Alpine Exploratory
Alpine Exploratory is a system of knowledge on the best mountain trekking in our areas, giving clients superb holidays based on this exploration.
Our ongoing mission is to explore and interpret the Alps and the mountainous areas of the UK. We are systematic about our exploration and the result is a thoroughly human service that interprets trekking trails for our experienced clients. We call this the Exploratory system.
We take pride in the friendly relations we've built up with our partners including hoteliers, hut wardens and others who help us run our trips.
Nor do we have set schedules, so we are always pleased to book trips in your chosen style. This could mean shorter or longer, more or less luxurious, or with extra stages or rest days.
Alpine Exploratory's history
Alpine Exploratory was established in London in July 2005 by Simon Stevens and Ailsa Gibson, who are the company's Directors to the present day. We are writing a little about each year:
kick-off in July, combining recces with the first guided trek. Keith starts 2017 in Scotland with a full Winter season, working on the SAIS avalanche reports at Nevis Range, as well as Bavaria. Please join Keith for superb company on trek and for inspiration about the mountains and their flora and fauna.
We record how the trip fits into our network: the treks, the trains and the cities. Our mission is ongoing to map the Alpine approaches down to the less obvious ones. Our Zugspitze Tour fits into the Adlerweg network, making use of trains from Munich and the general lifestyle of the German and Austrian Alps.
In the office we refer to our common schedules, for example on the Tour du Mont Blanc our normal 11 stages plus longer and shorter options. These give us the statistics with which to help enquirers decide on their approach.
In the weeks before a season start, we update our routecards based on our recces. We are looking for changes to the trail such as landslips over Winter, changes in the routing of the path (newly-made stretches or adoption of different local paths), changes in local bus routes, and the incidence of snow. This last factor, snow, is crucial on our Alpine routes where late Spring snow falls can make cols risky to cross. An example is the Tour du Mont Blanc, where each year we make our explorations in mid-late June. Where changes are substantial, or the route has some considerations to impart, we post or email a Season Update sheet to clients before their trip.
We print as we go: instead of running a job lot, or buying guidebooks, we print our notes and routecards just before posting each info pack. This means that our ongoing updates make it into each pack as the season progresses. A lot of our time during Spring and Summer is spent making sure the important changes are communicated to the right groups at the right time. In a Summer such as 2016 with frequent path changes in the Alps, this is substantial work!
Our clients benefit from a network of intelligence in the trade. We are plugged into the talk of the British Association of International Mountain Leaders, leaders swapping notes to benefit colleagues and clients. Our hotels keep us in the loop locally.
