About White Marmotte

Group of hikers on summer snow

White Marmotte was started by Ian Huyton, Stine Keyes and a love of mountains. We began in Les Deux Alpes in 2017, running the occasional mountain skills day or ski tour alongside Ian’s ski teaching. NNAS navigation courses followed, along with guided day hikes followed and educational nature walks. Finally, we took the step of becoming a licenced tour operator in France to offer multi-day guided trekking packages and centre based hiking holidays.

In 2021, we made the move to Chamonix following the call of the bigger mountains. Although Deux Alpes and the Écrins will always have a place in our hearts, living in Chamonix allows us to fully develop our summer offering. From our base below Mont-Blanc, we now run courses and trips across the Alps. These include guided or self-guided treks as well as mountain & navigation skills courses for walkers, skiers and mountain professionals.

What we can offer

All of our products will be delivered by a qualified leader or instructor with the necessary certifications and equivalences to work in France (and any other countries we enter). In practice this means holding some of the highest qualifications available in the relevant field. We are a registered tour operator in France with an ATOUT France immatriculation number, meaning we can legally offer package holidays and linked holiday arrangements under French and European regulations. We are an approved navigation course provider with NNAS UK to run NNAS Navigation courses – the only NNAS provider offering courses in France.

  • Skiing courses will be delivered by an instructor with a top level qualification e.g. BASI Level 4 or equivalent.
  • Trekking products will be led by a hiking guide holding a UIMLA recognised diploma.
  • Navigation courses will be delivered by an NNAS registered course director who also holds a UIMLA diploma.
  • We are fully registered as a Tour Operator in France.
  • White Marmotte is an approved NNAS Navigation Course Provider.
  • Avalanche safety courses will be led by an ANENA Avalanche Course instructor.

White Marmotte

The White Marmotte name is a combination of the features that make up our strengths. This fictional creature combines the white of our snowy winter playground with a playful emblem of the Alps in summer. We also mix English and French spellings to emphasise that whilst we come from English speaking countries, we live and work in the French Alps. You can read more about real life marmots in this blog post.

Logo - about White Marmotte

Some important legal stuff
White Marmotte / Ian Huyton is a registered Tour Operator with the French Tourism Development agency, Atout France. This allows us to offer multi-day packages with accommodation while complying with the European package travel regulations which are incorporated into the French Code du Tourisme.You can view our Atout Immatriculation Certificate here.

The name and logo are registered marques with INPI France. Ian Huyton is a registered Entreprise Individuelle (individual enterprise). Our SIRET number is 81746607100039 (all French businesses must have a SIRET number).

Jump to our friends and partners

Ian Huyton

Ian started climbing at the age of 5, and got his first pair of skis when he was 7. After studying physics at Sheffield, he decided that he really belonged in the mountains and set about becoming a ski instructor.

His teaching career began at Nevis Range in the Scottish Highlands back in 2004. Since then he has taught skiing on three continents before settling in France.

He achieved his International Mountain Leader Qualification in 2017, and has guided groups around many European long-distance treks. These include Tour du Mont Blanc and the Haute Route. When not working or playing in the mountains, he writes for 2alpesnet.com and other websites.

Ian’s Qualifications:
BASI Level 4 International Ski Teacher Diploma (full French and European equivalence)
International Mountain Leader Award
European Mountain Safety Award (Eurosecurité)
ANENA Formateur (French Snow and Avalanche Research Association Instructor)
Freeski Development Coach Level 2
Rock Climbing Instructor (formerly Single Pitch Award)
Speaks French, Spanish and English

He also has a degree in physics, but that was a long time ago.

Stine KeyesPerson standing by stone pillar in front of mountains

Stine is the brains behind White Marmotte, having a PhD in nuclear physics and a successful career as a quant analyst. She moved to the Alps full time in 2019, having spent more and more time there over the previous years. At White Marmotte she runs the website and is basically in charge, whilst still quant analysing at the same time. When not working, she likes to run, cycle or ski tour – the further and more strenuous the better.

Partners and friends

Ride Camps

Ride Camps logo

Ride Camps is the brand name British instructor Craig Nelder uses for his Snowboard/Mountain Bike experiences and coaching products. All products are offered in and around the stunning French resort of Les Deux Alpes.

Craig’s goal is to help you get the most enjoyment and satisfaction from your mountain riding sports and to help you reach your full potential! He can work with both adults or children of all levels from complete beginner all the way up to training and qualifying new instructors.