Client Feedback
We are very proud of the trips and courses that we run and always welcome your feedback – but don’t take our word for it; check out our customer reviews on Facebook and Google to find out peoples’ experiences skiing with Alpine Guides.
RatingBelated thanks for organising a bespoke teaching/guiding trip for my son and I. I am a reasonably experienced ski tourer but wanted to engage a professional to give my son his first taste of touring. We were assigned Kenny Grant in Chamonix. Kenny put together an excellent progressive package which really brought my son on. Kenny had a calm authoritative manner which was really well judged to my son's personality and learning style. The communication and professionalism of Alpine Guides was excellent.
Had a great trip in March 2020 to Chamonix, staying in Argentiere. Kenny was helpful, informative, experienced and safe. Highly recommended and a very useful learning experience which made me how many chances I'd been taking!
Had a great week with Hamish he made the introduction to ski touring truly great!
We had a great time ski touring with Alpine Guides in Chamonix. We approached the company looking to take our touring up a notch from previous adventures. Ian pitched the day really well for our ability level. Was a great balance between getting a decent ski touring journey into a highly glaciated area (the Argentiere basin) we wouldn’t normally venture, while also finding much better snow than I was expecting. Somehow also managed to jam in loads of useful info around safety and skills, at a level which complemented our existing skills. Probably the best guided day out we’ve had over the past 5 years or so. Would be very happy to do another day with Ian/Alpine Guides in the future
I recently completed the Level 1 Backcountry Course. It was a fabulous week and I think the group all felt pretty blessed to have had a decent dump of snow mid week to really get the best out of the guiding / instruction intended for the programme. Simon Hale is a great guide, instructor and raconteur, and I for one would welcome the opportunity to ski / tour with him again in the future (maybe Senja as soon as I can block the time out??!!). He got the programme “just right” – we covered lots of the theory as well as getting chance to practise. His daily planning to get the most out of the area and conditions was superb, we always felt safe and whilst he was keen to push us to step out of our comfort zones, you always got the impression that he was assessing the appropriateness of the terrain for the skills of the group and wouldn’t push beyond our capabilities. In summary, great trip, great group and great guide, and I’ll certainly be looking to do something else with Alpine Guides soon.
Rating
We had an excellent ski tour around Mont Thabor. One of the best touring experiences in the past 20 years. A lovely, quiet area with some spectacular views. Thanks to our guide, Mike, and Alpine Guides who made this a fabulous trip. We would recommend it both to hut-to-hut beginners and the more experienced tourer who wants to get away from busy huts and make fresh tracks.
I contacted alpine guides in the hope of organising a hut to hut ski tour with a group of friends. Their communication, sharing of information, knowledge and professionalism was excellent. They organised a perfect bespoke trip for us to suit our ability level and what we were looking for. They were very quick to respond to any questions that we had. Our guide was excellent, friendly, knowledgable and relaxed, everything was very well planned and it all went smoothly. We had a wonderful week ski touring in the massif des cerces, staying at some lovely huts and spending plenty of quality time outside in the mountains. I wouldn’t hesitate to use alpine guides again.
Had a great week on the Stubai glacier and surrounding area, ski touring with our guide Giovanni, who looked after us very well. We were lucky to have fresh snow and on the whole good weather. We stayed at the Brennerspitz hotel near Neustift which was excellent and well placed for getting to the various ski areas
Just home from Alpine Guides 3 day Ski Touring Course run out of Chamonix. Mike is a fantastic guide - calm, friendly, very helpful and knows his stuff and rare ability to deliver all the new information in a relaxed, easy to pick-up and remember way…..and with a smile! Safety first attitude- and has a wealth of knowledge about the terrain and various options.
Alpine Guides are a great company to deal with . Professional and organised from the minute you make contact. . The guides I have had the privilege to ski tour with have been super patient and calm as well as extremely knowledgeable . I will definitely be using them again in the future and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them . Mike Jan 2023
We recently completed (January 2023) an Intro to off piste skiing course in the Chamonix valley with Alpine Guides. Very pleased we used this company, the web site is very informative and has really detailed criteria for fitness level / ski tech level required for each course they run. Everything was explained very clearly and communication was excellent from start to finish.. Thank you RIch and team.. The resort hotel (Le Dahu) was comfortable and well placed for the lifts and ski bus and the restaurant (La P'tite Verte) for the evening meals was really good.. The guiding and instruction from our guide Kenny Grant was first class.. He was very clear with his instruction, enthusiastic and incredibly patient.. We couldn't have wished for a better guide and definitely made progress with our off piste skills..Thank you Kenny! We were also lucky to have such a great bunch of people in our group.. They were a pleasure to spend time with.. Will definitely consider using Alpine Guides again for any future courses and would highly recommend.. Thank you Alpine Guides and team for such an incredible week.. ⛷⛷⛷⛷
I have been skiing with Alpine Guides for many years now. Al, Rich and team are a very professional and friendly outfit. Their portfolio of trips includes some great Alpine classics but they are also branching out into other areas including the Nordic countries and Western Asia. Just back from an amazing trip to southern Georgia - skied fresh tracks for 6 days under blue skies. I'm still buzzing....
