Zuba Ski

Just back from the mountains, here is a quick video which was taken during a recent Zuba Ski Tour.

The route was from Alagna (Italy) to Zinal (Switzerland).  It was a very special tour, unusual as it combined elements from other tours which are not normally together as one single route.

The team climbed about 1000 metres each day and stayed in 5 different places starting at the Rifugio Guglielmina in Alagna and finishing at the Auberge Alpina in Zinal.

Day 1:

We climbed up to the Col du Lys up above Alagna and the Grentz glacier at 4,260 feet.  The climb was wonderful as we passed the Mantova and Gnifetti huts and made our way through the Monterosa range of mountains to the Col.  The Lyskamm looks amazing and you get a great view of the ridge from the Col du Lys.  We then descended down the Grentz glacier to the newly refurbished Monterosa hut.  The glacier is fairly hairy with a lot of crevasses and some amazing blue ice to look at as you go down. 

Day 2:

We skied down the remaining section of the glacier through the ice tunnels and caves to Zermatt.  The ice cave was incredible, skiing on ice and through the live glacier was very special.  We then climbed up from Furi to the Schonbiel hut.  An easier day, although the final climb up to the hut was a little tricky in the afternoon sunshine on the west facing slope.

Day 3:

We skied down along the lateral morraine to the bottom of the col Durand.  From here the view up the route was immense as well as the view across the valley to the Matterhorn.  The glacier was alive with water running beneath your feet as we made our way through the natural gulley of the glacier.  A little ice fall and made the adrenalin pump a little and certainly put a skip in our step as we climbed up and over the breaks in the glacier.  From the top we could look down back over to the Col du Lys as well as over to the Zinalrothorn, Dent Blanche and the Zinal valley.  After an initial roped descent of the initial ice slope, we skied some great powder down to the Grand Mountet hut.

Day 4:

We set off early to climb up to the ridge leading to the Zinalrothorn.  Making tracks in the fresh snow the climb was beautiful - this area of the alps is so powerful with all the high 4000 metre peaks around you...  We then skied some deep powder back to the hut for a quick lunch before descending to Zinal.  The final kilometre was a track (think Engadin marathon) which inspired us to dig deep and to race to the finish....  A welcome beer was awaiting our arrival.

We hope that this helps to inspire you.  These trips are amazing and we can arrange bespoke tours like this for groups totally based on your skill level and your own timings.  We hope you like the video.