Tour du Ciel

THE GREAT SKI TRAVERSE – FROM ZERMATT TO ST. NIKLAUS

Switzerland | Valais Alps

Technique:

Fitness:

Elevation gain:

1,000–1,600 m per day

Requirements:

a head for heights, solid ski touring technique, confident use of ski crampons and mountaineering crampons, skiing ability in all snow conditions up to 35°

There are ski tours, and there are traverses you never forget. The Tour du Ciel – the “tour of the sky” – crosses the high-alpine, glaciated world of the Valais in five days, hut to hut, past some of the greatest 4,000-metre peaks in the Alps. No car, no valley, no turning back: just snow, rock, ice and a new horizon every morning. I’ll guide you across the entire traverse – from the first track above Zermatt to the long descent down to St. Niklaus.

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The Stages

Day 1 · Zermatt → Schönbielhütte · 600 m

An easy start to the traverse. We skin up above Zermatt into the silence of the high mountains – the Matterhorn and the Dent d’Hérens always in view. A day to arrive and find your rhythm.

Day 2 · Schönbielhütte → Cabane du Mountet · 1,000 m

The first big day. Across glaciers and passes, deeper into the high Valais, surrounded by one of the densest backdrops of 4,000ers in the Alps.

Day 3 · Cabane du Mountet → Cabane de Tracuit · 1,600 m

The queen stage of the traverse. The longest, highest climb takes you up to the Cabane de Tracuit, high above the valley – with the Bishorn already within reach.

Day 4 · Bishorn (4,153 m) → Turtmannhütte · 1,200 m

The heart of the journey: in the early morning we climb the Bishorn, one of the most rewarding summit views in the Alps. In good weather the panorama sweeps from the entire Monte Rosa massif, across the Valais, to Mont Blanc and the Dauphiné. Then a long descent and crossing to the Turtmannhütte.

Day 5 · Turtmannhütte → St. Niklaus · 1,000 m

A spectacular finale: one last climb, then the long descent through the high mountains down into the valley to St. Niklaus – five days above the rooftops of the Valais behind you.

Highlight: Bishorn

4,153 m

The Bishorn is considered one of the most accessible 4,000-metre peaks in the Alps – technically straightforward, scenically magnificent. From the summit the view reaches from Monte Rosa, across the Valais, to Mont Blanc.