Reviews

Most Inspirational Moment

Eating tart at Mama's surroubded by amazing views and good company

Thoughts on Group Leader

Couldnt fault Oliver. Patient, knowledgable, good fun, really made the trip

Most Inspirational Moment

That cold beer after the long descent from the Lac Blanc; the leisurely picnic lunch on the Aiguillette de Brevent on the last walk with the opportunity to savour the stupendous view of Mont Blanc close up and the views over to earlier walks; the pink of the setting sun on the snow on Mont Blanc from the Chalet window.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Oliver is endlessly patient and good-humoured. Our group was of varying abilities and experience but he brought out the best in everyone. He manages the tasks of shepherd and host in a very relaxed way.  And he really knows and loves the area. 

Advice for Potential Travellers

Make sure you have a good level of fitness to enjoy the ascents. On a couple of days there are both long ascents and descents. If you are a very fast,fit walker you may need to accept that others are not and that you have to accept the necessary discipline of walking as a group. 

Most Inspirational Moment

My first trip to the area and has encouraged me to go back

Thoughts on Group Leader

First class. Whilst on duty guiding or "off duty" hosting in the chalet along with Elaine, Oliver was a great leader.  Mindful of all in the group and the range of abilities.Determined to ensure we all had a good holiday

Advice for Potential Travellers

Book this holiday for a good range of walks, views, being well fed and entertained (or cringe) at Olivers jokes and tales.

Most Inspirational Moment

Hard to choose one moment/day, but I think my favourites were climbing up to Lac Blanc - which was a bit of a slog but well worth it - and day 3 above Val Ferret which was (thankfully) modified from the original itinerary thanks to Oliver's local knowledge and was full of some of the most beautiful alpine flower meadows I have ever seen!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Very experienced and this knowledge has enabled him to plan some excellent and rewarding routes, which didn't seem too busy even in mid-July. The pace each day was just right, which was quite an achievement given the diverse range of people/ages in the group. I reckon he needs some new jokes to tell though!

Advice for Potential Travellers

You will enjoy it more if you get your fitness up beforehand and are used to walking - good boots are also a must, I had some Meindl Burma pros and these were a lifesaver for my feet! Plan in advance for the free day too.

Most Inspirational Moment

Every day was lovely but I particularly enjoyed the walk to Lac Blanc with exceptional views of the Mer de Glace. I found the ascent difficult but was rewarded at the top with a hot chocolate in the sunshine next to a beautiful lake, while baby Ibex roamed nearby.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Oliver was a very skilled group leader and a fun and friendly person. He was able to judge the ability of each member of the group and set the pace accordingly. He was very safe  and careful, and seemed to have an endless supply of knee straps and energy drinks. What I enjoyed most about this trip was that Oliver gave us time to enjoy the scenery, take photographs and indulge in coffee and pear and chocolate tart at refuges without ever feeling rushed. Oliver has obviously worked very hard to forge good relationships with the owners of the best refuges ensuring that we always recieved a warm welcome, despite descending on them in large numbers and sometimes eating our own food. Although we did plenty of walking and I returned home with sore legs and a couple of blisters, this really did feel like a relaxing holiday, and that was thanks to Oliver.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Although there are some quite lengthy ascents they are taken at a steady pace so don't worry too much if you are like me and not super fit.

Most Inspirational Moment

The purity of the mountain streams, the beauty of the mountains and the overwhelming feeling of happiness being part of the world which is somehow completely absent in normal everyday life.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Oliver was very caring and looked after all of our interests. He is more or less omniscient though not in an annoying way. An incredibly nice man with an even nicer dog and a wonderful sense of humour.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Go for it.

Most Inspirational Moment

Finding meadows alive with flowers in hidden valleys high in the mountains  - and knowing that I had walked every step of the way.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Inspirational and extremely professional. It takes vast experience and expertese to maintain Olivere's level of good humour and leadership while still monitoring individuals AND hold together a  group with a range of experience and ability. 

Advice for Potential Travellers

Remember to take gloves along with the hat and sun block.

Most Inspirational Moment

There were several highlights of the trip:  after the somewhat long and, at times, challenging walk to reach the top at 'Lac Blanc' it was worth every minute.  We were privileged to see Ibex who paused long enough for photos posing adjacent to the turquoise meltwater.The trip to Italy was beautiful - the amazing 'balcony walk' through meadows filled with wild flowers identified and described by Oliver, whose extensive knowledge made them even more interesting.Every day was different and memorable in its own right. 

Thoughts on Group Leader

Oliver, as our group leader was caring, enthusiastic, knowledgeable and also great fun!  His co-pilot, Dylan, was also amusing (Fox Terrier!).  At all times, we felt safe, included and we could not have asked for a nicer person to make the walks interesting and fun .

Advice for Potential Travellers

I would certainly advise being prepared for changable weather.  One day we experienced all conditions apart from snow!  It was often warm and benign low down needing suncream and sunhats, but at high altitude the weather became cool and wet on two occaions thus needing our waterproof leggings which we had fortunately packed in our backpacks.  

Most Inspirational Moment

The view of Lac Blanc on the third day of the walk. While having lunch beside the lake, I felt for moment that all my dreams are fulfilled. Even after a week from the holiday, I still stare at my photos from that day. It is hard to explain the scenery in one word as you can see the snow caped mountains,beautiful lake, refugee, ibex (mountain goats) etc in single location. For facebook users, you will be confused which photo to be made your profile photo.

Thoughts on Group Leader

In one word, "perfect". I still wonder how a person can manage these many days of walking in a year.Being my first walking holiday, I was a bit worried about the difficulty of walking for five days. But he set the walk speed in such a way that we never feel the strain of walk. I was even ready for walk on the sixth day also. He kept on interacting each and every member of the walk and made sure the group enjoys the walk. Another thing not missed out is the endless flow of jokes from his mouth, But you have to listen carefully to understand them, which I couldn't do most of the times.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Walk is within the limits of anybody who is used to 5-6 hours of weekend walking. Longest walks are on third and last day. I will be very helpful if you practice multiple days walking as we are tend to relax on the next day of our weekend walk. Being a centre based walking, we have the option of not to walk on any days if we dont feel like. Personally I will advise you not to miss out walk on third day (Lac Blanc). Also never ever forget waterproofs on any day of the walk.

Most Inspirational Moment

The second day where we started to walk from Courmayeur in Italy and where the full day was basically "postcard views" every single minute!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Oliver, the groupleader & guide was one of the highlights of the trip!  A trip like this can be a success or a none success based on the tourleader and Oliver got it ALL right!  The greatness of the trip is partly made by Oliver who is knowledgeable, funny, interesting and had a great way of making the full group feel special!!

Advice for Potential Travellers

We can 100% recommend this trip!  The tempo of the daily walks are set at a very reasonable pace so anybody can really make it without any pre-training.  As the trip notes point out, be aware that the rooms in the chalet are quite small and basic.An extra bonus to the Chalet (on top of the the great food and the outdoor jacuzzi) is that the Chalet has very good wireless connection so if you have to check back with work or need system access its very handy!