About us
Founded in 2001 by Russell Brice, the Chamonix Experience team has expanded to include Martina, Elizabeth and Anne in the office and 20-25 fully qualified IFMGA mountain guides working for us on a regular basis. All mountain lovers, we have skied, climbed and hiked many of the routes around the area and spend our lunch hours and days off exploring more in the Mont Blanc range and the rest of the world!
You find our office at the Alpcenter in Argentiere. During the winter and summer seasons we are open seven days a week to assist you with any last minute bookings or changes. In between seasons we are more or less open Monday to Friday during normal office hours.
SARL Chamonix Experience
Chamonix Experience is a fully registered French business, a member of the Chamonix Tourist Office and a partner with the Compagnie du Mont Blanc.
141 rue Charlet Straton
74400 Chamonix Mont-Blanc
SIRET: 44059232700017
Etablissement habilité Tourisme par arrêté préfectoral H.A.074.04.0013
RC Professionelle: AXA no. 3736598704
Russell Brice
Russell has been located in the Chamonix Valley since 1991, ski guiding during the winter months, alpine guiding during the summer months and on expedition during the spring and autumn. With over 85 ascents of Mont Blanc, and more than 300 Vallée Blanche descents, Russell has extensive experience of the Mont Blanc region.
Russell has also been leading expeditions to the Himalayas since 1974. He has led clients to the summit of Everest and Cho Oyo, and also Himal Chuli (7,540m), Shishapangma (8,046m) and Ama Dablam (6,856m).
Individually, he has the world record for the fastest single solo ascent without oxygen of both Cho Oyo and of Ama Dablam. In 1988 he was the first climber to cross the infamous Pinnacles of the NE ridge of Everest. As head of sister company Himalayan Experience, he is now widely reputed as one of the most professional leaders of all guided expeditions to the Himalayas.
His superior organisational skills have been used by several film and television crews including the Discovery Channel, the BBC and National Geographic.
Russell is a member of New Zealand Mountain Guides Association, British Mountain Guides Association and Syndicat National des Guides de Montagne and Founder President of IGO-8000 (International Guiding Operators Association), as well as co-founding Director of Friends of Humanity, a non-profit organisation dedicated to helping disadvantaged peoples in various parts of the world.
Martina Palm
Martina is Swedish and has lived in the Alps since 1998. She decided to settle in Chamonix because of her passion for mountain sports. She mainly skis and ski tours during the winter season and climbs, mountaineers, runs and mountain bikes in the summer. Martina has climbed and/or skied Mont Blanc, Aiguille d’Argentiere, Chardonnet, Le Moine and many other peaks and routes in the Alps and has been to Everest North Col (7,033m) with Himalayan Experience 2004. In 2006 she became the first Swedish woman to ski an 8000m peak when she climbed and skied down from the summit of Cho Oyu (8,201m), also with Himalayan Experience. She has worked for Chamonix Experience since 2002. She can probably be found climbing up some peak with skis on her sack when not in the office.
Elizabeth Aschenbrener
Elizabeth is of American origin but has lived in the Chamonix valley for over 7 years. Although she was raised in the lowlands, she has always loved the outdoors and sport, and like many others, she was immediately smitten with Chamonix. She is a keen snowboarder, downhill mountain biker and runner and is working on improving her skiing and climbing. Elizabeth has been working for Chamonix Experience since 2006. You will probably find her flying down some gnarly mountain track that most people would struggle to walk down, on her mountain bike, when not in the office.
Anne Galdeano
Anne is the most recent addition to the Chamonix Experience team. Although she has called Chamonix home for the past 10 years she is originally from Tours in the north-western part of France. Anne has many years of experience working with mountain-related activities with the Compagnie des Guides de Chamonix. On her days off you will probably find her skiing down one of the Vallée Blanche routes. She loves climbing, mountaineering, skiing and travelling and knows the mountains around Chamonix very well.
Chamonix Experience Guides
All Chamonix Experience guides are UIAGM/IFMGA qualified. This is the only internationally recognized guide certification that is required in order to legally work as a High Mountain Guide in France.
We have a nice mixture of mostly British and French guides but also some Scandinavian, Canadian, American, Swiss, Austrian and New Zealand guides. Whatever the origin, they all have extensive experience of guiding in the Alps.
English is our main working language, and both office staff and guides speak it very well. Besides French and English, we also have guides that speak Spanish, German, Swedish, Danish and Italian.
