Chamonix to Zermatt: The Walker's Haute Route (Cicerone Guide)

Having just completed the Haute Route using only this guidebook (no supplemental topos or even a compass), I can attest to what an excellent purchase it was. There aren't currently any other trekking guides for the Haute Route in English in publication, but fortunately, this book is all you'll need. Reynolds gives very accurate information about what to expect and how to plan for the trek (good advance reading), and how to access the trails and navigate through each stage (essential day-by-day reading during the trek).If you're considering the Haute Route and end up buying this book, I'd make the following suggestions:1. Know that Reynold's time estimates are just that--estimates--and at times I found them to be wildly off base in both direction (e.g., an ascent he listed at 3 hours took us less than 2; a descent he quoted as taking 2 hours took us 4.) This isn't terribly surprising, but is important to keep in mind for planning purposes.2. If you're interested in doing the trek in faster than the 12-14 days he allows for, there are plenty of ways to "cheat" (e.g., by taking chair lifts, cable cars, or buses) or combine stages. Though Reynolds makes his disdain for cheating obvious, almost everyone I met on the trail did it at least once or twice.3. Though it's possible to do the treks without maps (as we did), it certainly wouldn't hurt to purchase one of the topos Reynolds mentions in the book, or even download a map on your phone (search "offline topos").4. Read the section in the beginning about trail markers and difficulty (during which Reynolds lists the most technically challenging trails of the hike). I thought that Reynolds significantly understated the difficulty of these trails in the stage descriptions (particularly the Col de la Chaux and Pas de Chevre trails), though he does note that they're difficult in the introductory pages.All in all a great purchase. You won't regret buying it, and you certainly won't regret doing the Haute Route.

This guidebook is fantastic. The routes and variations are easy to follow (as are French and Swiss sign posts). Mr. Reynolds is clear and concise in everything he writes, making this a perfect pocket sized guidebook.I actually enjoyed this book even more after I hiked the Haute Route. I was able to look back on his writing and reflect on my own experiences. It was neat to compare the two, and it certainly brought nostaglia.Some suggestions for improvement would include better pictures. While a few of the pictures are good representations of what you will see, the pictures in the book are few and far between and certainly not up to date with modern imaging technology (check out Hidden Light Photography for a better visual description). In any case, the fact that this book fits in your pack more than makes up for the lack of current and comprehensive pictures.Also, it would be great to have a fold out map of the route. Not that the book is not easy enough to follow, but, after trekking the classic Haute Route, you might want an additional souvenir.Great Job Mr. Reyonlds!

The must-have resource. Back from our trip now, I want to give an update to the Europaweg legs of this trip: It is virtually closed due to the permafrost thaw of this hot summer and the excessive rockfalls taking out the trail, bridges, and people trekking! It is difficult to find updated trail information about the Europaweg, so here it is: as of 2015, it's not open. Guides were talking about equally beautiful trails on the other side of the valley, but the weather was so bad we took the train right to Zermatt and did day hikes from there. This was a good move for us as the weather was great once there. We saw someone we were hiking with earlier and he said the bad weather continued and he saw no views!

Some weaknesses are: trail junctions are not adequately described. Often, I was "on my own" in critical route-finding, as the book was not precise enough, and probably not up-to-date enough. The guidebood lacks real topographic maps, photos showing trails as lines (in red), as in the newer, German trailguide. The profile diagrams are not accurately represented, and do not show trail profiles accurate enough for practical planning of routes. An accurate guide index number for trail difficulty would be helpful. A larger, overall (2-3 page) overview map would be helpful, to give a better, overall view. The diagrams do not show villiages, streams, and other features in the context of the trails, that a topographic map normally shows.

As the other reviewers have made clear, this book is critically essential if you are doing any part of the Walker's Haute Route.I did half of the hike, backwards (Zermatt to La Sage) while I was working in Switzerland. I stealth camped along the way and this book was essential in providing me with details of the layout of the land so that I could plan camp sites accordingly. I never had an issue. The author, Kev Reynolds, is extremely thorough in providing alternate routes, contact information for lodging, maps, recommendations and general accurate information of the trail. The pictures in this book are also stunning.What a wonderful hike this is, simply breathtaking scenery. Grüetzi!

While the guide is very comprehensive for all info on the Walkers Haute Route, it does not include all variations. I was looking for some info of the Mountaineering Haute route and has very little.

The book was excellent. A few trail markers were changed from red to blue which threw us off for a bit but once we figured that out in was very informative. We didn't even have a map.

I am going on this trip later this month. It helped me a lot with getting prepared and getting to know what to expect on the trip. I recommend it to anyone wanting to explore the Swiss Alps

Used this to plan our Arolla to Zermatt trek, and to assist us en-route.Did not get lost - so it must have worked! The section timings were a bit ambitious for us (fit, experienced 50 somethings) - so perhaps allow an extra 1/2 hour for each day.

I used this guide to complete the Haute route in early September. The book is great, full of useful tips, detailed route guides and optional detours. Everything you'd want from a guide book. Could probably have followed the route just using this book but maps are always advisable.

Used this for our trek and it was accurate. We got turned around in only two places due to landslides over the years and detours. But locals helped us out. We did run into 4 days of snow in mid-July and the guidebook was useless for us because all of the markers are painted on rocks and were buried under the snow. We ended up finishing our trek lower down. no fault of the book. It was still a very useful guide book that helped the 6 of us do a self-guided tour. two of us had the guide book and we referred to it all the time.

Very precise and detailed information about the hike. The book is small enough to fit at the top of your pack and the plastic cover protects it from the elements. I've purchased several other books from Cicerone and have never been disappointed.

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