Alpine
Apprenticeship month 2025
Autonomy | Mont Blanc | Tech Classics | Matterhorn or Eiger    |
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| Course
overview |
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For
those who want to spend a month (4 weeks)
climbing in the Alps, doing back to back courses,
with the weekends to relax, this course offers
a genuine Alpine Apprenticeship to really
get your climbing career off
to a flying start, and to develop your skills
in an intense and action packed period. |
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The
course is four of our most popular weeks,
all bolted together, at a reduced price. The
structure of the course is as follows; Week
1 - Alpine
Autonomy Techniques course,
Week 2 - Mont
Blanc 4810m summit course,
Week 3 - Tech
Ice & Classics course,
Week 4 - Matterhorn
4478m or the Eiger
3970m |
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The
course is designed to allow your skills to
progress over the four weeks, and to provide
you the choice on the last week of tackling
the Matterhorn or the Eiger. Before then you
should have climbed an Alpine peak on week
1, Mont Blanc 4810m on week 2, and a whole
host of 4000m peaks in Monte Rosa on week
3. |
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To
book on this Alpine Apprenticeship course
you should have the pre-requisite experience
and fitness to book onto one of our Alpine
Autonomy Techniques courses independently. We can sometimes offer you the option of swopping the order slightly, such as starting with Mont Blanc, followed by the Alpine Autonomy week. |
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We
genuinely think that after four weeks of training,
you will have a high chance of climbing to
the summit of the Matterhorn or Eiger, and
that the course will have developed your skills
to safely attempt one of these. |
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To
be honest, this course does not appeal to
many people in terms of numbers each season,
but this makes it all the more special, in
that you can completely immerse yourself in
climbing, and learning as much as you can
over the month. |
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Brief Course Itinerary
The
itinerary below summaries the itinerary for each week,
each of which have climbing days on Monday to Friday,
with rest days on the weekends in between, and the course
arrival day being a Sunday and the departure day being
the Saturday four weeks later. For full details and extended
itineraries, click on the links below.
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Week
1
- Alpine
Autonomy Techniques course
If
you have previous climbing or crampon experience,
and want a fast track course that is designed to
make you more autonomous in the Alps, this is the
course for you. You cover all the technical syllabus
of the Introduction course in greater detail, with
greater focus on route finding and equipment selection.
The course culminates in the ascent of a quiet and
remote summit, such as the traverse of the Domes
du Miages. |
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Week
2
- Mont
Blanc 4810m summit course
Mont
Blanc 4810m is the highest summit in Western Europe.
To get to the 'roof of Europe', we ascend by either
the classic Gouter route, or sometimes via the Italian Gonella route in early season. The week starts with an ascent of Gran Paradiso 4061m, in order to boost acclimatisation, to then leave the next three days quite flexible where possible, to attempt Mont Blanc
in the optimum weather window. |
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Week
3
- Tech
Ice & Classics course
This
course ascends famous routes around the AD+/ D grade.
Examples include the Dent du Geant, Midi-Plan traverse,
Chere Couloir, Gervasutti Couloir (Tour Ronde),
or the South Ridge of Aiguille du Moine. There are over 4000
routes in the massif, so you are guaranteed not
to repeat anything. The
itinerary for this course is flexible to allow for
changing conditions, your experience and how acclimatised
you are. |
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Week
4
- Matterhorn
4478m course
or the
Eiger
3970m course
The first three training days are at 1:2 Guiding
ratio, but to maximise your safety and summiting
success, and so you can move at your speed, you
climb the Matterhorn or Eiger at a 1:1 ratio. On
the training days you
will climb classics routes to prepare you before
the Matterhorn or Eiger, to fully prepare you in
terms of ropework and acclimatisation. Ascents are
usually made by the Hornli or Mittileggi. |
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| ITINERARY
NOTES: Where possible we follow itineraries. Mountain
adventures are weather and conditions dependant,
so occasionally we are forced to alter the plans.
If this is the case, suitable alternatives are offered.
Please use this itinerary as a guide to the types
of route / activity you attempt. |
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Course
Prices
Autonomy course (£1395), Mont Blanc
Summits course (£2195), Tech Classics (£1595), Matterhorn or Eiger (£2895), totals £8080, so you
save £85! Note that this course includes the three Saturdays night in Chamonix between each of the four weeks for FREE, worth £75 a night or £225 in total).
