French and Swiss Alps: Walkers Haute Route, Chamonix to Zermatt in 11 days, September 2019

[@benrussell8194]

Great video, love the fly over of the route gives you a good idea of the steepness of the terrain. Im doing this trek in July, cant wait!

[@ymmm-yogamovementmeditatio9507]

Excellent film, bravo

[@richardbrighton3381]

Thanks for sharing. Beautiful trek in a beautiful part of the world......on my list of things to do!

[@montanex2007]

Thanks for the information...!!! Beauty route and edition!

[@andreasw138]

Perfect, one of the best videos about the WHR ... Thx for sharing!

[@bobkeulers]

Thank you Andreas for your kind comment! Did you also walked the WHR or planning to?

[@andreasw138]

@@bobkeulers The trail is on my to do list (I live in Switzerland), but I leave out the part between St. Niklaus and Zermatt. Too many people in summer. Due to the current situation (Covid) the part in France is also not a good deicison. From St. Niklaus you can also continue walking in the direction of Saas Fee/Simplon on the Alpine Passes Trail No. 6, which is most identical with the WHR between St. Niklaus and Trient. The Simplon Area offers much more wilderness, loneliness and silence =) ... maybe I'll try the Trent - St. Nicholas section! You only camp or also used some Huts or Hotels?

[@bobkeulers]

​@@andreasw138​Before the WHR we did some 4-5 day hikes (a.o. Tour des Aiguilles Rouges and Tour des Dents du Midi, see the videos on my channel), but I consider the WHR the best so far! The Europaweg between st. Niklaus and Zermatt was indeed busy and less remote, however the views on the Matterhorn are spectaculair! Thanks for your suggestion! We prefer to camp as much as possible (if the location and weather allows it), nothing beats that feeling of waking up in your tent on a remote place with a scenic mountain view! For the WHR we stayed at campings in Champex, Arolla and Randa. We also decided to spent the night in some huts/hotels due to bad weather (Cabane du Mont Fort and Hotel Schwarzhorn) or just for fun (in case of the Europahutte). What other hikes in Swiss do you recommend?

[@andreasw138]

Bob Keulers I think it depends on what you like or prefer. The Via Alpina No. 1 is amazing, also the Alpine Pass Route No. 6. I can higly recommended trails in „Graubünden“, more DIY Style =). Also the red part of the Via Alpina through switzerland is amazing. If you want i can send you some trail i highly recommend. I regonized that you hiked the Dent du Midi .... very nice, also a option for me in beginning of July

[@bobkeulers]

​@@andreasw138 Thanks for sharing! I like hiking in remote places being all independent, so more the DIY style ;). At the moment we are planning for the Tour de Wildhorn in a 5 day circuit. It is always good to fill the to do list as I'm hiking every year at least once for the last 6 years! So please share your highly recommended hike trails! The Dent du Midi in 2018 was an awesome experience, which i can recommend if you are looking for a 4 day trek.

[@leannevandekew1996]

It's shocking how little snow there is after just ten years.

[@wanderingtriathlete3013]

Heading out there May next year. Hoping the weather is about the same as on your hike by then.

[@tiffanysale6835]

I believe you should expect lots of snow in May

[@maxmelon18]

Wow! Beautiful as always :)

[@NicholasEager]

Great video! Thanks for taking the time to share your story :) How often did you wild camp vs sleep in huts / refuges? Did you book refuges before your trip or as you went? Thanks in advance :)

[@bobkeulers]

Hi Nicolas, we tried to wild camp as much as possible. I think we used huts / refuges 3 times this trip and 2 official camp sites (in Champex-Lac and Arolla). We did not book these in advance as we decided using them depending on how we progressed or if we got surprised by weather (thick fog in this specific case).

[@NicholasEager]

@@bobkeulers thank you! That helps a lot 😊🙏🏻 We are planning on wild camping mostly and camping in Champex and Arolla without reservations as well. Did you reserve the huts or just show up to those as well? Which were your favorite? Thanks again for your help 😊

[@bobkeulers]

We didn't reserve the huts, I don't remember exactly how busy it was. I would say if you need to be sure reservation is better. We stayed at Cabane du Mont Fort where we decided to call it a day after lunch time as we were surprised by thick fog. And we stayed in the Europa hut, which is quite new with a fantastic view on the valley of Zermatt because we heard good stories about it. Both huts I can recommend!

