Winter’s beginning and good snow equal beacon* training before starting the off-piste skiing and snowshoeing season[...]

In Japan to visit trek travel agencies, I took the opportunity that last Monday was a national holiday to do the 3 days traverse called Shirane-sanzan in the Southern Alps with 2 friends. The second day is spend on a ridge linking Mount Kitadake, the second highest peak in Japan with 2 other 3000m summits : Ainodake and Nōtoridake. They offer gorgeous views, especially on the nearby Mount Fuji as well as the Central and Northern Alps, Yatsugatake[...]

Here’s the end of the story of our trip in the Mercantour… This second trek was a completely different story than the first one. We had a great and warm weather, close to summer conditions. In addition to this, we started on Sunday when everybody was going back down. So we had the mountains for ourselves for two days[...]

From September the 27th, for five days, I went trekking in the Mercantour with one of my best friend, an American folk I met years ago when we were living in the US. Mountains, dressed in autumn color looks like if they were burning, can quickly get covered with their white coat as it can get close to winter conditions when weather goes bad; offering unique colors, particular lights, with part of the nature preparing for hibernation, it’s a great period to be hiking[...]

Next to the Italian Piedmont region on the other side of the border, the Mercantour massif is the last promontory before the southern Alps suddenly dive into the Mediterranean sea. From it’s 3143 m (10,311 ft) the Mount Gelas is the highest summit of the Mercantour, just 50 km (31 miles) away from the sea! A particular location between sea and mountains give the region an original and unique atmosphere.

The day after coming back from the Tour du Ruan trek, I guided two of my friends on a great, wild and off-piste hike on the Autannes ridge. This ridge is located on the north of the Mont-Blanc massif and the Chamonix valley, south of the Balme pass, and mark the frontier between France and Switzerland. From the pass, [...]

Last Sunday the compagnie des guides de Chamonix contacted me, because of my language skills, to go and help on a Tour du Mont-Blanc trek which started in the morning. It was indeed a really cosmopolitan group with 7 nationalities[...]

Last Sunday, with 2 other mountain leaders from the Compagnie des Guides de Chamonix, we set off for 6 days around the Ruan with 19 teenagers. of 14 to 16 years old. A great week on a quiet trail. The Ruan summit, located north-ouest of the Chamonix valley (further north of the Emosson dam), is barely known[...]

This week-end with the Club Alpin de Chamonix, we went to the Dômes de Miage, a famous climb in the Mont-Blanc massif. It’s a 2 days outing. Here’s a summary :

From july 11th to 18th, I guided a trek from Verbier To Zermatt in Switzerland. As the clients who already did a Tour du Mont-Blanc have already done most of the trail between Chamonix and the town of Verbier in Switzerland, we start from the village of Fionnay near Verbier.