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Alpine Exploratory's History
From our founding year of 2005 we'll add one year at a time. We hope this page is of interest to our clients and enquirers. It's also a chance for us to show some different photos. Let's begin!
Crossing snow to the Hribarice plateau, Julian Alps, Slovenia (2023)
2023 at Alpine Exploratory
AV2, AV9
Team
We welcome Evie to our team for Summer and we stay otherwise the same, a fabulous team.
Recces
We spread out across all sorts of areas, more than ever in one Summer. We make more systematic our process of deciding who visits which area when.
Routes
After seeing the full AV2 the year before, now we look in detail at ways to avoid the hardest sections and we conclude that we'll offer an AV2 North week next year. We make the beginnings of an AV9 recce, in fact walking the full AV9 (Pete) and checking out the routes into the start (Simon) from Bolzano. We see the fantastic Alpe di Siuzi, that high grassy plateau.
Conditions
It's a decent Summer in terms of snow at the start, and in the UK nothing untoward, but we get 2 or 3 severe storms including Storm Hans in Norway which brings uncertainty for a few days to our Jotunheimen trekkers.
Photos from trips - see more photos from 2023
2022 at Alpine Exploratory
Lofoten, Switzerland
Team
We are joined by Dan and Rob, in the early months of 2022, taking our team up to 6 people. Our office feels nice and full...
Recces
We extend the Via Alpina at the start, into tiny Liechtenstein which gives us a day in advance of Sargans, Switzerland, for those keen clients.
Routes
Simon travels through Norway's Lofoten islands, scenically fabulous, laying the ground for our future trips in greater detail. Just before, a trip to Switzerland was a lovely return to old ground after two years away. We are joined by Mikaela who helps us with our Slovenian research.
Conditions
It was a good Summer for weather, and on the Walker's Haute Route we find a light early-July for snow. Rob and Dan visit, each on their own trip. On the TMB we advise the normal amount of caution, meaning some caution but not undue or exceptional caution!
Photos from trips - see more photos from 2022
2021 at Alpine Exploratory
Recovery, Karwendel
Team
Hannah W and Hannah G both leave us in 2021 and we thank them after their years with Alpine Exploratory.
Recces
We feel able to visit as we always used to, this year having a fair number of clients and with things feeling on the up. The Adlerweg in Austria sees four visits by Tim, Hannah G, Rob and Alex. In the Hebrides, Nicky visits the North of the isands in Lewis and Harris. In North Wales, Step tackles the Snowdonia Way.
Routes
It feels too soon to expand into new areas, but we are keeping things updated and we are expanding existing trips, for example on the Adlerweg where we seek a new route through the Karwendel mountains to the North of Innsbruck.
Conditions
We make our usual rounds and report to clients in the mode of our Season Updates. It is a fairly snowy start to July on the TMB, as Tim finds on his visit.
Photos from trips - see more photos from 2021
2020 at Alpine Exploratory
Covid, covid and more covid
Team
We plough headlong into 2020, a year full of prospect and with a great number, propitious we might say, only to find it bringing an unpleasantnesses that we had never imagined. Or team of 6 people shares the work, with still much to do despite (because of) cancellations all over. We welcome Nicky and Hannah G to the team.
Recces
The restrictions on international travel in 2020 made it impossible for us to run our recces as normal. We did our best, hearing from locals and looking at webcams, and using our general knowledge of the areas. We found a window of open travel in mid-Summer, sadly once almost all clients had had to cancel, but with the prospect of some new bookings for late Summer. In August, Nicky completed a recce of the Meiringen to Kandersteg sections of the Via Alpina. In September, Simon made it out to the Hebrides, spending time across the islands and seeing various areas from Stornoway.
Routes
Because of the situation and the travel possibilities, we keep our exploration to a minimum. We are planning for a brighter future, from the office!
Conditions
It's a reasonable start to Summer without to much snow on our routes.
Photos from trips - see more photos from 2020
2019 at Alpine Exploratory
Kungsleden, Lakes
Team
We welcome Hannah W to the team and it marks for us a big expansion in the office. We spread out among us the process of putting our newly-found info from pre-season recces, into the format of Season Updates.
