The Haute Route, (or The High Route or Mountaineers' Route) is the name given to a route (with several variations) undertaken on foot or by ski touring between Chamonix, France, and Zermatt, Switzerland.
First charted as a summer mountaineering route by members of the Alpine Club (UK) in the mid 19th century, the route takes around 12+ days walking (or 7+ days skiing) the 180 km from the Chamonix valley, home of Mont Blanc, to Zermatt, home of the Matterhorn.
Originally dubbed "The High Level Route" in English by members of a British hiking club, the term was translated into French when first successfully undertaken on skis in 1911. Since then, the French prevails.
While the term haute route has become somewhat genericized for any of the many multi-day, hut-to-hut alpine tours, the "Chamonix-Zermatt Haute Route" remains the original.
Read more about Haute Route: Walking Haute Route, Ski Touring Haute Route
Famous quotes containing the words haute and/or route:
“Cependant, ce fut jadis un bel homme, de haute taille.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)
“A route differs from a road not only because it is solely intended for vehicles, but also because it is merely a line that connects one point with another. A route has no meaning in itself; its meaning derives entirely from the two points that it connects. A road is a tribute to space. Every stretch of road has meaning in itself and invites us to stop. A route is the triumphant devaluation of space, which thanks to it has been reduced to a mere obstacle to human movement and a waste of time.”
—Milan Kundera (b. 1929)