Thursday 12 July 2007

Snow, snow and more snow July in the Alps!






The Chamonix Zermatt Walker's route looked more like a winter trip in Scotland than a summer hike in the Alps! We had very unseasonal weather from the start although there was a fantastic respite mid-way through for our day over to Arolla when we had wall to wall blue skies and superb freshly coated white peaks.






The high passes were generally snowy and became more so as the week went on. We all agreed snow was much better than rain but a few more views would have been welcome and it would have been nice to shed the waterproofs more often.



Nevertheless it was a real adventure and a great sense of achievement to stroll into Zermatt yesterday (in sunshine finally) with the Matterhorn soaring above, flanked by clouds on its East face.



The final day was beautifully sunny and we were able to see all the Zermatt peaks.
There is now a considerable amount of snow in the high mountains giving a high risk of avalanche and some cornice build-up. Conditions below 3000m should improve quickly but for the moment there is some snow and ice and the existing nevés have not melted at all for some time.

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