This is an example itinerary for a typical ski mountaineering course; however, the exact program may vary depending on weather and snow conditions. Your mountain guide will adapt the plan to ensure you get the most out of your ski touring experience in Chamonix, always prioritizing safety and enjoyment.
Welcome Meeting – Chamex Office
You will meet your guide and the rest of the group at the Chamonix Experience office the evening before the course to discuss the plan for the week ahead. This is an opportunity to check your equipment and ask any questions you may have.
Day 1: Warm-Up Ski Tour & Avalanche Awareness
The course begins with a warm-up ski tour, allowing your guide to assess everyone’s off-piste and ski touring abilities. You will refine your touring technique and receive practical advice to improve your efficiency and movement in the mountains.
You will also take part in your first avalanche rescue exercise, giving you an initial introduction — or, for some participants, a refresher — to searching for avalanche victims using your transceiver, shovel and probe.
Day 2: Steep Skiing & Ropework Practice
This day focuses on developing your skiing techniques on steep terrain, both in couloirs and on more open slopes. The Brévent or Les Grands Montets areas provide ideal training terrain, with short approaches and suitable slopes where you can practise essential safety techniques, kick turns on steep terrain, side slipping and jump turns.
Throughout the day, you will refine the key techniques required to move safely and confidently through steep and challenging terrain. Training will include setting up anchors, abseiling, using crampons, ice axes and ropes to protect your partners, and applying practical safety systems to build your confidence and skills for steep skiing.
Day 3: Technical Ski Tour
On this day, you will put your newly acquired skills into practice on a more technical ski tour, potentially including glaciated terrain, for example from the Aiguille du Midi, if conditions allow.
The programme may include navigation, terrain assessment, glacier rope travel and ascending mixed alpine terrain using crampons, with your skis carried on your backpack.
Your guide will select the most appropriate route based on the group’s ability, weather forecast and snow conditions, ensuring both your progress and your safety.
DAY 4: DEVELOPING YOUR AUTONOMY ON A TWO-DAY SKI MOUNTAINEERING ADVENTURE
At this stage, you should feel comfortable skiing across a variety of alpine terrain. It is now time to embark on a genuine two-day ski mountaineering adventure.
Your guide will decide on the most appropriate hut depending on the time of year. Some high-altitude huts do not open until March, while others are accessible very early in the season.
This day will focus on developing your independence. Your guide will expect you to take the lead in managing the group, route finding, managing the pace, identifying potential hazards, managing the timetable, and so on.
Once you arrive at the hut, after a short break, the day is not yet over: another, more specific avalanche rescue exercise will be carried out. Once inside and warm, you will then work together to plan the following day’s route.
Early-season hut options:
- Refuge des Prés – Col de la Fenêtre / Col de la Cicle / Col des Fours / Rochers des Enclaves
- Refuge de Loriaz – Col de la Terrasse (descent via Emosson or Tré les Eaux)
- Hospice du Grand-Saint-Bernard – Mont Fourchon / Pointe de Drône
- Refuge Magia – Mont Mourion / Becca de Fontaney
Spring hut options:
- Refuge d’Argentière – Three Cols itinerary
- Refuge des Conscrits – Dômes de Miage, 3,669 m
- Refuge Chabod – Gran Paradiso, 4,061 m
DAY 5: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER – YOUR FINAL SKI MOUNTAINEERING OBJECTIVE
After an early start, the day will involve taking turns to lead within the group. When things become complicated, your guide will be there to redirect you if necessary.
Ideally, the day will include steep sections on both the ascent and descent, transitions between skis and crampons, and the use of ropes.
The focus will be on the shared mountain experience rather than reaching a specific summit. The main objective of this final day is to understand and adapt to the alpine environment, work as a team while maximising safety, and ultimately feel comfortable and at home in the mountain environment.
