26 stages in 32 days
486km distance
29,207m ascent
Team: David Hamilton & Venetia Wingfield (plus Nick Hellen F01-F06, Partick Bird F07, Andre Axelrod F15-F17)*
Switzerland 2016
16 February – 17 March
25 stages in 31 days
518km distance
30,621m ascent
Team: David Hamilton, Steve Kentish, (plus John Kentish S01-S05, Harvey Lyons S08-S25)
Austria 2017
8 February – 28 March
35 stages in 49 days
746km distance
39,800m ascent
Team: David Hamilton, Steve Kentish, (plus Andy Helm S32-S37)
Austria 2018
19 February – 7 March
16 stages in 17 days
363km distance
15,430m ascent
Team: David Hamilton, Steve Kentish
Totals: 2015 / 2016 / 2017 / 2018
102 stages in 129 days
2,113km distance
115,058m ascent
*French section completed separately by John Kentish, Steve Kentish, Sam Handley in 2014
Summary reports
In addition to the detailed information contained in these pages there is a short report covering each of the 4 sections on the main High Adventure website.
https://highadventure.org.uk/alps-ski-2015.html
https://highadventure.org.uk/ski-switzerland-2016.html
https://highadventure.org.uk/transalp-ski-iii-austria-2017.html
Warning: GPS tracks
The daily tracks logged by GPS during this project are available for download on this site. These show the actual route taken each day including errors of judgement and navigational mistakes. Where necessary important additional information is included in the text. Do not assume that these GPS tracks always offer the best or safest route.
References
La Traversée de l'Arc alpin à skis De Vienne à Menton en 100 jours - Frédéric Chevaillot, Jean-René Minelli Éditions Glénat - 144 pages
British Army Exercise Alpine Arc 2015
Panico - Skitourenführer Super-Haute-Route ISBN 978-3-936740-58-5 (2009)
LIVRE TOPO: LA GRANDE TRAVERSÉE DES ALPES À SKI - BENJAMIN GAIMARD (l’edelweiss) (2007)