Alpine Exploratory's People

Organising our trips

	Simon Stevens

Alpine Exploratory was set up by Simon and Ailsa to research great walking routes and to plan enjoyable holidays on these routes.

Simon Stevens
Simon has many years' experience of walking and trekking in the mountains. A first climb up Coniston Old Man in the Lake District kicked off an enthusiasm that has led to countless trips in the UK and the Alps.

Simon worked in London as an economist before making the move to the mountains.

	Ailsa Gibson

He is a member of the British Association of International Mountain Leaders (BAIML).

Ailsa Gibson
Ailsa is an environmentalist and an experienced walker and skier, with trips to Iceland, France, Germany, Switzerland and Slovenia as well as plenty in the Lake District and the Highlands.

Ailsa's environmental experience covers the fields of planning, conservation, local environmental quality and climate change.

	Chrissie Hickling

Ailsa spent a summer on the Isle of Skye while researching deer and forestry management for the John Muir Trust.

Chrissie Hickling
Chrissie is a seasoned traveller who has lived in Australia and spent much time in South Africa.

Chrissie deals with many of our accommodation bookings in the Alps and the UK, plus the other tasks involved in running our trips. She is a familiar voice (in French too) to our hotels and B&Bs.

Leading our guided trips

All of Alpine Exploratory's guided trips are led by a fully qualified International Mountain Leader (IML). As well as holding this award, our leaders are personable and friendly. The intention is that you'll greatly enjoy spending time with them in the mountains.

	Pete Ellis

Pete Ellis
One of our leaders is Pete. After 15 years in agricultural biotechnology, Pete took to the hills in earnest in 1999 and soon qualified to be a member of the British Association of International Mountain Leaders (BAIML).

Most summers Pete can be found working in the French Alps and he has become an expert in the region around Les Contamines, a village on the Tour du Mont Blanc. Outside the summer, Scotland is a favourite destination - Pete has climbed all 283 Munros, the highest Scottish peaks - or Tenerife for a dose of winter sunshine.

We're delighted that in 2011 Pete will be leading more private guided treks and our first West Highland Way as a guided trek. Pete is also taking care of our Pennine Way research for 2011. Please join Pete on his superb treks.

	Stewart MacKenzie

Stewart MacKenzie
Stewart has spent a lifetime walking, climbing, skiing and running in the mountains of Europe, and is a leader for our guided trips. Mountain activities are now a full-time occupation after a 30-year career in banking which included time living in Spain and Germany.

Stewart has completed a ski-mountaineering traverse of the Alps from Austria to the Mediterranean. He is a member of the British Association of International Mountain Leaders (BAIML), a teacher of mountain navigation, and was a member of the Langdale/Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team in the Lake District.

In recent years our clients have benefited hugely from Stewart's all-round experience in the mountains on our Swiss Valais (Guided) and Tour du Mont Blanc (Guided) trips. Please join Stewart in 2011 for some superbly led treks.

	Allan Gibbs

Allan Gibbs
Allan is a trek leader, having led trips to Alaska, Bolivia, India, Peru, Morocco, Nepal and of course the Alps. Allan was head teacher of a school and deputy head of an outdoor centre before turning his efforts full-time to expeditions and training.

Like all our leaders, Allan is an International Mountain Leader (in BAIML). Allan is also an Accredited Practitioner of the Institute for Outdoor Learning (APIOL). He teaches outdoor First Aid and is a member of the Longtown Mountain Rescue Team, both in South Wales.

During 2010 Allan charmed clients on our Chamonix Mountain Walking (Guided) and Walker's Haute Route (Guided) programmes. Enjoy more of Allan's company on our 2011 Tour du Mont Blanc (Guided) trips and others.

	Joy O'Flanagan

Joy O'Flanagan
Joy is an International Mountain Leader (member of BAIML) based in the French Alps. Originally a Chartered Physiotherapist in the UK, the pull of the mountains was too strong and in 2002 Joy relocated to Chamonix.

As well as hiking and snowshoeing, Joy is a keen climber, runner and skier. Joy has trekked and climbed across the Alps and also in North America, Pakistan and the Indian Himalaya. More recently, Joy successfully competed in The North Face Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc, the Chamonix marathon, and mountain marathons in the UK & France.

