Southern Alps Snowshoe Trek: Italy & France Winter Holiday

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 6 reviews.

Clifford Smith

SOUTHERN ALPS SNOWSHOE TREK

Written January 2011
A fantastic new trip - good challenge and great itinerary. Nice to have a week where you don't have to be taken by vehicles everywhere. Helped by ideal weather - blue skies and snowy mountains. My 11th snowshoe trip and by far the best one.
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Day 5 - didn't sound exaxctly inspiring - walk up the valley beside the river then up a ridge (and I assumed back down again having got as far as we wanted). Got to a cross and had lunch, and then set off up the ridge. It turned out to be amazing - interestlingly narrow and with some stunning views. We were able to do a circuit and come down a different way with some excellent powder snow.
What did you think of your group leader?
Vincent was an excellent leader. He mixed well with us, and was always bringing out goodies from his rucsac to supplement the excellent packed lunches. He obviously has a good rapport with the Gite owners. As a local he had a good knowledge of the area and wildlife.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
Don't expect to lose too much weight, as the food is excellent and plentiful (especially St. Veran).
Day 7 crossing the Col du Longet was very cold, so make sure you have good gloves in particular.
Gayle Palmer

SOUTHERN ALPS SNOWSHOE TREK

Written January 2012
Excellent programme of snowshoeing in very quiet, unspolit valleys and mountains with spectacular scenery. Typical French alpine village scenes and natural surroundings were complimented by staying in traditional gites, each with their own various charms eg wood-fired sauna, excellent food, quiet lounges, complimentary larch-flower liquer etc!The treks were exceptionally well planned by Vincent for variety - terrain, scenery, distance etc and the day off was welcomed to rest some muscles and use others in Saint Veran - eg skiing, dog-sledding, reading a book in the sunshine etc. Good transport to and from the trek to Turin airport made life easy and not having to worry about luggage transfers between gites was a God-send - just take your daypack and packed lunch and "snowshoe - Allez!"
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Getting to the top of some of the summits especially on Day 2 - La Gardiole de l'Alp with a total ascent of 1080m seemed beyond some of us (me) but Vincent stoically led me and the view was just sooo worthwhile. The bit that out me off the most - worrying about coming down again! - But, the snowshoes are amazing! I never totally let myself just run downhill but at least the technique improved with practice and I got faster!
The run down through the Bois de Moulin from the top of the Crete du Curlet (opposite Sainty Veran village)- exhilarating and fun, helped by the fabulous weather!
What did you think of your group leader?
Vincent Lamy who was our experienced and highly trained mountain guide was fantastic throughout the trip.
He was thoughtful, caring, considerate and had a never-ending supply of mid-walk munchies, snacks and hot tea / coffee that came out of his rucksack, along with toolkit to repair things with and gadgets to examine snowflakes close up etc etc etc!! Despite being French (!!! - NOT a bad thing) he has an excellent command of English and understands out jokes too - and could give some back as well!
He naturally knew how hard to push the group or not and it was a pleasure to walk with him and have him share his extensive knowledge of the locality, the mountains and his love of outdoor pursuits, especially the snowshoeing.
THANK YOU Vinc!!
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
It can be really cold - -10C so good gloves, neck scarves / tubes and hats are important but you will find that when walking uphill with snowshoes you will get very hot very quickly - so a windproof but not too warm top layer is important and then layers - ski vests, fleece etc so you can regulate your tempreature more easily.
Camelbak water bottles for inside your rucksack (and some insulation!)
Head torch. Some good books - for the evenings before bed! - we all wanted to stop pretty early.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
I would Highly recommend this well planned and fun but challenging week with Vincent. But, you do need to be fairly fit, even though Vincent doesn't speed along unnecessarily the mountains are steep and the days involve 6-7 hours of walking much of the time (albeit with stops for yummy snacks and water breaks!)
Andrew Beaumont

