France to Austria - Ski Touring Across the Swiss Alps

Last March I set out on a human-powered traverse of the entire Swiss Alps. Focusing on the journey rather than an objective, I planned a route that would take me through some of my favorite ranges, and force me to discover lesser-visited mountains.
I was joined by some close friends and over 26 days we boot-packed, skinned, walked, skied, and climbed our way from Chamonix (France) to Ischgl (Austria).
The trip was supported by Norrona, Radix Nutrition, and the Iglu Dorf.
Music:
Green, Green Rock Road - Oscar Isaac
Energetic & Upbeat Groovy Funk - WavebeatsMusic
Upbeat Funky Groove - WavebeatsMusic
The Road - Composed and recorded by Oak Studios
Creative Commons - Attribution ND 4.0
Artist: David Mumford
Song Title: Wayfaring Stranger

[@benbrokke1165]

Crazy how many amazing yet completely unknown creators are out there. Stumbled across this video by complete accident and am very glad I did. Thanks for uploading, I enjoyed it a lot!

[@ryancolley4878]

Thanks Ben! Glad you enjoyed it, more to come ;)

[@Bigmountain73]

Same here, I agree Ben, this just showed up in my feed because of other mountain channels I follow and glad it did!

[@joshhaimes]

Great adventure! If you have more footage, I'd encourage you to consider making a longer film. You are a good story telling and a 26 day trip must yield a lot to share.

[@yZstarAk1979]

Nice work man, like the dedication. That's dope. I'd like to put that peak on the list.

[@maxnawrocki7956]

Looks great!

[@rainmaker3700]

Great video, props!

[@gerryquinn8925]

Wow just wow

[@jaroslavprovaznik4047]

Amazing adventure! So good to watch this kind of wilderness! :-)

[@sebastien_carniato]

Congrats ! Thanks for the journey !

[@HiddenFacesEpisodes]

Congratulations man, respect! Also, the fact you filmed everything by yourself is a big accomplishment.

[@ryancolley4878]

Thanks!

[@miamimsle3510]

Legendary.. Amazing job, what a magical journey!! Congrats and great resepct..

[@Fellmandave1]

Awesome, lucky, inspiring and just BIG!

[@gabbo2630]

very beautiful! I'd love to do this once.... Thank you very much for sharing

[@ryancolley4878]

Do it do it!

[@jensholmbjergbangsgaard5684]

hell yeah, nice one!

[@danielboyle1237]

Hell yea man that was badass! Doing something like this is one of my life goals now.

[@ryancolley4878]

Do it!

[@moonstries]

suuch high quality content, thank u for sharing & keep going :))

[@aquam3n]

Solid trip this! Great work filming it all too dude. Great videos on your channel dude keep em coming.

[@adventurevikings1961]

Leeegenday stuff 🤘 Vikings approved

[@ryanegglestone]

New subscriber here mate ! Give us Aussies a break ;) although we all appreciate the across ditch Tasman rivalry. Great shots and filming. Looking forward to more

[@ryancolley4878]

Hahaha gotta keep the banter! Thanks bro

[@fartherout9887]

Beautiful adventure ! Thank you for filming and sharing it !!!

[@grahamrowe6278]

Inspiring route during a lean season. Great trip Ryan.

[@ryancolley4878]

Thanks Graham!

[@AvailableUsername80]

Wow, an amazing adventure. I’ve skied sections of that (Haute Route, Silvretta), but can’t imagine pushing out all that in one big go! An amazing achievement (not to mention what must be a supremely organised logistical challenge, which you barely mention!!).

[@jeremywatt3800]

Sick mission Ryan!!!

[@camiloauersperg-breunner2821]

Massiv respect to your achivement, especially with the info at the end that you couldn't ski a short while ago. Probably you had to learn about all the backcountry knowledge that comes with it also. Very inspiring.

[@PatrickWoerner]

Awesome achievement. Been following this in instagram. So gooood man!

[@ryancampbell588]

Watched this a few times now and you are a bloody inspiration!

[@adamshaw247]

Awesome video, makes my route from Zermatt to Cham look Mickey Mouse!! You nailed it!! The journey rather than the objective, “the way is the goal” as my guide and good friend from Zermatt said, I will never forget it. Thanks for sharing 👍

[@ryancolley4878]

Cheers Adam! Yeah that’s the story, makes the hard work feel easy somehow

[@benpellet5878]

What a solid trip ! 🙌🏻 Great recap !

[@ryancolley4878]

Thanks Ben 👍🏻

[@jecodjrules]

Respect! And super nice video !

[@ryancolley4878]

Thanks Jerre

[@tomtheiler759]

a true inspiration🔥

[@nicrepond9350]

Beautiful trip. Congratulations on this great experience.

[@ryancolley4878]

Thanks Nic!

[@jamieholding128]

Nice one Ryan.

