SWITZERLAND - SKI THE BISHORN 4,153m
OUTLINE
The Val d’Anniviers is blessed in many ways, as well as averaging 300 days of sunshine per year the valley (or at least the Zinal branch) sports five 4,000m peaks on it’s skyline and fortunately the most northerly, the Bishorn, happens to be one of the ‘easier’ 4,000 meter summits in the Alps reachable bottom to top (and vice versa) on skis (or splitboards). Of course in reality there is nothing ‘easy’ about climbing or skiing 4,000m peaks; altitude acclimatisation, difficulty sleeping in the hut; negotiating crevasses on the glacier to the summit all combine to make an ascent of the Bishorn a worthy challenge and achievement. Hit it just after a dump of snow on a cold day and you will be rewarded with a 2,500m powder descent from the summit to Zinal… hard to beat!
ACCOMMODATION
Our package is just the barebones guiding and hut stay, we leave it to you to book your own pre-trip valley accommodation.
We stay in the Tracuit hut at 3,200m, even by alpine hut standards it’s location is sensational and the views… well lets just say you have visit it to appreciate them. The approach is from Zinal and is a full day of exercise. In March and early April we hope to set off from the village on skis but as spring shifts into full swing carrying your skis maybe necessary. The Tracuit opened in 2012 replacing the original 1913 hut famed for the worst outside loos in Switzerland (the French had worse!) today’s hut is warm, comfortable and fortunately the loos are indoors.
