High, Long and Serious : Traverse 5 Tough Alpine 4000ers

Climbing an alpine 4000er is always a serious business thanks to altitude, technical difficulty, glacial travel and changeable conditions. There are 82 4000ers and if you've only climbed 1 then you deserve a pat on the back but if you tick some or all of the routes in the guidebook then you deserve a round of applause! These are meaty routes by any standard.

Some of the routes in here require huge approaches before you even reach a glacier and others, such as the Grand Jorasses traverse, also involve a tough descent too. Suffice to say that in addition to climbing these routes, simply getting to and from them represents a major challenge.

If this all sounds a little bit beyond you then here's our suggestions for some slightly easier 4000er traversing options -

https://fatmap.com/guidebooks/14523/classic-mid-grade-traverses-on-the-alpine-4000ers/@47.2370635,11.2575218,57079.0411781,-90,0,821.6976053,normal

So if you've served your alpine apprenticeship and are ready to tackle some of the toughest challenges the Alps have to offer, here is your readymade ticklist!