Had a fantastic time on the alpine mountaineering skills course with Alpine Guides. Al, our guide had a wealth of knowledge and was a brilliant guide. The course was really well thought through on the skills to learn and how best to get through them based on conditions during the week. Hugely enjoyable holiday and couldn’t recommend enough!
It was a unique and extraordinary experience for a beginner climber in the Alps. Alan was a fantastic guide that took me and the other 3 climbers on a journey to learn to walk with crampon, rescuing in crevasses and finally reach a 4017 m peak. It was very well planned from the beginning but also flexible in accordance with the weather. I would do it again
Hi Rich – many thanks for organising our April 2022 Haute Route. Although disappointed not to complete the full route due to poor weather and snow conditions, we had four fantastic days skiing the Verbier to Arolla legs (with additional loops added) and we were more than happy to place the emphasis on safety rather than getting to Zermatt at any cost – the mountains will still be there for another day! Our thanks also to Dee for her efforts re-arrange our accommodation at the last minute and Ally for his professional guiding and excellent company. The Prafleuri, Dix and Vignettes Huts were all charming with great food and amazing views. The spare days that bookended the trip were well spent with Ally doing rope work, training, powder skiing and touring around Chamonix and recommended to anyone thinking of booking such a trip. We will definitely be booking with Alpine Guides again.
An excellent trip into the Arctic which was well worth the 2 year wait, made all the more rewarding carrying and cooking our own food on several nights. Al’s map reading skills were excellent which was just as well as it was required on a few occasions when those Arctic conditions kicked in, all in all some great skiing and stunning wilderness.
Alpine Guides have always delivered an excellent ski touring experience. The latest trip to Kebnekaise did not disappoint. The accommodation was spot on, both hotels (copious breakfast) and really well set up huts in beautifully remote locations. A very welcomed site after a long days skiing. This trip really gave a sense of travel through the landscape, very different to what I had experienced before in the Alps or coastal Norway. There was a feeling of vastness of the landscape which we had to ourselves, some amazing skiing (skiing the Icefall glacier being a favourite for me) and some wild weather thrown in. An unforgettable trip.
We had an awesome time out in the alps completing the Haute Tour with Alpine Guides. Really well planned trip with detailed pre-departure guides, and an AWESOME guide (Mike Thomas) on the trip! Highly recommend both Mike and Alpine Guides :)
Excellent hut to hut tour with Alpine Guides in Stubai! The guiding, accommodation, general organisation and the group were all great, really enjoyed it!! The itinerary of this particular tour is really well balanced between the up & down, with some amazing North facing terrain to enjoy on the descents!!!
Haute route Great trip challenging conditions Callum kept things moving and safe hotel and huts as expected dealing with Rich in the UK was easy and well organised Well done will use again Mark
great trip, great service and info upfront helping me to decide which trip and suitability / ability etc thanks Rich for that well-organised - amazing guide in Graham - he absolutely knew his stuff and great coaching and imparting of knowledge, good focus on safety. Helped me when out of comfort zone. very happy with what was a bucket list trip for me. Weather helped.
Senja ski tour, Norway, March 2022. A really good trip, fantastic scenery and skiing. The Northern Lights thrown in for good measure. We were blessed with decent weather, which isn’t a given for Norway in March. The trip was well organised, excellent guiding, and great group which was well matched for abilities etc. Great support from Rich and the team before and afterwards.
We had a fantastic trip with alpine guides, ski touring in Switzerland. Rich was very responsive and planned out a suitable trip for our team. Our guides were great, and we had some amazing days in the Western Oberland. Would definitely recommend!
Fantastic trip to Kyrgyzstan. Brilliant planning by Al to research the area and find amazing skiing, mostly untracked, and including some first descents. The accommodation and hospitality was great. Covid forced a few changes to the original schedule but Al found really good alternatives including a Yurt stay where we were looked after wonderfully by a local shepherd family. A great adventure and fantastic deep powder skiing.