Recces
We settle into our new routes in the Rondane and across Norway, and we expand other routes that already exist. In Sweden we visit the Kungsleden, 'the King's Trails' and we see it in Winter as well as Summer. Ollie, Pete and Simon all make separate visits.
Routes
We revise our Lake District Circuit, which for a few years has been a round of our 4-day North, East, South and West routes, done in 10 stages or so, to being a simple week in the Lakes. Pete and Lucy make separate trips to check this.
Conditions
On the TMB it was a cold Spring, but in June there was a heatwave, making conditions underfoot change daily and keeping us guessing right before the season. Hannah Wright reports for us from the TMB.
Photos from trips - see more photos from 2019
2018 at Alpine Exploratory
Rondane, Hebrides
Team
2018 sees a few changes in the team. Steph Ward joins in January and Rachel stays with us for a second Summer. It proves to be our busiest Summer so far, run by Chrissie, Lucy, Ollie, Rachel, Steph and Simon. Then in August we say goodbye to Chrissie, after 8 super years; Chrissie joins law firm K&L Gates. Thank you Chrissie. Rachel goes to Aberdeen to start a Masters degree and in November we are joined by Hannah Wright.
Recces
We expand across Norway! To add a long-distance trek, we walk from Lillehammer to Snohetta. Pete covers the self-catered hut section as far as the Rondane, Simon walks the Rondane and Ollie walks Northwards to Snohetta. Suze follows on this Northern section, while Joy is in the area much of Summer.
Suze and Steph between them cover the Hebridean Way, our plan for a new trek in the Scottish islands.
Routes
There are side routes to fill in on the Via Alpina: with Bern as a base, Simon takes trains across Switzerland. We add short sections above Egg, Grindelwald and Les Diablerets. Later in June, Pete treks the Eastern section to Engelberg.
Still in Switzerland we complete the scenic train line from Zweisimmen to Montreux through Gstaad and Chateaux d'Oex. A separate line travels North through Gruyeres, the village in cattle country from by where the cheese comes, to Fribourg. Moving down the scale from Swiss cities to medium-size towns is been a revelation: Friburg's old streets flow down to the river gorge.
Conditions
A heavy Alpine Winter suggests a tricky start to the Summer but in fact the melt was rapid: May and June are consistently hot across Europe, including Norway and the UK. Our seasons therefore start without difficulty. In the Jotunheimen the snow had simply been evaporating in the heat: they are a month ahead in late June.
Photos from trips - see more photos from 2018
2017 at Alpine Exploratory
Jotunheimen, Via Alpina
Team
Our 2017 Summer intern is Rachel Law. It's a second Summer tight for space in our office! We are Chrissie, Lucy, Ollie, Rachel and Simon.
Recces
We add Norway to our program! Our first season will be Summer 2018. Across 4 trips in Winter and Summer 2017, we grow to love the Norwegian mountains. Our trekking is in the Jotunheimen region, roughly in the centre of the substantial part of Norway to the South of Trondheim. Our trekking takes us to tranquil and beautiful huts, simply and efficiently run.
In Switzerland, Pete and Simon between them complete the Via Alpina. This gives us the full route to offer in 2018.
Routes
Pete visits the Lechtaler mountains to the South of the Adlerweg. We look for huts that would support a good variant to the Adlerweg West: however, the terrain and gradings prove unpredictable.
In visiting Switzerland, Lucy, Rachel and Simon spend nights in Lausanne and Bern. Simon spends two nights in St Gallen, the university city in the North East of Switzerland, while visiting the Eastern stages of the VAS.
Conditions
The end of Summer 2017 was more noteworthy than the start, a wave of cold and wet weather covering the Alps from the start of September. This laid down snow on high passes that would stay until October.
Photos from trips - see more photos from 2017
2016 at Alpine Exploratory
Via Alpina, Zugspitze
Team
Suze Connolly joins us for the Summer. The team for the season is Chrissie, Lucy, Ollie, Suze and Simon.
