Thursday 6 September 2007

Latest availability for Snowshoeing plus summer programme

The winter is already starting to book and a couple of weeks are full. Here is the full list of availabilty for snowshoeing right now. Cheap flights to the Alps are now available so book early to get the best deals.Next winter I'll be doing the usual 6 and 4 day trips. 6 days is a week, whilst the 4 days trips go over a weekend so you can get a trip over here but only have to take two days off work. New this winter are the different bases for holidays: ranging from Vallorcine near Chamonix, to Aosta in Italy, Martigny in Switzerland to St Gervais in the Aravis range and finally a week in Briançon, down in the French Dauphiné Alps.The basic calendar with prices is shown below. For more info on these trips visit http://www.trekkinginthealps.com/ where PDF downloads are available along with gradings for trips.Prices include all guiding, accommodation, travel once here and rental of all gear - snowshoes, poles, and avalanche gear - transceivers, shovels and probes. If you want to know more just email me on info@trekkinginthealps.com .
Below is also my Summer Programme 2008
Mont Blanc Region France - meet in Vallorcine near Chamonix. 6 day holidays, price: £675 995€.
Meet 5 January, 8 March.


Mont Blanc Region Half Term Week based in Finhaut Switzerland. 6 day holiday, price £675 995€.
Meet 10 February.


Aosta Valley Italy - meet in Aosta. 6 day holidays, price: £705 1050€
Meet 16 February


Valais Switzerland - meet Martigny. 6 day holidays, price £705 1050€
Easter Week 22 March.


Aravis massif France - meet St Gervais. 6 day holiday, price £705 1050€
Meet 8 March.


Dauphiné Alps France - meet Briançon. 6 day holiday, price £705 1050€
Meet 1 March.


4 day long weekends in the Mont Blanc Region France
Meet Vallorcine near Chamonix. Price: £525 780€
Meet 23 January, 6 February and 12 April




Summer programme

Tour of Mont Blanc

meet 14/06/08 7 days €985 £660


Aosta Italian Summits

meet 14/06/08, & 9/08/08 6 days €1010 £685


Corsica Northern Summits

meet 22/06/08 6 days €1050 £705


Chamonix Summits

meet 29/06/08 6 days €1010 £685


Tour of Mont Ruan

meet 12/07/08 6 days €995 £670


Tour of the Jungfrau Region

meet 19/07/08 6 days €995 £670


Gran Paradiso Alta Via plus summit

meet 26/07/08 €1100 £735


Tour of the Matterhorn

6 days meet 9/08/08 €1100 £735


Glacier trekking week

(itinerary to be decided): meet 12/07/07 €1250 £905

NB: the Summits trips are non-glaciated trekking summits accessible to all hill-walkers with no technical expertise, and do not involve ropes, crampons or ice-axe.

Summer trekking

It's been a great summer for Trekking in the Alps even if the sun has not been shining every day. Although hiking in the rain and snow is not quite what we have planned, it can be quite an adventure, notably on the Tour of Mont Blanc when we had two days of snow. A big plus about bad weather is that when the sun returns the views are generally quite stunning: fresh snow coats the mountains and everything is very clear and glistening. This was certainly the case in the latter part of the TMB when we had unbeatable scenery.


The Austrian Otztal week was as much a quest for fine wine as a trekking holiday. And we certainly had fun doing both. The hiking was good, although again the sun was a little shy. A highlight of the trip was managing to make our way up to the Austro-Italian border to the exact spot where the 5000 year old ice-man "Otzi" was found some years ago. As for the wine, I can now vouch for the fact that Austrian does have some great wines. There are also lots of lederhosen around and dancing and yodelling.



The autumn has begun here with morning frosts and beautiful clear days. The trees are already beginning to turn orange and days are that little bit shorter. This is a great time for trekking and my Highlights of the Tour of Mont Blanc starts tomorrow. Perhaps we are due for an Indian Summer - certainly we must make the most of these mellow days before the winter arrives as it surely will. Bookings for the snowshoeing season are coming in and some weeks are already full. Check www.trekkinginthealps.com for availabilty and be sure to keep an eye on the latest blog postings.