Kyrgyzstan Yurt Based Skiing - Feb 22. A trip for the adventurous backcountry skier who loves deep powder. Al and Sergei did a great job of finding the best powder available for some thrilling descents in untracked mountains. Food and accommodation was very good (I actually put weight on, despite skinning more than 1,000m most days).Travelling and skiing in Kyrgyzstan was a fascinating experience - very different to the Alps. The final few days skiing from a remote yurt camp at 2,800m was a great adventure and a real taste of the Kyrgyz nomadic culture. If you have an adventurous mindset, relish the unexpected and love skiing powder - do it!
Kyrgyzstan: February 2022 Despite several attempts by Covid 19 (and associated travel restrictions) to disrupt this trip, Alpine Guides worked hard to keep it going. The result was a great success. We were met at Bishkek airport by Al and local guide Sergei, in a comfortable Mercedes Sprinter ably driven by Vitali. The six-hour drive to Karakol was a great introduction to the country and it’s amazing snowpack. When the countries in the region were formed, the Kyrgyz people got all the best mountains! Traditionally nomads, they now only use yurts to access summer pastures (and for occasional winter ski tours). We skied three days from Karakol (staying at the beautiful Green Yard hotel), two from Jyrgalan (staying in a brand-new Italian-owned but basic, hostel), and three in the Bozuk Chuk valley (in a yurt). Al and Sergei found fantastic ski locations every day - with beautiful scenery and deep powder. Staying in a yurt at 2,800m and -20C was quite a cultural experience. Our generous local hosts did an amazing job to create tasty, hot three-course meals from just a wood stove and a samovar. The yurt came-with a wood-burning stove and was surprisingly warm at night. This trip is not Verbier. I recommend it to any fit ski tourer with a sense of adventure.
Great Haute Durance trip (in spite of the lack of recent snowfall) and really professionally organised. I can’t praise our guide, Graham, enough: fun, happy to share information and explain his thinking, patient, collaborative in his approach to each day and a bloodhound’s sense for finding snow in what can only be described as hugely challenging conditions. Comfortable accommodation at Hotel Edelweiss and excellent food. Looking forward to the next one!
We've just had a great week's ski touring around Briancon, courtesy of Alpine Guides. They proactively re-located our trip from the snow-less eastern Italian Alps, sourced a lovely chalet for us in Briancon at the last minute, and put us with a guide whose calm confidence made us feel comfortable and whose hard work found us some fun descents despite the thin snow. Highly recommended!
Just back from my first trip with Alpine Guides Ltd. Excellent trip. I was thoroughly impressed with all aspects. The communication throughout was very good, from the booking process to the trip itself. In addition great efforts were made to adjust the venue due to the snow conditions. Finally the guide was great and worked tirelessly to ensure we all had an excellent week. I will definitely go with them again.
Just completed an off-piste course in Chamonix. Not ideal snow conditions but our guide, Simon, was excellent at searching out good places to ski and learn. His knowledge made some challenging conditions enjoyable.
Just back from an excellent weekend Ski Touring skills course in Chamonix. Great organisation from the Alpine Guides team especially with COVID rules changing in the run up to the trip. Our guide Gavin was brilliant, ensuring we were comfortable with our equipment and touring technique, and taking us to the best possible areas to practice our new skills. Blue sky, sunshine, snow - so good to get back in the Alps again.
Outstanding company, I went backcountry skiing superb guide and great service.
I climbed some Scottish classic routes (Eagle Direct, Mitre Ridge and Square Face) with Al Powell in August. He was well organised, an excellent guide and great company on the hill. We had a greart three days.
First time climbing with Rich from Alpine Guides and definitely not the last. Excellent communications while arranging the trip with the focus on aligning the itinerary to my current skills and future aspirations. High degree of professionalism throughout, delivering quality service and unique experiences.
Al Powell provided a very memorable day introducing trad. climbing (seconding) in historic and scenic Langdale. There was very clear instruction, a great choice of routes, and it was challenging but confidence-inspiring, getting me up a VS 4c route starting from my limited climbing experience. I'd love to do more and would definitely use Alpine Guides again.
I've done a few climbing trips with Alpine Guides now in the UK and the Alps and have loved every minute of them. So much so that it's turned into an annual trip. Rich organises fantastic adventures and provides the opportunity to push your grade significantly and to go to places I'd be unlikely to be able to go otherwise. Stoked for my next trip!
I have ski toured with Alpine guides sometimes 3 or 4 weeks a year for a number of years. Always well run and organised trips with good emphasis on safety. Last year when covid resulted in curtailment of the season there was an immediate automatic unprompted refund of all fees paid for cancelled trips with no hesitation or delays. Very professional.