Recces
In June 2016 we look at the Via Alpina in the stretch from Meiringen to Murren. This is an East to West trek across the Swiss Alps. Crucially the route crosses the Bernese Oberland, the region containing the Eiger and the villages of Murren, Wengen and Grindelwald. This is as Swiss as it comes! The style of trekking is similar to the Walker's Haute Route, being a series of daily crossings into the next valley.
Simon visits the Wengen area in Winter, riding the trains on a ski trip. We visit the Via Alpina twice again in September extending our route from Meiringen to Kandersteg.
In Germany and Austria we add our Zugspitze Tour, a circuit from Garmish-Partenkirchen. This becomes a short new trip in our 2017 schedule. This German side of the Alps is full of opportunity. We cover various Austrian ski areas in Winter, from St. Anton to Zell-am-See.
Routes
Pete looks at variations on the Adlerweg as part of his overall recce, plus the Julian Alps, and Suze treks the Alta Via 1.
Conditions
We monitor the passes and report on a slightly snowier start than usual to the season. On the TMB the traverse of hillsides between Col du Bonhomme and Col de la Croix du Bonhomme is a place where snow often remains in early Summer. On the Grand Col Ferret between Italy and Switzerland, snow fields linger on both sides of the col.
Photos from trips - see more photos from 2016
2015 at Alpine Exploratory
Adlerweg, Julian Alps
Team
Lucy begins 2015 on skis, taking charge of a chalet in Val d'Isere, France. Lucy rejoins us in May. In April, Ollie Boyd joins us in Edinburgh where we have moved into a little office above Princes Street. Our first Summer in Edinburgh is run by Chrissie, Lucy, Ollie and Simon.
Recces
We are glad to make Austria the focus of our Summer research, in 2015 as in 2014. On our August trip we complete the link to St. Anton and thus offer the full Adlerweg. In September we return to the Tyrol to look at the Zillertal area based in Mayrhofen.
In the Julian Alps in Slovenia we research and introduce a new base, Kranjska Gora, to the North of the range. This gives a linear trek between Kranjska Gora and our first base, Bohinj in the South.
Routes
June and July 2015 see team members checking out variations to our Tour du Mont Blanc and Walker's Haute Route routecards, adding small sections. The ongoing aim is to make the routecards as easy as possible to follow while keeping an eye on the best variants to the main route.
In June we add some alternatives to the Adlerweg above Innsbruck. We have already, in May 2015, visited Vienna where the Eurovision is being held, a super week that contrasts with our many weeks in the Tyrol in the East of Austria.
Conditions
The Winter is relatively light in the Alps and the Spring is wet and hot, the perfect combination. Our seasons start easily and without major considerations of snow.
Photos from 2015
One Lucy and Chrissie in Val d'Isere, France
Two Riding the buses at Lech, Austria
Three Joy with huskies, Venabu, Norway
Four Edinburgh Castle from our office
Photos from trips - see more photos from 2015
2014 at Alpine Exploratory
Settle shop, Adlerweg
Team
A shop comes up for rent in Settle's market square; we take it for the Summer. During March and April we get the shop ready, decorate the window and fill it with our desks and printing things. Simon, Chrissie and Lucy work here until October. During the Spring, Chrissie goes to Africa for a field trip and then in October Lucy leaves for two months in Australia. Lucy will return to her ski season in December.
Recces
We add Austria! Across two trips in September we walk the Adlerweg East. The weather starts grey and cool, becoming more blustery as the month goes on. The first 3 stages in the Wilder Kaiser give us the start of a trip; then come long days in the Karwendel mountains and a valley finish into Innsbruck. We also look at the Zirbenweg above town.
Routes
Simon adds a valley link from Trient to Argentiere in case needed for the TMB or Haute Route. On the AV1 the dramatic Forcella di Lech descent path remains out of bounds for the Summer, though the path is being repaired.
Conditions
Early Summer 2014 is not a heavy one for snow, after a hot Spring in the Alps. Our TMBs, Haute Routes and Alta Via 1s can start without these considerations.
