The Ortler Ski Tour with the Grand Zebru, 3851 meters.
After our Zermatt trip finished up, Chris and I hopped in the car (actually since Zermatt is a car free town–NOT, more later–we took the train to Taesch where the car was parked), then drove over Simplon Pass to Italy and up to Sulden, Italy to start the Ortler ski tour.
The Ortler ski tour has become the new “Haute Route” for American ski tourers. With articles in such magazines as Skiing, Outside’s GO, and National Geographic Adventure, many North American skiers are wanting to make their skin tracks in this compact , Dolominte surrounded, mountain range of lesser known summits. Why? The list is practically endless: You ski the tour as a circuit starting and ending at the same town and stay at several of the huts for multiple days. This immediately puts an end to the point A to point B stress of the Haute Route, where everyone is going exactly where you are.
From each hut there are many day tour options, most of which are summits that you can ski tour all the way to the top of. From these summits (all just under 4000 meters– not over, another perk which keeps the peak bagging hords away), you get great views of the Engadine Range (Piz Bernina), the Stubia, the Silvretta, and the Oztal ranges, and most of the Dolomite groups. Then you rip your skins and plunge back down to the hut, where a cold beer, frothy cappuccino, or a apple strudel with homemade whipped cream awaits you. After a yummy Northern Italian snack and comparing notes with other groups on their outing (there are many day trips options from each hut, so the peaks are never crowded.), you can take a shower ( a rare treat in other hut systems, but here, all huts have showers), then even catch a quick nap. It is easy to sleep as the rooms are for 2-4 skiers, not the huge dormitory rooms of other huts.
Basically, the Ortler ski tour is the most fun and the most luxorius ski tour in the Alps!
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