Hi all,
I am organizing 2 ski-touring week-ends: a 3-day one from Friday to Sunday 19-20 March, and a 4-day from Friday to Monday 2-5 April. I've contacted Jean-Louis le Garrec - the guide from Chamonix who accompanies us each year - and he confirmed that he is available for the 2 week-ends. To give you a feel of how it's like to be on a ski touring trip, please have a look at the pictures taken last year:
http://picasaweb.google.com/
The first trip will take place from the hospice du Simplon in Switzerland, and the second will be around the "Gran Paradiso" in Italy.
For the first week-end:
We will be staying at the hospice (2006m, http://www.skitour.fr/refuges/
For the second week-end:
We will be sleeping at the Chabod hut (2750m, http://www.rifugiochabod.com/
That will allow us to get to the first hut gently on the first day (+900m). On the second day we will ski to the Grand Neyron Pass (3414 m, or +670m) with a light backpack, coming down back after to the Chabot hut. On the third day we will climb the "Grand Paradis" (4060m), before going down to the Victor Emmanuel hut (or ± 1330 m). And on the last day we will reach Punta Fouraz (3411 m), before going down to the Village of Le Pont (1960m).
We are currently 3. The number of participants is limited to 6 per guide, and if we are more than 6 the guide told me there would not be any problem to find another guide to come with us.
Now ... moneywise ... considering that:
- half board in a hut is around 35 Euros/person,
- cost for a guide is 305 Euros/day,
- driving cost is around 80 Euros per car each way (sic http://www.mappy.fr/ ).
depending on the number of skiers (3 to 6 per guide) and number of cars needed (… and depending wheither there is a swiss motorway sticker on the car as well …), it will cost per person from 315 to 465 Euros for the first week-end, and from 410 to 610 Euros for the second week-end.
Concerning the equipment, the guide will provide us with transceivers, shuffles and probes; if you need ski touring equipment, the Alpin Laden shop in Darmstadt ( http://www.alpinladen.de ) rents skis+skins+poles+ski-knives for 18.50 Euros a day.
Please let me know if you are interested in joining any of these 2 week-ends. I have not set a date limit for joining, but - as there is only a limited number of beds in each hut - sooner the better :-)).
And, of course, feel free to send me an Email if you need more information.
Have a very good evening,
Cheers,
Vincent