Snowshoeing Holidays in the Alps led by Hilary Sharp

The Alps in winter are magical and beautiful, the mountains and the forests transformed by the blanket of white. Why not come out and discover this beautiful world and give yourself a break from winter at home?
Any fine day between December and April will not only see masses of people taking to the ski slopes, but also many setting off on snow shoes. Snowshoeing has become incredibly popular in the last ten years, although its history goes back many centuries.

I offer snow shoeing weeks throughout the winter from January to April. Holidays based in the Chamonix region, the Aosta region and the Valais region of Switzerland. The holidays feature day walks from a hotel base and overnights in mountain accommodation. We aim to ascend walking summits and explore the best of the mountains in winter far from the crowds.

Given the quantities of snow one can regularly expect above, say, 1000m, it is very often completely out of the question to go on foot anywhere that isn’t packed down into a hard trail (you can expect at least 2 metres of snow at 2000m). This would seem to preclude walking in the Alps in winter, unless you equip yourself with the means to avoid sinking up to thigh level, or worse, in the snow. Snowshoeing can be described as winter walking. On snowshoes you can go to places otherwise inaccessible in the snow - walks in the forests, up to the alpages, and beyond to some of the alpine summits.

You can hear more about snowshoeing by listening to a podcast interview I did with Cameron McNeish (Editor of TGO magazine) recently. (Either click to open in a new window and it will play when it has downloaded or "right-click" on your mouse if you use a PC and then "Save Link As" to save to your own computer / iPod etc.)

Alternatively, or in addition, you can read an article published in Trail Magazine, February '08 (file size 4.5MB).

I have written the main English book to snowshoeing. This book is the result of my many years of snowshoeing in the Alps and usually when you snowshoe with me we will do some of the walks and summits in this book, as well as others that I have kept secret!

Snowshoes are basically a larger base that you attach to your shoes to make the surface area of your foot bigger, thus enabling you to walk in deep snow without sinking in as much as you would otherwise. People have used such devices to travel in snow since records began, both in Europe and North America and Canada. After five minutes you hardly notice you're wearing snowshoes they are so easy to walk in. There is no similarity with skiing - this is walking not sliding.
My book "Snowshoeing: Mont Blanc and the Western Alps" gives a good idea about it all.

The 2007 winter gallery is in two parts:- http://www.pixagogo.com/1977724458 and http://www.pixagogo.com/8081025992

Wildlife abounds in winter, but is different from the summer. We will see lots of animal tracks and probably some chamois, maybe even ibex. However when we do see animals we will keep our distance because in the winter the animals are on minimum rations and their energy is at a premium. Binoculars are of great use. The tracks themselves tell a story and it is fascinating to see how many creatures have been active in the snow overnight. Above our heads we can hope to see eagles and even Lammergier (Bearded Vultures) if we're really lucky.

A snowshoe holiday allows you to walk in the winter, which is a great boost to fitness at a time when any hiking you do will probably be in the grey gloom of winter. Even just a long weekend will give you a welcome dose of sunshine and marvellous views - many people say that being away for 4 days feels like they've been away much longer, because it is so wonderful to enjoy the sun and the cold crisp air of the Alps.

Unlike skiing, we do not usually use lifts, so there are no queues, no crowded pistes, no lift passes, ...usually we will have our summits and slopes to ourselves, far away from, the madness of the resorts.

Private hire:
I can be hired by individuals or groups for a private week of snowshoeing or for a day at a time. Weekends (long or not) are now possible with cheap flights to Geneva. A private booking means you can come when you want and do what you want.
I can arrange private guiding for the length of time that you want: from one day to a week. This can be guided walks or you can also include a certain amount of instruction, from winter navigation to avalanche awareness.
You can either just pay my daily guiding rate then pay the accommodation as you go along, or I can provide an all-in price just like my regular holidays.