The Inspiration

The inspiration

Crossings of the Alps date back to Hannibal and probably before that, but it wasn't until the Victorians that people started climbing the mountains.  More than 100 years ago, a rather eccentric gentleman called Martin Conway set out on a 3 month journey from Limone near the French Italian border to the last snowy peak in the Austrian Alps.  On the way he took in many snowy mountains and passes, using public transport in between.  Accompanied by two guides and two Gurkha porters, he summitted Monte Viso, Mont Blanc, Monte Rosa, Gross Venediger and the Gross Glockner amongst other peaks, braving deep snow and inclement weather.  The story is entertainingly told with numerous quirky passages.  An online copy of the book can be read here.

Conway well captures one of the motivations for an end to end traverse of the Alps:

 

There's some hilarious passages.  He seems to have been an inspiration for the modern day Buff:

 

The other source of inspiration for me was the Via Alpina.  This is a network of 5 walking trails across the eight countries of the Alpine region, more than 5000km long and with 342 day stages.  This offers a clear route across the Alps from one shore of the Mediterranean to another, following trails throughout.

I decided to combine elements of both: to go the whole way on foot, not be reliant on a support party and to move relatively speedily; but also to take in as many peaks as I can and unlike both routes, to try and keep high on natural ridge lines unless the weather dictates otherwise.  I also have a time limit of two months, so that means a fairly energetic journey, especially as I won't have porters or mechanical assistance. Hopefully this will enable me to experience the breadth of the Alps, from the spectacular via ferrata of the Limestone Alps to the big snowy 4000ers, popular route normales and little known corners.  And I hope that I in turn will inspire others.