Photos from 2014
One At the Vrsic pass, Julian Alps, Slovenia
Two Wooden window frame, Le Chable, Switzerland
Three The alp of Kaiser Hochalm, Adlerweg, Austria
Four Our shop in Settle's market place
Photos from trips - see more photos from 2014
2013 at Alpine Exploratory
Adlerweg, Lakes
Team
We continue as Simon, Chrissie and Lucy in Settle (Did you mean Seattle?) in Yorkshire, with our little team of leaders and Routecard-checkers.
Recces
Team members Joy, Keith and Simon made our 2013 recces on the Walker's Haute Route, finding a lot of snow for late June and early July. Such is the way in the Alps - variety year-to-year - and we adapt quickly as clients get ready for their early-season trips.
Routes
We are making our fist visits to Austria and the Adlwerg, making this our fourth major route. It takes several visits to get to know this three-week-long route, a delight to bring into the fold another corner of the Alps.
Conditions
We have a most unusual start to the season in the Lake District, UK, with an enormous amount of snow. We have to think carefully about our recces and even our start dates, which are usually fine. In the Alps, later, the snow is a concern: there is much more snow than usual at the end of June, as Joy, Pete and Simon see on their recces.
Photos from trips - see more photos from 2013
2012 at Alpine Exploratory
AV1, Settle
Team
Simon, Chrissie and Lucy plough ahead for the season, again this year busier than we reckon on. We work in Settle, the Yorkshire Dales just outside.
Recces
Joy, Pete, Allan and Simon, each on their own trips, cover the Tour du Mont Blanc in early season and find a TMB ready for the season ahead despite marginally more snow than usual.
Routes
We introduce for a first season our Alta Via Uno (AV1) and find it an immediate success, popular with walkers and fitting well into its (back then) 10-day schedule.
Conditions
Despite the slightly more snow than usual, the Tour Du Mont Blanc is in good shape for the season ahead.
Photos from trips - see more photos from 2012
2011 at Alpine Exploratory
AV1, Dales Way
Team
Lucy joins our little team, taking us to three, and with capability to visit the Alps at various times and not just at the two ends of the season.
Recces
We ran a full Chamonix-Zermatt trip on the Walker's Haute Route, and found the snow level to be oddly light, this despite the exceptionally heavy winter, bringing snows in late Winter of a depth not seen for perhaps 20 years.
Routes
Simon visits the Dolomites to round things off, stage by stage, hiring a car this time in order to travel the various roads up and down the passes, the better to get to know this complicated area. The trip concludes with a stay in Venice, a wonderful conclusion to that year of travel. Simon walks the Dales Way with a friend, it being the week from Ilkley to Bowness-on-Windermere, through the Yorkshire Dales to the edge of the Lakes.
Conditions
It was a very light June for snow, on the Tour du Mont Blanc for example but across the Alps. Recces headed out, or were already there, by Joy, Pete, and Simon.
Photos from trips - see more photos from 2011
2010 at Alpine Exploratory
AV1, Chamonix
Team
In 2010 Simon moves to Settle in the Yorkshire Dales and quickly recruits Chrissie, thus with Simon and Chrissie working in the office and on a metaphorical avalanche of trips.
Recces
We cover many areas, including a memorable visit by Simon to Chamonix with some invigurating camping before the season-start.
Routes
Now is the time to visit the Dolomites, that major area in the Italian Alps, and Simon starts with a trip with friends to Corvara, across the Passo Falzrego (AV1) from Cortina. On a later trip we lay the ground (our ground) for the AV1 and plan to return next year. The hills are snowy as we visit, perhaps unsurprising it being October.
Conditions
It's a snowy start to the Summer on the Tour du Mont Blanc, but a very late bit of heat helps things to melt in time for July.
Photos from trips - see more photos from 2010
2009 at Alpine Exploratory
Great Glen Way, Tour du Mont Blanc
Team
We plug away, this year - 2009 - set to become the busiest yet. We did not know at that point that we would move to Settle in the following year and add to the team.
Recces
There are some minor but noteworthy changes to the TMB, as the authorities work on the Planpraz cable car station above Chamonix. We add to our coverage of the Armina route, to Rifugio Bonatti, which is still at this point an alternative to our main route across the Mont de la Saxe.
