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The History of the TMB

Today, the Tour du Mont Blanc is the most popular long distance hike in Europe, if not the world. But ...
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Mont Blanc from La Jonction - snowy mountains with footpath in the foreground

La Jonction – Chamonix Hikes

The trek to La Jonction is one of the toughest of the classic day hikes around Chamonix. With around 1500 ...
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View from Aiguillette des Possettes towards Aiguille Verte

Aiguillette des Possettes – Chamonix Hikes

The Aiguillette des Possettes stands at the head of the Chamonix valley, dividing it into two branches. One leads to ...
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View over Mer de Glace glacier, runner in foreground

Chamonix Hiking – the Grand Balcon Nord

Along with Lac Blanc, the Grand Balcon Nord is one of the must-do day hikes of the Chamonix Valley. The ...
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Col du Belvedere

With a magnificent setting, a sunny aspect, and an amenable 500 – 800 metres of ascent, the Col du Belvedere ...
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Mont Blanc from summit of Prarion in Les Houches

When to visit Chamonix

When is the best time to come to Chamonix? It’s a question we get asked all the time but the ...
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Tales of the Alps – Napoleon’s unpaid bill

The story of a very longstanding debt owed to a very small village At the dawn of the 19th century, ...
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Tales of the Alps – Barry der Menschenretter

How a St. Bernard named Barry became a Swiss legend Although relatively unheard of outside his native Switzerland, Barry is ...
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What to bring on our navigation courses

Covid-19 has led to a few changes in how we run our navigation courses, and this affects what you need ...
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Alpine flower notes: Alchemilla

Lady’s mantle Alchemilla A fascinating plant that is easy to overlook, lady’s mantle can be seen flowering across the Alps ...
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Alpine Wildlife Notes: Eurasian Lynx – Lynx Lynx

The Eurasian Lynx is a distinctive species of wild cat that was common in the Alps until the 19th century ...
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Le Sapey walk

An almost circular walk from Les Deux Alpes to Venosc via the delightful pastures in Le Sapey. Distance: 15km Ascent: ...
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Alpine Wildlife Notes: Grey Wolf – Canis Lupus

The grey wolf is one of the three large predators that disappeared from the French Alps towards the end of ...
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TMB or Haute Route?

Which long-distance hike is for you? Chamonix has long been a centre for mountain sports of all kinds, and this ...
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Alpine Wildlife Notes: Alpine Ibex –Capra Ibex

With its large curved horns and incredible climbing ability, the Alpine Ibex is one of the most instantly-recognisable animals in ...
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Tales of the Alps – The Devil’s Bridge

This story recounts the legendary origins of the Pont du Diable, or Devil's Bridge, in St. Christophe-en-Oisans. Saint Christophe-en-Oisans is ...
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Alpine Wildlife Notes: Alpine Chamois – Rupicapra Rupicapra

The Chamois is a species of goat-antelope found across the mountain ranges of Europe and Asia. Native to the Ecrins ...
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Alpine Wildlife Notes: Alpine Chough –Pyrrhocorax Graculus

The Alpine Chough is one of two species of birds commonly referred to as choughs. The other is the red-billed ...
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Tales of the Alps: L’Escalade, Geneva

How one old woman saved the city with a pot of vegetable soup... In this series, we look at some ...
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Alpine Wildlife Notes: Golden Eagle – Aquila Chrysaetos

The golden eagle is arguably the most famous of all raptors, and has been revered throughout history. In ancient Greece ...
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Alpine flower notes: Colchicum autumnale

Autumn crocus: Colchicum autumnale For the final Alpine flower article of the year we take a look at Colchicum autumnale ...
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Alpine Wildlife Notes: Bearded Vulture – Gypaetus Barbatus

In this post, we look at the Bearded Vulture, or Ossifrage (‘bone-breaker’ in Latin), the rarest in the Alps. This ...
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Alpine Wildlife Notes : Griffon Vulture – Gyps Fulvus

Following on from our series on Alpine Flower Notes, in this series we’ll be taking a look at some of ...
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Alpine Flower Notes: Great Yellow Gentian

Great yellow gentian – Gentiana lutea From June until August, the great yellow gentian makes an impressive sight standing tall ...
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Alpine Flower Notes: Purple Saxifrage

Purple saxifrage Saxifraga oppositifolia I’ve been meaning to write up some notes on Alpine wildflowers for a while. Seeing clumps ...
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Easiest Ways to Travel to Les Deux Alpes

Our first guest post from Alps2Alps If you’re planning your next ski holiday, why not try Les Deux Alpes? This ...
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The Avalanche Risk Scale – Why 3 is a Dangerous Number

The International Avalanche Risk Scale is an important tool in off-piste decision making, but it is frequently misunderstood. If you ...
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Col d’Arsine Walk

The Col d'Arsine is a beautiful hiking destination at any time of the year I have written a few posts ...
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Indian Summer – should we be worried about the winter