Our 2011 season will be Joy's first with Alpine Exploratory; please join her on our Tour du Mont Blanc (Guided) programme. Joy's trips will be a pleasure as she shares her love of the mountains and natural environment.

	Keith Miller

Keith Miller
Keith is a hugely experienced mountaineer and environmentalist, and a member of (BAIML). In winter, Keith lives in the Highlands and compiles avalanche reports for the sportscotland Avalanche Information Service (SAIS), as well as teaching winter hill walking skills.

In summer, Keith lives in the Lake District and combines environmental surveys with trek leading and navigation instruction. Keith is a contributor to the key book on the Scottish mountain environment, Hostile Habitats, carries out plant surveys for the Lake District National Park Authority, Natural England and other bodies, teaches about the environment on Summer Training courses for the IML award, and was Senior Conservationist at the John Muir Trust. Keith has ascended all of the Munros in Scotland and was a member of the Langdale/Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team in the Lakes. He is always alert in the hills!

Keith joins Alpine Exploratory for our 2011 season, leading on our Tour du Mont Blanc (Guided) programme. Please join Keith for superb company on trek and for inspiration about the mountains and their flora and fauna.

Checking our routes

We research and check all our routes. Trails change over time. This can be due to official re-routing or to convention, or due to natural phenomena such as landslip. Local facilities along the routes change too, such as local shops, bus routes and cable cars. We're lucky to have highly proficient route checkers. Attention to detail is of course key. Equally crucial is the ability to describe a route both straightforwardly and unambiguously.

	Anna-Maria Luton

Anna-Maria Luton
Anna-Maria is one of our route checkers. She is a keen walker and cyclist and has discovered the delights of multi-day hill-walking and mountaineering.

In 2007 Anna-Maria took 3 months off to bag Munros, the highest peaks in Scotland, starting with Ben Lomond (the most southerly) and finishing with Ben Hope (the most northerly). Before long she found herself chasing 4,000m peaks in the Swiss Alps. Anna-Maria has a keen interest in the specific challenges that women face in outdoor pursuits and in sporting endeavours in general.

	Chris Beardsley

Chris Beardsley
Chris is another of our route checkers and has been walking and climbing in the mountains ever since he can remember. Growing up near the Peak District quickly led to regular trips to the Lakes and to the Highlands of Scotland.

Chris is an obsessive landscape photographer and his hard drive is full of mountainous scenes, from the Scottish Highlands in winter to the French Alps in summer. He’ll get up early to catch the sunrise or the morning light and stay up late to catch shooting stars.

During 2010 Anna-Maria and Chris carried out our updates on the Coast to Coast East and again contributed to our pre-season Tour du Mont Blanc research during June. As well as completing our 2011 Coast to Coast research with a trip on the Coast to Coast West in March, Anna-Maria and Chris will provide our clients with pre-season updates on the Walker's Haute Route in July 2011, as always with their enthusiasm for the hills and their huge attention to detail.

... and directing our dog-friendly holiday research...

	Buster

As part of our regular recces on each UK route, we check the path's suitability for dogs. You are welcome to bring your dog on any of our UK holidays. For parties with dogs we book our dog-friendly accommodation.

Buster
Buster the collie-cross loves to walk in new places. He helps us research the dog-friendly options. If Buster knew how he was helping other dogs to follow in his footsteps, we're sure he'd be very proud. As it is, he's happy just enjoying the walking.

The IML award

The IML An International Mountain Leader, or IML, is qualified to lead trekking parties in the Alps. The IML award

The IML is the professional qualification for leading trekking and mountain walking groups worldwide. When Alpine Exploratory began, we decided that all our guided holidays would have an IML as a leader.

The IML is one of two main internationally recognised mountaineering awards, the other being the UIAGM Guide. In the UK the IML holders are represented by the British Association of International Mountain Leaders (BAIML). Until early 2005 the IML was known as the European ML in the UK and the Accompagnateur in France.

The trend in the walking and trekking industry is towards leaders having qualifications, principally the IML award. However, the majority of walking holiday companies have traditionally used amateur leaders typically with no mountaineering qualifications. Alpine Exploratory's approach of using only IMLs ensures for our clients the highest standards in leadership, safety and environmental awareness.

Guided and Self-Guided Holidays - see them all