The Haute Route – Chamonix

Looking out across the Alps from Aiguille Du Midi – Chamonix, France

The Haute Route September 2025

I am off on another adventure. This time walking the Haute Route from Chamonix, France to Zermatt, Switzerland. The route is about 128 miles, but with over 40,000 vertical feet of climbing. I basically start by Mont blanc and walk to the Matterhorn. I will not be summitting any mountains, but will be walking by many of the highest peaks in the Alps. I will be going by many cable cars, so I will probably take advantage of taking an easy way up or down at some point. As always, let me know if you have any questions. It always brings up good things to write about.

Chamonix, France

Friday September 5, 2025

I left Phoenix on Wednesday evening, departing at 6:40PM, nonstop to London. We landed 20 minutes early, but took almost an hour to get a gate to unload. I had a 5 hour layover, so no big deal. There was an earlier flight to Geneva that departed an hour and 20 minutes after our scheduled arrival. Even with being late and having to switch terminals in Heathrow – long walks, a bus ride, go through security again, I arrived at the departure gate just as they were boarding. In Europe they close flights 20 minutes prior to departure, so I was too late. Then my scheduled flight was 30 minutes late, so I didn’t land at GVA until almost 10PM. Curiously, I did not go through customs in England, but did to enter Switzerland. All in all everything went very smoothly. It was less than a 1 mile walk to the hotel, so instead of trying to figure out transportation, I just walked. I slept very well in a comfortable bed. I only got 2 one hour naps on the redeye to London, so I was ready for a good night’s sleep. I found out that Switzerland uses a different electrical plug from most of Europe, so this morning I had to buy a new adapter at the airport. The adapter I brought works fine in France where I am now, but I will be walking back into Switzerland in a couple days.

This morning I had a shuttle ride to Chamonix. It is about a 75 minute drive. The fields and hills are all very green, they have had lots of rain here this summer. I went to the hotel, but couldn’t check in till 4PM. The town sits at 3,500 feet and we are at the 46 degrees latitude. (About the same as northern Maine.) Today’s high was 55 degrees. It is supposed to warm up a bit, but for me it felt great. I walked the town. Had my first chocolate croissant. Signed up for a cool trip tomorrow. Went back to the hotel lobby for the free wifi and caught up on some work. Went back out and had a nice late lunch. Came back to the hotel and checked in. Took a short nap. Went back out to cruise the town and found a local band playing the typical alpine music. Got kicked out of a church for the first time in my life. (They were closing). The sun sets at 8PM here, but by a little after 6 we were in the shade because of the mountains. The mountain was still in full sun at 8:15.

The pictures kind of show the mountain right behind the hotel. The clouds were hanging around all day. That is part of Mont Blanc, but not the actual summit. Tomorrow I hope to get some nice photos. I am taking a cable car to over 12,605 feet. Mont Blanc is the high point in the Alps at 15,777 feet.

Chamonix, France

September 6, 2025

I am still working on getting used to the 9 hour time change. I woke up at 3:30AM, so I got out of bed and addressed a few work issues. I laid back down and next thing I knew it was 7:45. I had a 9:55 reservation to go up to Aiguille du Midi (Needle of the Mid-day). Good thing I made a reservation yesterday as they were fully booked until 2:45 when I arrived. To get there, you need to take two cable car rides. The first leaves intown Chamonix (3,394’) and rises 4,185 feet to a mid station. The ride is only about 5 minutes long. From the same building you catch the second cable car and rise another 5,026 feet to the Aiguille du Midi complex. The second cable car goes basically a vertical mile with no towers. I was very impressed with the construction. The lower cable car opened 70 years ago and the upper one first opened 60 years ago.

Today has been a beautiful sunny day with temperatures in the mid 60s. There are tons of paragliders here. You can take a tram up and just jump off the mountain. There are great up drafts, so they can stay airborne for basically as long as they want. There are several companies that will take you up for a tandem ride. At any given time I could count 20 parasailers.

There is a tunnel from Chamonix to Italy. It is 7 miles long, right under Mont Blanc. It is closed for maintenance now, so it is a 2:45 drive around. When the tunnel was completed in 1965 it was the longest in the world.

Tomorrow I start my walk to Zermatt. I plan to post every two or three days. We shall see how the wifi is along the way.

“A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.” – Lao Tzue