My husband and I keep going back to Alpine Guides for our ski tours as they make the whole experience from initial enquiry to the actual trip so seamless and professional. We have enjoyed trips both in the Alps and Norway, and the guides attention to detail, excellent knowledge of the areas, and flexibility to adapt to conditions means they will continue to be our 'go to' for future ski touring adventures. The banter's not bad either...
Every trip I've done has been excellent with friendly and professional guiding. Alpine Guides always seem to find the good snow even in "poor" years
We've been on several ski touring trips with Alpine Guides now, from"ski tourism" trips in Georgia, Armenia and Iceland, to the Grand Lui Haute Route variant (exhausting and occasionally quite difficult, but amazing). They are always extremely well organised, the guides very knowledgeable and experienced, and with all possible contingencies thought through well in advance, so that even if the weather doesn't behave you will still always have the best possible experience. More importantly they get to know their clients and always make sure the group is well vetted and well suited to the trip. Highly recommended!
Alpine Guides have consistently delivered an excellent ski-mountaineering package. Well organised, excellent guides, stunning locations, good accommodation and great value. Furthermore, when weather or other factors have had an adverse impact on the plan they have the knowledge and ability to come up with a compelling alternative.
I had a great week in the Alps improving my mountaineering skills. Al is a wonderful guide, a true professional and made me feel completely safe. The entire course was well organised. Highly recommended.
I just wanted to send you a quick email to say thank you for our Silvretta tour last week. We were both impressed at the level of organisation and attention to detail beforehand, and the tour itself followed in the same vein. We would like to express our particular thanks to Mark, who did an exemplary job as our guide; thoroughly professional, but easy-going and very enthusiastic about being in the mountain environment, and passing on his knowledge. The group was well-matched in terms of fitness, so he adapted the route to take this, and the weather, into account, allowing us to make the most of the tour. Louise and I very much enjoyed the tour, and I think I am safe in saying that that goes for all 6 of us.
The weekend ticked all the boxes for me, James was excellent in all respects. The weather Sunday was not great but we made best use of the day, the crevasse rescue techniques was very new for me and a highlight of the weekend despite the weather. Accommodation good too, very friendly, good food and good company in Pete and his family. All in all 10/10.
The trip met my expectations as a starter hut-to-hut tour with manageable days, comfortable huts and great views. Weather and snow was mixed providing good opportunities to experience more difficult conditions along with some good powder descents. FYI I hired gear from Die Borse in Innsbruck (one of the recommendations on your site) – they were very good – easy to get to location, helpful knowledgeable staff and IMHO a good range of up to date quality equipment.
Just got back from Queyras tour. What a wonderful trip. Loads of snow, great area, plus good food. Neil was very professional, and like skiing with a mate. Thanks.
We had a great day – thanks for asking. Gav was good fun to ski with and did all things right!
Bloody Amazing week. Really loved it. It was great to meet Kev and Jim and I thought that Jon was a really top quality guide. I felt very safe with him and he was very good at taking on board what we wanted to do whilst being sensible about the conditions. Thanks to Alpine Guides for organising such a great trip, thanks for Kev and Jim for making it so fun and thanks to Jon for putting up with us! I’ll be back. p.s. I never thought it was possible to put on weight whilst dragging yourself up so many mountains. Testament to the amazing food we got throughout the week!
Thank you for another super, brill holiday. I thoroughly enjoyed it once again.
Hopefully Norway next year… See you next year if not before!
We had one of the best touring trips I can recall. It was not just the weather, which was exceptional, but the Oberland is magnificent and I liked the way we were able to spend more than one night in each hut. Al’s guiding could not be faulted. He got our measure quickly and paced us appropriately. Snow conditions are not just a matter of luck but of being in the right place at the right time and Al was spot on here. I will certainly be back for more. Definitely another skitouring trip next season but possibly some climbing in the summer too, if I can get the time off. Many thanks and best wishes to you both.
It was a great trip- I thought Mark was superb.. and I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of the terrain there and would recommend the area to others. Thanks for co-ordinating things.
I simply wanted you to know just how pleased we were with everything from the initial planning phase to finally arriving in Zermatt. Dave Hollinger is an exemplary guide. He was able to assess the skills and abilities of all and make appropriate decisions which resulted in success for the entire team. I can without any hesitation recommend Alpine Guides as a great guide service… I look forward for another opportunity to ski or climb with you, you guys rock! Thank you so much and please extend my best wishes to Dave.
Thanks for the excellent week we had with you in the Haute Maurienne!
Very much appreciated your professionalism and all the tips you gave us… Trust that you’ve had another successful and enjoyable week since we’ve parted.