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| Standard
course |
20 days guiding, 28 days holiday in total
IFMGA mountain guides for 20 days |
£7995 |
| Live
availability |
Click
on the planner logo to the right to
see the real time live course availability
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| How to book |
Secure
payments, bonded tour operator
Details of how to book, click
here |
Book
online |
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Inclusions
and exclusions: Please refer to the individual
course itineraries for the full details and the specific
inclusions for each week, and the exclusions too. The
links are; - Week
1, Week
2, Week
3, Week
4. Below is a summary of the Inclusions and Exclusions.
Standard Course Inclusions: 1) IFMGA Mountain Guide for 20 days (ratios as listed on courses above), 2) Chamonix course hosts for logistics & briefings, 3) Self-catered accommodation in Chamonix (inc. beddings & towels), 4) Pre course information booklet, 5) Equipment discount voucher for UK shops, 6) Free 36 page technical Course Instruction Booklet, 7) Road transport in Chamonix valley and to / from Tasch / Cervinia and to / from Paradiso region, 8) Car parking fees in Tasch / Cervinia, 9) One night half board in mountain hut on Matterhorn, Mont Blanc and Gran Paradiso (inc. costs for guides) in the Carrel / equivalent budget applied to Hornli booking, 10) Evening technical instruction / briefing sessions in Chamonix
Exclusions: 1) Travel to and from Chamonix, 2) Equipment hire, 3) Personal laundry, telephone calls, lunches, evening meals in valley, & any purchases in mountain huts / hotels / restaurants, 4) Cable cars and uplift (train, taxi, 4x4, etc) for you and your guide (cable cars for guide included in Chamonix) in Chamonix and Zermatt / Cervinia, 5) Optional second night in a mountain hut on the training days or during Autonomy or Classics courses, on a half board basis for you and your guide, 6) If you / guide opt to climb via the Hornli, there is a c.£190 suppliment paid at the hut (click for Hornli costs), 7) Sunday pre-dinner drinks & Friday celebratory meal & drinks, 8) Activities insurance, & excess baggage charges.
Notes: A rough budget of 100-120 euros per week should be included for cable cars / uplift for these courses. If you use huts on the Classics or Autonomy weeks you will need fewer cable cars, but will pay for the hut. We usually advise a budget of c. £100 per week for evening meals / lunches / drinks in Chamonix, but this will be cheaper if you cook in when staying in the flats.
Equipment: A course specific kit list is sent on booking, but the main items needed are; B2 boots, crampons, ice axe, helmet, ice axe and basic safety kit. You can hire all from Icicle for £100 per week, but any items you have will make this cheaper. If you need B3 boots or technical axes as upgrade these can be lent by the Chamonix hosts for this course if required, subject to availability. |
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Course
upgrade options
Many clients on this
trip consider upgrading with one or more of
the following course additions... |
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Private
room |
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Big
5 Alpine
extensions |
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Technical
kit rental |
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Acclimatise
weekend |
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Upgrade
to single from
£300-£500 in addition to
standard course price,
depending on week. |
Extend by 2 days after
to ascend one of the
Big 5 Alpine peaks as
an extra summit. |
Rent all technical kit
for a week. Full Alpine
Bundle costs you just
£100 for the week. |
Saturday
night spent in
Chamonix, with choice
of self-guided or guided
on Sunday. From £70. |
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Click
for details |
Click
for details |
Click
for details |
Click
for details |
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Standard
course accommodation - normally clients are based
in self-catered flats (details),
so take a look, and decide if it's for you. For
more luxury, contact us for quotes in higher standard
apartments, or hotels of any standard required.
If you have / source your own course accommodation,
or we cannot provide an upgrade, the standard course
price has a £100pp per week reduction applied on your
invoice. |
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Current
course availability
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| Testimonials |
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| Press
& media |
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| Films
& videos |
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| Photo
gallery |
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| Location
data for this trip |
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| The
trips are based in the Chamonix valley in the French Alps,
at the foot of Mont Blanc. It is easily accessed via a
90 minute transfer from Geneva airport. |
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Time
Difference
GMT +1hr |
Local
Currency
€ Euros |
Travel
from UK
1hr flight |
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| Suggested
reading and kit |
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View
full course equipment list,
with examples of kit, click
here |
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| Why
choose our trips? |
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See
our Alpine blog, by clicking on the Word-press logo
to the right. |
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Itinerary
flexibility to allow you to take full advantage
of the weather windows on any day, to maximise your
summit chances. |
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Our
prices are fixed in £ Sterling, to protect
you from euro fluctuations, so you can budget accurately. |
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There
is a choice of routes to opt for, depending on the
weather, conditions, and your experience. |
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| Any
further questions? |
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A
key part of choosing a company is being able to come and
talk about your plans with an experienced course advisor
face to face. In an increasingly virtual world, we know
our clients value speaking to real people, getting open
and honest advice. The vast majority of our clients are
British, and our office and outdoor store is based in
Windermere in the English Lake District.
 
Get
in contact to arrange a meeting, and come in for a coffee
to discuss your course in person with a trip
advisor. |
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