Here in the French Alps, we are enjoying a seemingly endless summer. It is almost November and the sunny, cloudless ...
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European Ski School Off-Piste Course 5th-9th March 2018

This archive post is about the 2018 Off-Piste course. Watch out for details of the 2020 course to be posted ...
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Nine things you didn’t know about marmots

These large, ground-dwelling squirrels are a symbol of the Alps and other mountain ranges. They are easy to recognise from ...
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Cheeselore in the Western Alps

We all know that France and Switzerland are famous for their cheese, from Camembert to Gruyere, and cheese dishes like ...
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Off-piste course 2017 – Looking back

In March 2017, we ran our first European Ski School Off-Piste course in conjunction with TipTop Ski Coaching. I had ...
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New plans for snowmaking in Les Deux Alpes

Many ski resorts have felt the effects of recent poor winters. Investment in snowmaking is seen as a way to ...
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Village architecture in the high Dauphiné

This post is based on a talk I prepared for my recent International Mountain Leader summer assessment in Samöens. Candidates ...
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Roche Château ski tour

This is another nice ski tour in the Mont Thabor range. We did it on the last day of the ...
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Rocher de la Grande Tempête

The Refuge des Drayeres in the Mont Thabor range is a superb base for a few days ski touring, with ...
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TipTop Ski Coaching Family Week 14th-18th August 2017

This August will see the return of the TipTop Family week after the success of last year. Ski racing, piste ...
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Les Deux Alpes Outdoor Festival

Featuring a slew of sports over four days with competitions, big names and a world record attempt, the Deux Alpes ...
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Pic des Trois Evêchés

The Pic des Trois Evêchés from the Col du Lauteret runs parallel to the very popular Pic Blanc ski tour ...
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How to ski La Grave – untracked

Under normal conditions you need to get up really early after (or during) a snowstorm to ski La Grave on ...
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La Grave update – Alpe’D’Huez to run the lifts for the next 30 years

After months of uncertainty, a rejected crowdfunding bid and the withdrawal of the biggest company in the running, the conseil ...
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Clot de Chalance, Les Deux Alpes

I've written a few posts on the classic backcountry descents that start from Les Deux Alpes heading towards St. Christoph ...
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Mont de l’Arpille

Few ski tours are safe enough to do when the avalanche risk is a high four out of five. Mont ...
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Pic Blanc du Galibier

For my first day off since Christmas I was itching to get out and do some ski touring. It still ...
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Christmas Day Snowshoeing – Lauteret and Galibier

Low level snow is a bit lacking at the moment in the Oisans, but from 2000m upwards there is decent ...
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The Classic ‘Easy’ La Grave Itineraries

The Vallons de la Meije and Vallons de Chancel might not be everybody's idea of easy skiing, but ease is ...
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European Ski School Off-Piste Course 13th-17th March 2017

The European Ski School's Off-Piste:Freeride Course is a new product this winter, taking advantage of the wonderful terrain Les Deux ...
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Autumn Junior Freeride Camp with TipTop Ski Coaching

Click here to watch the video edit of this course on YouTube. Every autumn, Les Deux Alpes opens for skiing ...
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Resort Profile – Chazelet

Chazelet has to be one of my favourite resorts for a day trip. A small, alpine village that retains a ...
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Resort profile – Les Deux Alpes

People I ski with in Deux Alpes often ask where my favourite ski resort is. They sometimes seem surprised when ...
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Les Deux Alpes to La Berarde via the Col du Replat

My final ski tour of last winter was one that I had been wanting to do for some time. The ...
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La Petite Buffe (2683m) – Chazelet

Chazelet is a tiny but beautiful little ski resort with south facing slopes across the valley from the La Grave ...
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Aiguilles Rouges to St Christoph via Puy

The Aiguilles Rouges route from La Toura is one of the two classic descents from Les Deux Alpes to St ...
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Cime du Pied de Barry Walk

At the moment I am working through the International Mountain Leader (IML) award. Part of this means logging mountain walking ...
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Col de Laurichard (2654m)

The Col de Laurichard from the north east is deservedly one of the most popular ski tours in the Combynot ...
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Couloir de l’Ours (Bear Couloir)

The Couloir de l'Ours in La Grave is one that I had often looked up at whilst skiing one of ...
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Col du Galibier

One of the classic Alpine road biking cols in the summer, the Col du Galibier makes for wonderful ski touring ...
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Vallon de la Selle

The Vallon de la Selle is one of the classic routes from Les Deux Alpes or La Grave to the ...
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Ben Nevis – Number 4 Gully and Number 3 Gully

Although now based in the Alps, I did start my skiing career in Scotland. It is easy to overlook the ...
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Combeynot, Col du Lautaret

Just to the south of the Col du Lautaret, the Combeynot range offers a range of interesting ski tours of ...
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