As ever, I wish to record my gratitude to all the team at Cicerone who work wonders in transforming a disc full of words and another of photographs into the attractive volume you hold in your hands. My fellow authors and I have the pleasure of walking the trails and reliving them through our work; the production team in Milnthorpe weaves the magic.
My thanks, then, to everyone involved in Trekking in the Alps – and to you for buying a copy. May it inspire you to follow some of these treks and give you as much pleasure as we gained while walking and reliving them.
Kev Reynolds
Updates to this Guide
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Front cover: The Grand Combin massif seen from above Lac de Louvie (photo: Jonathan Willilams) Back cover: The higher slopes of the Cheval Blanc (Tour of Mont Ruan) (photo: Hilary Sharp)
CONTENTS
Trek 1 Grande Traversata delle Alpi: GTA – Gillian Price
Trek 2 Tour of the Queyras – Alan Castle
Trek 3 Tour of the Oisans – Kev Reynolds
Trek 4 Tour of the Vanoise – Kev Reynolds
Trek 5 Gran Paradiso Alta Via 2 – Gillian Price
Trek 6 Tour of Mont Blanc – Kev Reynolds
Trek 7 GR5: Through the French Alps – Paddy Dillon
Trek 8 Tour of Mont Ruan – Hilary Sharp
Trek 9 The Walker’s Haute Route – Kev Reynolds
Trek 10 Alpine Pass Route – Kev Reynolds
Trek 11 Tour of the Jungfrau Region – Kev Reynolds
Trek 12 Tour of the Matterhorn – Hilary Sharp
Trek 13 Tour of Monte Rosa – Hilary Sharp
Trek 14 Tour of the Rätikon – Kev Reynolds
Trek 15 Across the Eastern Alps: E5 – Gillian Price
Trek 16 Stubai High-Level Route – Allan Hartley
Trek 17 Zillertal High-Level Route – Allan Hartley
Trek 18 Dolomites Alta Via 1 – Gillian Price
Trek 19 Dolomites Alta Via 2 – Gillian Price
Trek 20 Julian Alps Traverse – Roy Clark & Justi Carey
Appendix A Useful contacts
Appendix B Glossary for trekkers
Tiny Lac Flégère may not be as well known as Lac Blanc, but views from its shore are no less impressive (photo: Kev Reynolds)
Lac Combal in Vallon di Lex Blanche (Trek 5) (photo: Gillian Price)
Locations of the treks
At Pian dei Cantoni (Dolomites Alta Via 2) (photo: Gillian Price)
Torrents cascade down the hillside below Refuge des Bans (Tour of the Oisans) (photo: Kev Reynolds)
OVERVIEW OF ROUTES
TREKKING GRADES
Each of the treks has been rated according to difficulty within the following guidelines:
moderate: 6–12 days of trekking, with some reasonably demanding ascents/descents, but on mostly good paths.
strenuous: 7–14 days with some high or steep passes to cross – could involve exposed sections.
demanding: 10+ days with a succession of high or steep passes, occasional difficult and exposed terrain and/or glacier crossing.
Where a trek’s classification falls between these categories either a + sign is given to indicate a higher level of difficulty, or two grades have been amalgamated. The table below lists all 20 treks showing their total distances, ascents, average