Firstly a big thank you to Dave for looking after us so diligently. Another wonderful and rather surreal experience … My conversation with Andrew suggests he was not a candidate for the London marathon yesterday after that one. But fantastically organised and executed… and despite the ignominy of arriving at the check in desk at Munich airport wearing a pair of bedroom slippers, looking forward to next year!
The trip was excellent on all counts. Hotel friendly, helpful and rooms more than adequate. Huts all welcoming especially Fond and Chivasso, which being small also have a great deal of added character. Food tasty and plentiful, not a surly patron in sight (there is a good reason to ski in Italy). Gav did everything I could have wanted in a guide. Excellent guiding with a running commentary to logic, always ready to discuss skiing and the mountains, great insight into the group dynamics and kept (albeit a relatively similar skill and fitness group) together. Skiing was great, all 3 main decents we did the snow was on our side and the scrappy bits through the woods to Pont both time were a lot of fun. So I’d keep everything very similar for next year! Looking forward to the ski program for 2017.
Everything went according to plan, hotels (Zernez and Bergun) were both fine, and the huts were good too. James did an excellent job on the guiding front – as last year in the Silvretta I particularly liked the fact that he’s clearly very aware when people are running out of gas going uphill, and paces accordingly. All in all, a great tour, only slightly marred by the face-plants! Cheers.
The Haute Tour was excellent! Despite poor initial weather forecasts we were very lucky to get fresh snow and great weather until the last day. Dave was fantastic throughout the tour. He kept us safe and my future Alpine Touring will benefit greatly from the advice he frequently gave me! Except perhaps the bit about not skiing fast :) I was also very fortunate to have a great group of companions to travel with and we had a lot of laughs along the way which made the whole trip even more enjoyable. Thanks again to Dave for being such an excellent guide and to you and your team for organising such a great trip.
The Oberland trip was a great success. In particular, Kenny was an excellent Guide – good humoured throughout, very effective at managing the group and the individuals, highly professional. The itinerary was very well designed and well balanced (and fortunately we had settled weather to make the most of it!) – covering a good amount of ground to make it a real tour, and including some fine skiing peaks including 2 above 3900m.
We go to Norway for the experience and this week didn’t disappoint – great company, Al’s routes and navigation were as ninja as ever, spectacular views and mostly great snow. The communal area in the lodge was particularly good and self catering allowed more time to chat and get to know folk.
The Val Stura tour was simply fab. I cannot suggest any improvements, but to say thanks to you and Al for a great trip. My thoughts are already turning to next year and returning to that area, stunning scenery, the best tree runs and a lovely hotel to return to. Heaven
We had a fantastic week, first time in Norway in the winter and definitely one to be repeated. Lodge was a great base and Al did his usual job of sniffing out the best snow, pitches etc everyday. The man’s a genius – without doubt one of the best weeks skiing I’ve had.
Hi Rich – got back from the Otztal Tour at the weekend and want to thank you for another great trip! Weather was quite mixed but we made the best of it and had some big days and good powder. Lori was excellent, safe, relaxed and good company. All the organisation went smoothly – nothing to add!
I loved the area – stunning scenery and wildlife (we saw moose, reindeer, sea eagles, ptarmigan) and masses of great skiing. It was a quiet area in winter and the lack of other skiers was a big plus. The hotel was comfortable and friendly, and the food was great (plenty of it too). I really valued Al’s prep work recce-ing the area – he always had a range of options and routes in mind for any given day which meant we could make the best of conditions. And I enjoyed skiing with him – on the mountain I had a lot of confidence in his judgment and skill as a guide, always planning a route to the abilities of the group and willing to share his knowledge. All in all, another great trip to a great destination.
We were all super happy with the trip, it certainly gave us everything we were expecting and more. The hotel was perfect – In fact I have stayed in it before! It’s a nice relaxed hotel and the service/food etc is of a very good standard. They were super flexible regarding which nights we are etc and were ok about leaving the car whilst we were away at the hut. Gav was excellent, really knew his stuff and was able to help us through all the start up stuff and familiarisation with gear etc. He was extremely professional in his approach at all times. Safety was his first priority at all times and we were confident he wouldn’t compromise that.
Organisation was spot on, guiding was superb and we managed an excellent selection of routes. Accommodation was clean, comfortable and friendly and an ideal base for this type of trip. Good weather and conditions helped of course, but I would certainly recommend the trip to others and I wouldn’t hesitate to book through Alpine Guides again.
Al/Rich – Just to say how much I enjoyed the Val Maira trip! A lovely valley and Graham made the most of the north facing slopes – also great food and wine at the Londra.