SOUTHERN ALPS SNOWSHOE TREK

Written March 2011
Once again an excellent holiday, well led with a good and varied itinerary and wall-to-wall sunshine. Even the downhill skiing on the rest-day was good and at a reasonable price.
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Not one particular moment, but lots of variety in the type of snowshoeing, including deep-powder, which some of us `ate` on numerous occasions.
What did you think of your group leader?
Vincent was superb: started well with a good information pack for everyone including some local lavender. He was well organised, unassuming, helpful and mixed well with all the group. Nice finish to the trek with `champagne` and cake.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
Simply enjoy.
John Rogers

SOUTHERN ALPS SNOWSHOE TREK

Written March 2011
We thoroughly enjoyed this holiday aided by wall to wall sunshine and good snow conditions. We liked reaching our destinations by foot and spending long days out in the fresh air.
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
There were three moments. The first was walking up a narrow gully, enjoying the silence and looking at the strange formations where the snow and rocks blended in the river bed. The second was walking along an exqusite ridge where there were fantastic views of the mountain ranges as well as views down to the village we were going to stay in that night. The third was watching Chamois running across the mountain slope ahead of us as we approached a col.
What did you think of your group leader?
Vincent. the group leader, was very knowledgeable and friendly. He had put a lot of preparation into the trip and supported each of us to achieve what we wanted from each days walk.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
Accommodation is in dormitory style rooms and so there is little personal space or personal down time. For a week this was not a problem although we would have been better off not packing so much clutter in our cases! It is worth taking some long walks in preparation for the trip and to get familiar with your walking boots to aide comfort.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
We will certainly be looking for future holidays that fit the format of this one.
Elisabeth Pritchard

SOUTHERN ALPS SNOWSHOE TREK

Written January 2011
An excellent trip with a brilliant guide - Vincent. Well planned, challenging route and great food and welcome in the gites.
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
The summit climb, the ridge walk above St Veran and seeing wolf tracks in the snow.
What did you think of your group leader?
Vincent was probably the best guide I have ever had. Absolutely brilliant. Knowledgeable, friendly, interesting, thoughtful. Couldn't fault him.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
It is rightly called challenging. You do need to be fit to enjoy it.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
This is one of very few 'C' grade snow shoeing trips on offer. Let's have more of a similar type and grade (preferably led by Vincent Lamy). Moving from gite to gite every 2nd day was ideal.
Carol Birch

SOUTHERN ALPS SNOWSHOE TREK

Written January 2011
This was the best snowshoeing trip I have ever been on and it absolutely lived up to, and exceeded, the brochure and trip notes write-up. Stunning scenery, challenging but safe routes, magnificent views, wonderful food, a great leader and a group who could keep together both up and down the mountains as well as gelling socially.
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
The two best days were on Gardiole de L 'Alp and Col du Curlet. We climbed in line 1083 metres up to Gardiole de L 'Alp before lunch to see a stunning 360 degree vista of mountain tops and then spread out on the way down to run through the snow leaving a myriad of trails behind us.
From a distance the Col du Curlet doesn't look very high or special but once up there the snow covered col is most impressive, is higher than it appears so you get impressive views into the mountains around, and is also great fun to come down.
What did you think of your group leader?
The leader, Vincent Lamy, is a gem. He knows the area well, has very good English and a good sense of humour, is very well organised, considerate and safety conscious. He also went out of his way to make the trip enjoyable and memorable. For instance, he had a large bag with him, which grew emptier as the week progressed, from which he drew out at appropriate moments home-made lavender bags, dried fruit and nuts, kit-kat and mars bars, and even at the end a printed group photo for everyone. A group 'goodie' bag! He also organised an end of trip celebration, as everyone had complete everything and in record time.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
If you enjoy snowshoeing and are fit enough to climb 700 to 1000 metres every day this would great trip for you. You walk from the accommodation every day so no time wasted on transport, the routes are varied but always include high points with great views. We had excellent weather and the area apparently has 300 sunny days a year and very reliable snow.
Don't go if you do not have a good level of fitness and/or don't like long climbs.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
More trips like this one, please.