[@NicholasEager]

@@bobkeulers thanks so much for taking the time! I think we will follow your lead but maybe make one or two reservations ahead just in case :)

[@maikenfiltenborg1719]

Amazing video - thanks for sharing! I’m starting the trail next week😀 did u use Outdooractive?

[@laylapeak8480]

Hello very nice video, next week I go with my girlfriend to do the trek, but I do not see much information about camping wild? Did you have planned the places to put the tent, or were you walking and looking for the perfect place to camp? If it is not for bad weather, I would like to sleep every night in a tent, alternating campsites with wild. Some places that you remember where to set up the tent especially between the cabane du mont fort and praufleri or later on the lake dix, I want to avoid if I can not sleep in these cabins, although with this from covid they make you request a reservation, forgiveness and greetings .

[@bobkeulers]

Hi, thank you for your comment. Camping wild is always a grey area in what is allowed but there are some basic rules you can follow. Don't camp if its stated not to camp, don't do it longer than needed (set up late and leave early), try to do it above the tree line without being in sight of any huts or houses and don't leave anything behind. With these rules in mind we looked for potential areas beforehand, but in the end it all depends on weather and your walking pace. Often the best places are not planned. The places we set up the tent are indicated in the route animations in between the video footage in my movie. You should be able to see the spots we camped between Cabane du Mont Fort and prafleuri. We decided to stay in the Cabane du Mont Fort due to bad weather (poor visibility). The next day we hiked to Col the Prafleuri crossed it and camped just below the top. Then the next day we walked all the way to a camping in Arolla because I saw signs it was not allowed to camp near Lac Dix. Enjoy your trek!

[@laylapeak8480]

@@bobkeulers thank you very much, just a doubt, between the cabane du mont fort and praufleri to sleep there is a long distance or is it close to du mont fort? can it be done in one day from champex lac? regards

[@sarahmikami6757]

Wow 😍 beautiful ! I did the via alpina last year and I also like doing video ! How do you do the red line with mountain in 3D ?

[@projectlivesey5629]

Mega

[@romanstanjek3750]

Respekt 😍👍

[@suspower]

Amazing video! How did you find it was looking for places to pitch your tent ? i hear that can be a bit of a challenge.

[@David-sf1db]

How did you make the animations?

[@dds5568]

_good !!!_

[@tiffanysale6835]

If you dont mind me asking, what week in September you have done this hike? Lots of weather change you had

[@bobkeulers]

We did this in the first 2 weeks of September, indeed we had all weather conditions!

[@networking6543]

hello amazing video! it really energized me! when did you go exatctly during the month of september?

[@bobkeulers]

Thank you for your comment! We went somewhere in the first two weeks of September. Are you planning to go as well?

[@saidelime84]

@@bobkeulers hi ! Thank you for your immediate reply! I am! I did the TMB two years ago, and I want to do the whr this year but I only have a small narrow vacation windows from 15th of September to 23th of September, I have no clue what to expect in terms of weather, I intend to wild camp.

[@bobkeulers]

@@saidelime84 I think being prepared for all weather is always important (take enough layers with you and have proper clothing) but if you have done the TMB I would assume you can expect a similar experience weather wise. High up it can get cold and wet or even snow or hail as you can see in my video! But most of the time we had good sunny weather. Enjoy your trip!

[@hanqingwang8738]

Hi, thx for sharing this nice video! I've done this classic walker route 2017 summer by myself. I was shocked when it snowed in July haha😄

[@bobkeulers]

Thanks for your comment! Luckily we did not encounter that much snow in September. Did you do more treks in the Alps?

[@hanqingwang8738]

@@bobkeulersYes, I also did the most famous one, Tour du Mont Blanc😊

[@jaycheng6132]

May I know which software did you use to make the map-route effect?

[@bobkeulers]

Google earth and Adobe Afer effects

[@jaycheng6132]

@@bobkeulers thanks!

[@d4consultingroup]

What week jn september did you hike?

[@bobkeulers]

Hi H annah, we did this hike in the first 2 weeks of September

[@rogiermeyer2522]

Van wanneer tot wanneer hebben jullie gelopen? Wil m zelf ook lopen, weet alleen niet wanneer

[@bobkeulers]

Wij liepen de route vanaf eind Augustus tot ergens in September wat wel aan te raden is ivm sneeuwval op grotere hoogte!

[@David-sf1db]

Did you skip a part between Champex Lac and Mont Fort?

[@bobkeulers]

Yes indeed, we took a bus between Champex Lac and Verbier