♦ Experienced UIAGM/IFMGA mountain guides
♦ Personalized days
♦ Easy or harder routes
♦ High safety priority
Can be booked anytime
If high-season try to book earlier
Birthplace of Alpinism
Chamonix is a place in the Alps with a particularly high concentration of beautiful alpine routes. Since the end of the 19th century, Chamonix has been a meeting point for mountaineers who have pushed the boundaries of what is possible and established some of the most magnificent routes in the world. There are many routes to choose from in all categories, lengths, and difficulty levels. It is often called the “birthplace” or “mecca” of alpinism.
Alpine Climbing
Alpine climbing or mountaineering is a broad term for climbing in the alpine zone, which in the Alps almost always occurs at altitudes above 2500 meters. The climbing can involve pure rock, beautiful snow walls and ridges, and ice gullies between rock walls. A spectacular and varied climb often combines all these elements. The goal is rarely to reach the summit of a mountain. Instead, one can speak of “the journey is the destination.” This means that the quality and difficulty of the trip itself are the immediate priorities and interests when choosing a climb. Finding routes of all grades, lengths, and altitudes is possible.
The Alpinist / the mountain climber
The goal for an alpinist or a mountain climber is to do climbs that present some form of technical, physical and logistical challenge — doing proper research and making good decisions. bringing the right gear and getting the timing right are all elements that are key to whether a project succeeds. You need to pull from your past mountain experience every time you go.
It helps to be fit and healthy, as a day can be long and tiring. You need strong legs to cope with a full day of moving on uneven ground and a fit upper body trained for climbing when the difficulty is high.
Being in perfect flow with your climbing partner, topping out a great route or reaching your planned summit is fantastic.
The sore feet, the hurting legs and the tired mind are quickly refreshed as soon as a few drinks of celebration have happened – and often – new projects are planned.
Learn Skills
Becoming a good alpinist takes time. You need to learn many skills and get comfortable in all mountain environments. Basic skills like belaying, rappelling, making an anchor and judging rock spikes’ solidity are to be learned. Glacier travel involves learning about glacier rescue techniques and route finding. The list is long, but you will have a lot of fun in the process of learning.
Embark on a journey
Some other interesting and excellent alpine routes outside of Chamonix include Piz Badille via the North Ridge, Mont Viso, climbs in the Monte Rosa massive, rock climbs in the Dolomites, etc. Even if Chamonix is our base, we are not foreign to rekindling old routes done further away or discovering new areas. We can either start together in Chamonix, embarking on the adventure together or rendezvous in other parts of the Alps.
Go with us
Our in-depth knowledge of the mountains around Chamonix and the Alps, in general, gives us excellent opportunities to select routes that match a group’s or individual’s desires and skill levels.
| No. of Participants | Guide-fee 1 – 4 days booked | Guide-fee ≧ 5 days booked |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 600€ | 550€ |
| 2 | 650€ | 600€ |
| 3 | 750€ | 700€ |
| 4 | 850€ | 800€ |
The prices are displayed as the guide’s day rate according to the number of participants. Have a look at what is “Included” and “Excluded” under the price table.
The fee is split between the number of people in the group. For a group of 3 participants, multiply the guide fee by the number of days booked and divide by the number of participants to get the price/person.
Example: 2 climbers x 4 days booked / 2 = the amount each will pay.
When more than 4 days are booked consecutively, we will give you an offer based on the number of participants and any available discount.
Note: These prices are for “normal” day climbs, including many climbs from huts.
Longer and more engaging climbs will always be subject to specific pricing.
Planning and logistics
Assignment of guides, planning, information before the course, reservation of lifts.
UIAGM/IFMGA guides
The guides working with us hold the highest recognized mountaineering certificate. They are equally a friendly and sociable group of guides used to handling groups and climbs in the Alps.
Group equipment (ropes & safety gear)
The guides provide the group security gear (rope, glacier travel equipment, specific climbing gear).
You only need to make sure you have your equipment.
Any cost not mentioned in the “Included” section. The most important ones are:
Transport to Chamonix
Read more under “More information.”
Transport in Chamonix Valley
Either with your car, the guide car* or communal transport.
(*re-imburse guide for petrol, etc.)
Accommodation in the valley
Read more under “More information.”
