From Introduction Level | Private Guiding
From Introduction Level | Private Guiding
✦ Experienced UIAGM/IFMGA mountain guides
✦ Flexible dates
✦ Group sizes up to 6 skiers per guide
✦ High safety level
- location | Chamonix
- Season | December – May
- dURATION | Any number of days
- Guide Ratio | 1-6
- Technical Level | From S2/T1
- Fitness Level | A
- Minimum Age | 12
Check our Grading Page
Book as early as you can.
Particularly when we need to book huts.
Private Mountain Guide in Chamonix
Explore Chamonix’s internationally acclaimed ski touring terrain alongside an experienced and local UIAGM/IFGMA guide. The potential for ski touring is unlimited in the mountains around Chamonix, and we will always be able to find exciting itineraries.
Flexible Dates, number of days, and focus
You can book a single day or several consecutive days of private ski touring.
The guide will suggest tours that fit the expectations and level of the group while taking the weather and avalanche conditions into consideration.
Book well in advance, and we will do our best to ensure it’s the same guide for all the days
Group Sizes
We can arrange ski tours for small or larger groups.
For easy and gentle terrain, the maximum group size is 6 participants to 1 guide (6-1).
If a group’s ambition is to do longer and harder tours, the guide ratio will be lowered, e.g. 4-1, 2-1 and even 1-1.
Please consider what sort of tours you would like to do and let us know how many you are.
If you are looking for a group course, please have a look here – Click here.
Hut nights
When booked well in advance, we can plan and organize one or more nights in a hut for private guided ski touring.
Only a few huts are open all through winter, while most open up towards mid-March.
We recommend planning at least two hut nights for any tour-demanding driving and a longer hut approach.
We have several good touring ideas for 3-4 day trips in Chamonix, but also in Switzerland and Italy without too much driving.
Check our more comprehensive ski-touring equipment list for the additional items we bring along for hut nights – Click here.
Valley Transport
The bus and train network can be used to get to most departure points.
If you have a rental car, you can also drive to the ski lifts. The parking at the ski lifts is mainly paid parking
Note: If you use the guide’s car to get around, compensate the guide for fuel/parking and tunnel fees going through the Mont Blanc tunnel.
Avalanche & glacier gear
We cannot go ski-touring or off-piste skiing without all members being equipped with an avalanche transceiver, shovel and probe. When we ski on glaciers, everyone must wear a harness.
You can normally borrow these items from the guide in charge. Let us know in advance so we can check with him to see if he has enough to borrow. Shops in Chamonix also rent out these items.
Travel, accommodation, Insurance.
Follow these links for info on:
Accommodation
Insurance
Booking process
FAQ
Winter 2024
| No. of Participants | Guide-fee 1 – 2 days booked | Guide-fee ≧ 3 days booked |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 600€/day | 575€/day |
| 2 | 650€/day | 600€/day |
| 3 | 700€/day | 650€/day |
| 4 | 750€/day | 700€/day |
| 5 | 800€/day | 750€/day |
| 6 | 850€/day | 800€/day |
The guide fee is shown as the rate per day booked. We offer a discount if you book for three or more days.
If the request is for a guide travelling to other resorts, expect a supplementary add-on for any preparation time and travel expenses.
The group will cover the guide’s expenses if any hotel or hut nights are planned.
Expect a 100 euro add-on fee on the guide rate for any hut nights planned.
Included
Planning & logistics
Assignment of guides, planning, and information prior to 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.
Avalanche Gear
We can provide avalanche transceivers for the group, shovels, and probes.
If you have your own kit, we recommend you use this.
Group equipment (ropes & safety gear)
The guides provide the group security gear (rope, glacier travel equipment).
You only need to make sure you have your personal equipment.
Excluded
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.
If the guide car is used, please reimburse expenses directly to the guide, such as petrol, tunnel fee, and parking.
Accommodation in the valley
Read more under “More information.”
Mountain huts
If you go to a hut, you will cover the hut expenses for the group and the guide (overnight stay on half-board pension, and any other expenses (drinks, lunches..).
Lift-ticket
Mostly, we only need a single ticket specific to the ski tour we plan on doing. This is often in Chamonix but could also be in a nearby resort, not included in the Chamonix ski pass. Sometimes, we start from the valley and won’t use the ski lifts.
If you are skiing for a full week, you might choose to buy a ski pass for the full duration.
Personal ski gear
Check the gear section.
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.
The guide fee is shown as the rate per day booked. We offer a discount if you book for three or more days.
If the request is for a guide travelling to other resorts, expect a supplementary add-on for any preparation time and travel expenses.
The group will cover the guide’s expenses if any hotel or hut nights are planned.
Expect a 100 euro add-on fee on the guide rate for any hut nights planned.
Included
Planning & logistics
Assignment of guides, planning, and information prior to 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.
Avalanche Gear
We can provide avalanche transceivers for the group, shovels, and probes.
If you have your own kit, we recommend you use this.
Group equipment (ropes & safety gear)
The guides provide the group security gear (rope, glacier travel equipment).
You only need to make sure you have your personal equipment.
Excluded
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.
If the guide car is used, please reimburse expenses directly to the guide, such as petrol, tunnel fee, and parking.
Accommodation in the valley
Read more under “More information.”
Mountain huts
If you go to a hut, you will cover the hut expenses for the group and the guide (overnight stay on half-board pension, and any other expenses (drinks, lunches..).
Lift-ticket
Mostly, we only need a single ticket specific to the ski tour we plan on doing. This is often in Chamonix but could also be in a nearby resort, not included in the Chamonix ski pass. Sometimes, we start from the valley and won’t use the ski lifts.
If you are skiing for a full week, you might choose to buy a ski pass for the full duration.
Personal ski gear
Check the gear section.
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. For single-day tours in Chamonix, the outline will always be relatively open, letting the guide choose the tours that will best match the group and the prevailing conditions.
On more elaborate hut-to-hut tours, we discuss and devise a “plan A” for an amazing trip. The guide will default to other exciting itineraries if “plan A” cannot be followed through for reasons such as “bad weather”, “high avalanche risk”, or “group fitness”.
Check the weather and dress accordingly.
This is a general checklist for items to bring on a normal single-day ski tour.
For private guiding, we always establish a specific program with each group, and the equipment might be slightly different from group to group. We will let you know if some items are not needed.
Please also check out the more complete list of ski-touring equipment on this page, where we also list the extra items used on hut trips – Click here
Shell jacket
Shell pants
Base layers
Mid-layer
Extra warm layer
Warm hat
Neck gaiter
2 Pairs of gloves
Socks
Backpack
Skis with touring bindings*
Ski touring boots*
Skins
Ski crampons*
Ski poles*
Crampons*
Ice-axe*
Avalanche beacon*
Avalanche shovel*
Probe*
Ski helmet
Ski strap
Items marked * can be rented in Chamonix
Water bottle
Snacks
Suncream & sun-stick
Snow goggles
Sunglasses
Personal items
Phone
Tour Grade: From S2/T1/A
Please read through the requirements for participating in this tour and follow the link to the “grading page.”
Technical Level
You need to be a good off-piste skier and handle most types of snow without falling over excessively. You should be able to make short controlled turns on steep terrain (35 degrees) and side-slip controlled down 40-45 degrees.
Fitness
Ski touring takes good fitness and stamina. We can easily adjust the length of the tour to the fitness of the group. An easy day of ski touring would not be much harder than a normal day of skiing, but any touring at altitude and for longer distances and height gains demands a very good fitness level.
General Information
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.”
