FOLLOW US
Using a mixture of photography, video and original artwork we intend to take you along with us, enabling you to see places most people never go.

If we are financed, this will be made into a six part documentary series. There is a trailer here.

The Story So Far

26th June 2022
— The full team meets in Zermatt and walks up to the Schoenbiel Hut
20th June 2022
— First team members depart for Taesch in Switzerland.
May 2022
— The results from our recce trip were presented at European Geosciences Union annual conference in Vienna EGU 2022 		EGU 2022
April 2022
— Training in Snowdonia with Leading Edge Mountaineering
April 2022
— The HLR 2022 Expedition is awarded an expedition grant by the Austrian Alpine Club (UK) 		AAC(UK)
January 2022
— Team training at Mile End Climbing Wall in London
Autumn 2021
— Once the samples from the August reconnaissance have been processed it becomes clear that we can reduce the number of samples taken per site resulting in a significant reduction in the weight the climbing team will need to carry.
August 2021
— Three members of the expedition conduct a reconnaissance of key points along the route. 		University of Utrecht
With support from members of the Alpine Club they also take samples at 13 sites to help the Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research at the University of Utrecht refine the sampling methodology. They get the time per site down from over an hour to ten minutes.
January 2020
— Expedition leader Al Gill and technical lead Robin Milner practise their alpine skills in Spain's Penalara National Park an hour north of Madrid.
August 2019
— Expedition leader Al Gill and technical lead Robin Milner conduct a reconnaissance of what they suspect are some of the trickier points along the route.
1996-98
— Expedition leader Al Gill climbs his first Alpine Peaks with the UN Ski Club and goes on to join the Club Alpin Suisse (Geneve). Crucially, he skis the Vallee Blanche as part of a blind date. Being a lousy skier, he was unable to keep up with the girl but was struck by the beauty of the terrain. His first question on getting down was "Why doesn't anybody walk up it so you can take your time and enjoy the scenery?"
January 1903
— Dr. Michel Payot, noted Chamonix guide Ravanel le Rouge and descendant of one of the HLR pioneers, Alfred Simond, pioneered the Haute Route on skis.
1862
— "The High Level Route is published in the Alpine Club's publication: 'Peaks Passes and Glaciers' 		Alpine Club Logo.
1859-61
— Two dozen members of the Alpine Club, crystal hunters and local guides spend their summers searching for an aesthetically pleasing high-altitude route over the glaciers and passes between Chamonix and Zermatt. Auguste Simond and his sons, who would later found the Simond equipment company, discovered one of the four key cols that enabled the route to be done.
1857
— Alpine Club Founded in London