Chamonix Snowshoe

Our Clients’ Reviews

Here at Exodus we thrive on feedback from our customers. It's the only way we can ensure our trips continue to be the best they can be. So, for the real tales, twists and turns of the trip you're interested in, look no further than the reviews from our previous travellers. Any feedback collected (Good or bad) from Exodus clients is posted straight onto our website - totally unedited. Read more...

Average Review Rating: from 14 reviews.

Jessica James

CHAMONIX SNOWSHOE

Written December 2012
It was great to get away from it all into the snowy moutains and we were blessed with lots of blue skies. We felt in safe hands with our leader Emma, who chose our walks carefullly in relation to the conditions. She was also fun despite being under the weather (she got a colleague in to cover for her one day, who was also great). The hotel was comfy with excellent food (five courses on New Year's eve) in a pleasant French village Argentiere just outside Chamonix.
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Getting to a point up high amongst the mountains with views of Mont Blanc, watching off-piste skiers going down a steep valley and some lamagia birds circling around us. Also enjoyed going off piste in virgin snow and feeling free to jump downwards into it. All very endorphin inducing.

What did you think of your group leader?
Emma was lovely, unfortunately not on tip top form, but she more than compensated for this in her energy and sensitivity to our needs as a group.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
Snow shoeing requires more fitness than usual hill walking and you need to have balance as well as confidence not to worry about occasional falls, especially going down hill. It is a brilliant way to walk in the winter, don't be put off by how silly people look with tennis raquets on their feet, the equipment we had is much more sophisticated than when we first tried it 8 years ago.
Colin Heyes

CHAMONIX SNOWSHOE

Written March 2012
Fantastic walks. Fantastic chalet. Fantastic hosts. Great weather as well. No complaints at all. Special mention should go to Oliver and Elaine who looked after us famously during the week.
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Waking up each morning to see the summit of Mont Blanc.
What did you think of your group leader?
Fantastic. Great guide - felt very safe on the mountains. Great host. Nothing too much trouble.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
Go on this trip or some other that stays at the Chalet Savoy
Is there anything else you would like to add?
In the past I have been asked whether I wished to nominate the guide for an award. I would not hesitate to nominate either Oliver, for guiding us, or Elaine for looking after us in the chalet afterwards.
steve simpkins

CHAMONIX SNOWSHOE

Written January 2012
Returned again to Chamonix, and again had a great time with fantastic snow and great days with Oliver ass our guide. Fantastic cake and dinner on our return each day, the hot tub after a long day was just great. It was a great week with great company and if you never done any snowshoeing then it’s an excellent place to start and allows access to places that you could not get to in winter without the snowshoeing
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
the views on the clear days and the deep snow
What did you think of your group leader?
oliver if the perfect leader and made the trip full marks to him
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
if you never done any snowshoeing then it’s an excellent place to start and allows access to places that you could not get to in winter you just need to book it and enjoy
Is there anything else you would like to add?
great place to go to winter and summer i have been 3 times winter and summer and would not go back if it was not a excellent place thanks again
Jane O'Brien

CHAMONIX SNOWSHOE

Written January 2012
A week of superb snow, brilliant sunshine, very good quality equipment, daily walks that were all completely different but fabulous in their own right, very friendly hotel in the centre of Argentiere with an excellent range of choice for breakfast & 3 course dinner in the lovely attached restaurant. What more could you want!
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
The walks and views were spectacular all week but, the stand out, walking up through the clouds on our final day into superb sunshine looking across at Mont Blanc 'avec le chapeau' and looking over the top of the fluffy white clouds in the valley below, exhilarating!!
What did you think of your group leader?
Excellent. Organised, calm, confident, aware of all the groups needs, helpful, knowledgeable and keen for us to have fantastic walks & views.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
Get fit! To get the best views you have to go up, and it can be hard work but well worth the effort with a great feeling of satisfaction at the end of the day. You'll probably get hot so layers are the key to temperature control, trip notes re clothing are spot on.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Enjoy!
Louise Bottomley