[@ryancolley4878]

Thanks Jamie

[@noahdommaschk]

Wow man! I had no idea you did this and looked super cool :)

[@Antonthorin92]

This was great Ryan! What a route💪

[@bensutton522]

Thank you.

[@guido.demedici]

Congratulations to your trip. Great achievement. From Ischgl you could actually continue following the east trending main range of the Alps from hut to hut without the need to hit the valleys until close to Vienna. Another month or so…

[@ryancolley4878]

Thanks! Yes, I would have loved to continue. Another project will be the whole alps some day. Slovenia to Monaco. Would be amazing!

[@guido.demedici]

@@ryancolley4878 ​ @Ryan Colley not really good skiing in the southern areas. I am originally from Northern Italy, I am familiar with the area, this southern route would leave you entirely in the Southern Alps which consist entirely of carbonate and as such has poor ski runs with steep precipices and lots of vegetation up to the precipices / rock walls. Staying atop the central main range of the Eastern Alps, entirely in Austria or at the Austrian and Italian border in the initial part, would have the advantage of really outstanding ski runs (large meadows covered in snow or glaciers) and you would stumble once in a while on skiing resorts which you could use to descend into the valley, resupply and use the same facility to get up to your route again.Mid March to mid April would be the best time to do that.

[@timjmckee]

Haha, I have the same CBC toque!

[@paullake7934]

Fantastic work.

[@mtadams2009]

That was a serious suffer fest. I can backcountry ski and I can backpack but sadly at this point of my life I can’t do both at the same time. My massive pack load days are over. Great adventure, thanks for sharing

[@ryancolley4878]

Thanks Scott! There were hard times but actually not too much suffering in the end which surprised ne

[@mtadams2009]

@@ryancolley4878 That is awesome. I am very impressed with what you accomplished, especially since you were fairly new to skiing. Very impressive. Take care

[@ryancolley4878]

@@mtadams2009 thanks dude! It was a great time. Appreciate your words 👏🏼

[@alpinekiwi]

What a mission! I can't remember the name of the peak, but I climbed in Leogang and at the summit was a small solar powered fridge with ice cold beers! Certainly did not expect to find that at the top of a mountain 😀

[@ryancolley4878]

Ha that’s next level. Wouldn’t want to have too many up there!

[@j6osh]

This is awesome! Great stuff mate, see you in wanaka soon

[@ryancolley4878]

Cheers bro!

[@barnabascsiszar1663]

Amazing adventure, how did yoi prepare for avalanches while skiing alone? Lots of bulletin checks I bet? What else? Is it really possible to do alpine skitouring solo?

[@willgriffin1307]

I want to plan a 10 day trip like this with friends looks like a blast just don’t know where to start.

[@jamesgorringe7067]

Awesome journey Ryan! And great film making too. Just out of curiosity do you have a gps log of the journey? Or a mapped out route including huts? Would love to stick this on the bucket list!

[@nick_kowalski_film]

Good stuff!

[@ryancolley4878]

Thanks Nick!

[@AdderOSRS]

Hello, really great adventure you had! But I was wondering: Isn't there crevasses? Can you tell if they are there, or did you know the areas were safe? Or did you just take a "chance"? I don't know how common crevasses are would love to hear. Cheers!

[@ryancolley4878]

Hey man. In winter you can be pretty confident they are filled in. As long as you stay away from obvious crevasse fields it’s an acceptable risk

[@AdderOSRS]

@@ryancolley4878 Oh cool, thanks! Are they more frequent around glaciers? I've never seen crevasses in Norway or Sweden, but was warned in Austria regarding them.

[@domnortheburninator]

you should have kept going all the way to Vienna :)

[@bernhardmatejka2222]

🙌🏽

[@guillerpollofdj]

Lovely Ryan! Could you please share the track? Thanks!

[@ryancolley4878]

Thanks Guillermo. I’ll add it in the bio today keep an eye out

[@walterusrex194]

Congrats man, very nice! How many kilos did you carry on each segment?

[@ryancolley4878]

Thanks! Never more than 12kg depending on food. At times would carry skis and boots which added a lot!

[@walterusrex194]

@@ryancolley4878 beside skis skins and boots.. 12 kilos is pretty nice! So in this 12kg range is with or without a sleeping bag?

[@stanislavlikavcan5871]

Inspirational 🙏 would you mind sharing the gpx?

[@ryancolley4878]

Cheers! I wouldn’t mind but I don’t really know how on here. I can share it somewhere else and get back to ya

[@mountainfanatic]

@@ryancolley4878 I'd also be up for that, are you maybe on instagram so that I could PM you there?

[@ryancolley4878]

@@mountainfanatic sure @kiwiapproach is my iG

[@mountainfanatic]

@@ryancolley4878 it seems your account got deleted, any other way I can contact you?

[@ryancolley4878]

@@mountainfanatic try it now @kiwiapproach

[@simonlundh9354]

[@cyrilrohrer7879]

😍🤭

[@anthonysears871]

Good thing you didn't hire a professional guide! wouldn't have made it!