Customer Reviews

Chamonix-Zermatt: The Walker's Haute Route (Mountain Walking)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you are only thinking about a hike in Switzerland, this book will definitely stimulate you.

Once en route, you will realize you don't need additional maps, other books, you may not even need a compass and certainly not, heaven forbid, a GPS!

This book takes you in exquisite detail over 11 passes, 39,000 vertical feet up and 36,000 feet down in the Haute Route's 110 mile experience. In additiona to being a fantastic guide, Kev's writings are poetic in his descriptions of his beloved Alps. You will go back and reread and relive your trek via this book. I cannot recommend it enough, but if you buy it, do the trip. It will change your life.

This book is all that is needed to make the spectacular trek from Chamonix to Zermatt. The author, Kev Reynolds, is an experienced and knowledgeable pro and Cicerone guides are the best. The book has distances, elevations, estimations of difficulty, and generally clear directions. My daughter and I relied upon it exclusively although I would suggest obtaining Swiss topographical maps as well. Caution: Reynolds' pace is fast and yours will likely be slower, perhaps significantly. It is important to adjust for these differences in your planning, especially since his days are often long. A six hour day for Reynolds may be nine hours for you, with no place for food or lodging in between. This is a pocket-sized practical guide, not a picture book, although the few color photos are beautiful and indicative of the views the length of this outstanding trip.

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!

I love this book and it's a dream to do trek this route, but I haven't been to France or Switzerland yet and I'm not sure how accurate this book is.