I am looking to do some touring around Monte Rosa and Chamonix.  Does anyone have any suggestions for guides who speak English. 

I have been back country skiing in the Eastern Sierra Nevada of California for 15 years.  The past three years have been on AT gear. I am an expert skier, but not well versed in glacial terrain.

Thanks,

Ricky Bobby

I’m not sure exactly what sort of skiing you’re hoping to to, but I feel pretty confident there’s no shortage of English-speaking guides around Chamonix, and I’d expect there’s several around Alagna / Monte Rosa.
If all else fails I guess I’d just contact the guide services that advertise for the area you currently want to ski.
My thinking is that the best policy for skiing is to hire a local Alagna guide for Alagna, and a local Chamonix guide for Chamonix.

Ken

Check out Chamex in Argentiere too:

http://www.chamex.com/

Yves Salino is Chamonix based, and he’s great. I’ve used him several times, and I’ll be going on the Haute Route with him in two weeks.
Contact him on: ; or have a look at his website:
http://www.exploraider.com/team.asp

I was very impressed with Rick Marchant.
I don’t know how you find him on the web. I think he’s so busy with demand thru word-of-mouth that he doesn’t bother much public organizational stuff. I have his mobile number from last time. If I found that had changed, I’d get the correct spelling of his wife’s name (also a guide) from an obvious web search on Rick, and look up her number in the Chamonix phone book.

Back when I was just getting into backcountry skiing in France after lots of years in USA, I didn’t know how to deal with the glaciers, so I joined with a club group of four that hired Rick. Not surprisingly there was an irrationally wide diversity of competence and speed in our group—and I was impressed with how Rick handled that. Also how well he knew critical little wrinkles of skiing around Chamonix that aren’t in any guidebook. And though he’s two levels beyond any skiing competence I will ever attain, he definitely really enjoys the inter-personal aspects of guiding.

Since then I’ve gotten pretty comfortable with backcountry skiing in Europe, and I hire a guide only once every two or three years for very special situations . . .

A few years later, an American buddy joined me for a week, and we just weren’t getting good weather, and we saw a day where it might break or might not, and I didn’t feel safe trying to take him up on the glaciers in a questionable situation like that. So I called Rick, and at first he refused to guide us, and then I assured him that my friend was very experienced from USA backcountry and understood the weather problems, and finally Rick agreed.
The weather never did break that day, just kept snowing, and we didn’t “accomplish” anything. But I was very impressed with how Rick handled the decision-making, and made the navigation and white-out skiing into a fun game.
My friend thought it was a great day for him. He’s mentioned it again several times when we’ve done ski trips together since then. And he just bought his airline ticket to come back to ski with me in France in April.

btw - Which part of the Sierras did you ski mostly: around Tahoe, or around Mammoth + Bishop?

Ken

A cheaper way to ski for a week in Europe with an English-speaking professional guide:
Join a UK ski club which has some backcountry trips—or I guess lift-assisted “side-country” or “off-piste” touring might be more what you’re looking for - (same wish as lots of aspiring UK skiers).

Key: Only sign up for the club trips which are led by a professional guide. Do not sign up for trips led by a well-experienced amateur club member.

This strategy also results in spending lots of days and meals hanging out with UK skiers of widely varying social backgrounds—which I thought was great fun. And if you enjoy being one of the better skiers in the group for a week, that’ll probably happen too, given that the British Isles are not known for having as high percentage of skiable terrain as the Sierras.

It was thru a UK club trip that I met the guy that I still ski with most often in France - (though it’s been a long time since we’ve done any skiing with the club).

Ken

I can highly recommend Nigel Shepherd, I have ski toured with him on a number of occasions, especially in Gressoney, he knows the Monta Rosa area like that back of his hand… has a cunning habit of knowing where all the fresh tracks are to be had!

you can also try Remy Leclouse, http://www.remylecluse.com/en/remy-lecluse-extreme-skier.html

For Monte Rosa, most stuff starts at the Hotel Dufor in Gressoney La Trinite..and all the guides arrange the next day from there at apre-time which is around 1700 onwards..
It might help if you were in a group or could form one and then you could dictate when and where..subject to their approval, of course.

Google them or look for something like mountain tracks who run out of there from time to time.....

In the Monterosa, english is spoken but sometimes not as well as you might like...Never had a problem there myself though and the whole deal has a great vibe.

Ricky Bobby - 05 March 2009 04:41 AM

I am looking to do some touring around Monte Rosa and Chamonix.  Does anyone have any suggestions for guides who speak English. 

I have been back country skiing in the Eastern Sierra Nevada of California for 15 years.  The past three years have been on AT gear. I am an expert skier, but not well versed in glacial terrain.

Thanks,

Ricky Bobby

You could contact Andrea Enzio email

He is a fully qualified mountain guide who grew up in and is based in Alagna and has expert knowledge of the whole Monte Rosa and surrounding areas. I skied off piste with him in Andermatt on my very first off piste course with the Ski Club of Great Britain and had a great time. He still does week off piste trips with the Ski Club GB and this is an excellent cost effective way to enjoy what this region has to offer.

His English is perfect. Have fun.

Mike Rae.

Ricky Bobby - 05 March 2009 04:41 AM

I am looking to do some touring around Monte Rosa and Chamonix.  Does anyone have any suggestions for guides who speak English. 

I have been back country skiing in the Eastern Sierra Nevada of California for 15 years.  The past three years have been on AT gear. I am an expert skier, but not well versed in glacial terrain.

Thanks,

Ricky Bobby

Also for Chamonix and anywhere else for that matter try Andy Perkins http://www.andypmountainguide.com . He is a fully qualified mountain guide born in the UK but based in Chamonix who with his climbing skills to back up his very careful assessment of snow conditions in all weather would be a very safe pair of hands to entrust yourself to.

I tour with him every year and manage to achieve stuff that I used to only dream about.

Mike Rae