Chamonix - Zermatt, Bastien Fleury and Olivier Meynet set new ski traverse record

16 hours and 35 minutes, this is the new time to beat along the classic Chamonix - Zermatt Haute Route ski mountaineering traverse, set on Monday 21 March by two French ski instructors, 26-year-old Bastien Fleury and 35-year-old Olivier Meynet. the duo set off at 00:20 from the church at Chamonix and reached the finishing line, the church at Zermatt, at 16:55 after having negotiated 108km and circa 8350m of vertical height gain and 7750m of height loss. The route crosses Col du Chardonnet, Col de la Grande Lui, La Fouly, Col du Basset, Bourg Saint Pierre, refuge de Valsorey, Plateau du Grand Couloir, Col de Sonadon, Glacier d’Ottema, col de l’Evêque, Col du Mont Brulé and Col de Valpelline.

Despite knowing the individual sections of this traverse, "invented" by Toni Gobbi in the 1950’s and now considered the most famous ski mountaineering traverse in the Alps, the two had never crossed the entire route in a single go, let alone attempted to set a record previously.

"Conditions were really perfect" Fleury explained "we’d studied the route, were on form and had great fun." Their end time is a staggering two hours faster than the previous record, set by Frenchman Lionel Claudepierre who in April 2013 crossed from France to Switzerland in 18 hours and 35 minutes.

Asked whether it might be possible to race even faster, Fleury told planetmountain.com: "It's certainly possible. We’re not the best. But we won’t try it again in the near future, instead we’ll attempt some other traverses. But if the record gets beaten, then perhaps we’ll try again."


CHAMONIX - ZERMATT RECORDS
05/2008 - 21:11:00 - Lionel Bonnel & Stéphane Brosse
04/2010 - 20:28:05 - Yann Gachet & Laurent Fabre
04/2011 - 18:50:29 - Jean-François Premat, Alain Premat & Sébastien Baud
04/2013 - 18:35 - Lionel Claudepierre
03/2016 - 16:35 - Bastien Fleury & Olivier Meynet

TOPO: Haute route Chamonix - Zermatt ski mountaineering traverse