CHAMONIX SNOWSHOE

Written March 2011
We'd been to the Chalet Savoy on a previous summer trip (9 years ago), so it was great to be back in winter (despite the lack of snow lower down). Great accomodation, lovely hosts, fabulous food, just a bit disappointing that it wasn't that snowy - but not much you can do about the weather! (although we still managed to walk in snow-shoes nearly the whole time we were out)
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
The walk up from Le Buet - a lovely sunny day, and great views from the top. Fantastic lunchbreak taking in the view and eating a great packed lunch.
Best part of the walking in general was coming down the steeper slopes that had plenty of snow on the them - zero points for style and technique, but a lot of fun!
What did you think of your group leader?
Oliver is great - full of knowledge about the area. He always knew the best places to go for the best conditions - there were only a couple of short periods when we needed to walk without snow shoes.
He is very safety conscious and good at keeping the group together, and making sure everyone knew all the dos and don't to make the trip run very smoothly.
Loads of info on what could be done on the day off.
And we loved his jokes!
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
Snow shoeing is quite hard work - I noticed the extra weight on my feet, but maybe that's because I was doing it wrong!
The group did have to stick together and walk "in convoy" rather than the "every man for himself on the mountain" approach that we've had on other Exodus holidays - I'm sure this is because it's winter and it's nowhere near as obvious where the path is / there's lots of different routes you can take in the snow rather than in summer / easier to hurt yourself, but if you don't like sticking together and walking at the pace that the leader sets then this might not be the trip for you.
We did get all sorts of weather - scorching sunshine, cold winds, snow, and rain as well - so for once just about everything in the rucksack got used at some point.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Chalet Savoy is a lovely place to stay - Elaine's cooking is fantastic - somehow 8 of us managed to finish off a massive cake each afternoon (after a hefty lunch which included more home-baking), and still have room for a big 3 course dinner each evening. Our room was really comfy with a fantastic view, and we miss Nog the cat! So it's a lovely place to go on holiday even if you do get iffy weather!
sue atkinson

CHAMONIX SNOWSHOE

Written February 2011
This trip was just what i needed for a winter getaway - birght blue skies, wall-to-wall sunshine, cosy warm chalet, excellent home cooking and baking, great walks, scenery, brilliant guide and a fantastic group - not to mention the extras including a hot tub , cake every day, log fire.....
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Every day had brilliant views and excellent photo opportunities. Even though there had been no snow for a month Oliver always seemed to know where to take us to benefit from some great walks and he always managed to find us the sunshine - much appreciated!
What did you think of your group leader?
Oliver was calm, professional, knowledgable, laid back and kind. You did feel very well looked after as he had so much experience of the area. His bad jokes are really that bad - but funnily enough by the end of the week they were kind of a bit infectious and we found us a group starting to come out with some just as bad.....
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
Just book it and enjoy......
Couple of practical things:
Take some flip-flops or light outdoor shoes to run from the chalet to the hot tub!
A flask is a good idea for the outdoor picnics
If oliver can organise at such short notice, you might be able to do some dog-sledding on your free day. Four of our group went and it was absolutely briliant - the dogs were adorable!
Is there anything else you would like to add?
A top class holiday, the only slight criticism is that occasionally we had to walk on ice rather than soft snow just because of the total lack of recent snowfall in the area. Nothing anybody could do, apparently the mild weather they had been experiencing was very unusual.
A big thankyou to the lovely elaine - can definately see why oliver married her, ha ha. Her cakes are amazing and were the perfect end to a days walking!
Gerard Neilan

CHAMONIX SNOWSHOE

Written January 2011
A lovely trip which was exactly what we were looking for, some great treks up to 2000M with some absolutely stunning views. This was the grade C week and was challenging at times as specified in the booking, which was exactly what we wanted. The whole week was full of picture postcard winter views.
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Getting to the top of our first big mountain /hill on the second day in Switzerland and looking at the stunning views of the valleys way below us and the peaks above us. Made the long trek up all worthwhile.
Also sitting in the hot tub outside at night and looking up at the alps under moonlight was an amazing sight.
What did you think of your group leader?
Oliver knew his stuff very well and you could tell his alpine knowledge and experience was vast. He changed things on certain days to suit the prevailing weather conditions to ensure the group remained safe at all times but also took the most appropriate stunning routes. On one day he decided the difficult trek we would have done would be dangerous due to ice on the slopes on the mountain behind the Chalet so he took us on another trek into a beautiful valley in the shadow of Mt Blanc which was part of the grade B tour. This inspired confidence in that the group knew their safety would not be compromised as the Alps are clearly an environment where you should not take silly risks as you would put yourself at serious risk.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
Make sure for the grade C week you have either a decent level of fitness or being a competent summer hill walker as the grade C week certainly was not a walk in the park physically. We did 5 full days snow shoeing over six days which was an enjoyable challenge. I would imagine the grade B week would also involve a need for some fitness too.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
The Chalet is certainly a warm, cosy homely place which was a welcome retreat after the end of each long day. There was a big well received cake baked by Elaine for us at the end of each day. Elaines cooking was excellent and both she and Oliver were very friendly. Be prepared to endure Olivers long list of christmas cracker jokes however.

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Our Clients’ Reviews

CHAMONIX SNOWSHOE

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