Mountain refuges
The hut fee is not included in the price. The participants cover the group’s expenses (including the guides) if the guided days demand a night in a mountain refuge or a hotel night away from Chamonix.
These expenses are mostly the overnight stay, dinner, lunch, breakfast and drinks.
Any uphill lift fees
We recommend you not to buy a lift pass in advance. Often, we can get away with buying single-lift tickets. In Chamonix, the guide will have a pass for the lifts. Going away from Chamonix, the clients must cover the guide’s lift expenses.
Lunches & drinks
Mostly, you would bring a sandwich, and we find a nice place to enjoy the view and rest while eating lunch.
Insurance
You should make sure you are adequately insured. Check our page on insurance.
Private guided days are flexible regarding the program. The guide will suggest training days or climbs that fit the group’s level and desires. , snow stability and glacier conditions.
The equipment we need depends a lot on what climbs we are doing. The list below would work for most alpine routes and rock climbs, taking into consideration that the guide brings most equipment for protection.
Shell jacket
Mountain Pants
Water-proof overtrousers
Shell pants
Base layers
Mid-layer
Extra warm layer
Warm hat
Neck gaiter / Buff
Warm gloves
Thinner technical gloves
Socks
Snow gaiters (Short summer version).
Trekking, running, or approach shoes
Shorts
T-shirt
30-35 litre backpack
15-20 litre backpack (if multi-pitch rock-climbing).
Light summer mountaineering boots
Crampons
Ice axe
Telescopic pole
Helmet
Harness
2 x Screw karabiners
Rappel devise
Prusik loop
1x 120 cm sling
Rock-climbing shoes (for multi-pitch climbs, they shouldn’t be too tight).
Headlamp (w. fresh batteries).
Water bottles / Tea flask
Snacks
First-aid
Suncream & sun-stick
Snow goggles
Sunglasses
Money
Sleeping bag liner
Phone charger
Tooth-brush
Earplugs
Please read through the requirements for participating in this tour and follow the link to the “grading page.”
Your experience and skill level requirement depends entirely on the day’s objective (s). The more experience you have, the longer and harder routes we can do. The difficulty level we can do also depends on the group size.
The fitness requirement is entirely dependent on the objective of the day(s). You should be reasonably fit for even the easiest days. Read more on our grading page; we can advise you when you get in touch.
Getting to Chamonix or the course venue
For most of our clients, the easiest way to get to Chamonix or the Alps, in general, is by plane. The nearest airport is Geneva.
Read more about getting to Chamonix here – Click here.
Valley accommodation
Not everyone wants the same accommodation type, so we rarely include Valley accommodation. Check our suggested hotels, B&B, and campsites on this page – Click here.
If you want us to include hotel nights in the price, please let us know what standard you are looking for.
Insurance
You must take out search & rescue, repatriation, and cancellation insurance. Read more about insurance here – Click here.
Safety
We believe our finest task is to give every client a unique mountain experience without taking unnecessary risks. The experience of the mountain guide, access to the most recent weather forecasts, and information sharing between guides are some of the important elements for making good and sound judgment calls. Suppose conditions or other situations render an attempt at a peak dangerous, avalanche conditions of a ski tour no longer possible, etc.. In that case, the guide will do his/her best to devise a good alternate plan. This might be a 100% change of the program. Emphasis is put on staying safe and having a great time!
Mountain huts
In some of our courses, we stay in mountain huts. On hut-to-hut trips, they are part of the itinerary; at other times, we use them as the starting point for a climb or ski tour.
The mountain huts offer basic accommodation in bunk-style rooms. Blankets and duvets are in the huts, so you don’t need to bring a sleeping bag. It is obligatory to bring a sleeping bag liner.
We are served a simple breakfast and a 3-course dinner (soup, main meal, dessert).
We will let the guardian of the hut know if you are on a special diet (vegetarians, allergies, etc.). Vegans will need to bring supplementary food.
There are hut slippers available for use inside the hut.
It’s helpful to bring cash for personal expenses (water, soft drinks, beer, lunches, etc.)
There is mostly no tap water in the huts, and you must buy bottled water.
You will be able to charge your phone.
Some mountain huts have showers. You must mostly pay for this; only a few huts can provide towels.
Make a booking
Please read through all the course information. Please make sure that you have the required level to join the course.
Contact us if you have any questions.
Read more about the booking process here – Click here.
We will need all to join a course to complete our “Participation Form.”