Routes
Simon completes the Great Glen Way in November, that week-long trail in the Scottish Highlands, with a quiet-season visit. We imagine the Great Glen Way as a complement to the already-popular West Highland Way in Scotland.
Conditions
It's a light early-Summer for snow on the TMB, which gives us a boost at this time of year that has the potential to be tricky.
Photos from trips - see more photos from 2009
2008 at Alpine Exploratory
Tour du Mont Blanc, blog
Team
Simon continues building Alpine Exploratory, now with an established season in the Alps especially on the Tour du Mont Blanc which remains our sole long trip.... so far!
Recces
We say goodbye to our associaton with the Costa Blanca in Spain, those charming mountains, in order that we focus on the Alps and the UK.
Routes
With many of our UK trips in place, we settle into running good seasons including in the Lake District. We add to our website with a blog.
Conditions
We visit Argentiere on the TMB, in June, this being a customary and lovely start to the Alpine Summer right on the TMB and with Mont Blanc just up above.
Photos from trips - see more photos from 2008
2007 at Alpine Exploratory
West Highland Way, TMB
Team
Simon is still Alpine Exploratory, working away and trying to cover all bases, laying the ground in all areas for our future expansion.
Recces
Friends help by sending in reports from their treks across the UK, as we adapt to the need to cover all our treks.
Routes
As a repeat trek on the West Highland Way, Simon tries it in five days including the lovely day between Glasgow and Milngavie, a Routecard we subsequently call Routecard WHW0. We are still alive in the Lakes, darting about to link up the areas needed for our four-trip system there.
Conditions
We set our season-start on the Tour du Mont Blanc a little later, to 8 July, to avoid that time in late June, early July, when conditions are marginal. Even at 1 July, as we were and will later be, we are far more conservative in dates than some, many, TMB operators.
Photos from trips - see more photos from 2007
2006 at Alpine Exploratory
West Highland Way, Lakes
Team
We dream of a small team but for now we adapt to bookings, coming in slowly as they do in 2006, and the rate of work needed.
Recces
We visit trips and areas to see how they are progressing, all the while thinking how systematic this might become over time.
Routes
Simon walks a lot in the Lake District, UK, at this time as we prepare to offer a roster of UK trips. The UK ones came a couple of years after the first Alpine ones. We were persuaded that home trips could be a good idea, as flights might for some reason go awry. Surely never!
Conditions
We visit the Tour du Mont Blanc in early-season, it being a wonderful time to see the route just as it gets ready for the season. Things feel fresh. With luck, local bus times will have been decided!
In late May and early June 2006 there were sizeable and unseasonal falls of snow in the Chamonix valley and surrounding areas, affecting our TMB and also a new trip that we have assembled, in the Chamonix valley. However, June was notable for long periods of stable, hot weather - unusually hot for the time of year.
Photos from trips - see more photos from 2006
2005 at Alpine Exploratory
Starting up!
Team
Alpine Exploratory begins life in July 2005. We register the company, make the website live, and place a first advert in Trail magazine. This point comes after 6 months of traveling for Simon and the steady evolution of the idea. A Winter in the Alps and a Spring in the UK and Spain give plenty of chance to think, plan and think some more. Simon and Ailsa form the team for Summer 2005. We start small!
Recces
Our Tour du Mont Blanc research begins with a camping and hut trip. We take the chance to recce the Sierra Aitana near Alicante, Spain, for warm Winter walking. (Later we focus on the Alps but please ask us for hints on this great area!)
Routes
Our first client! We organise a trip to the Julian Alps. The system of routecards and notes is put into practice. We print and laminate some little cards to give out. (To the present day we still make as much as we can ouselves, most important of all being our Routecards and notes. We print as we go, allowing for regular updates during Summer.)
Conditions
The Alps experience a snowy start to Summer. Our recces in June meet plenty of snowfields that we won't see at the same point in most years afterwards.
Photos from 2005
One Cloud hides the sun above St Luc, Switzerland
Two At Maison Vieille on the TMB, Italy
Three Puig Campana above Finestrat, Sierra Aitana, Spain
Four View from Rifugio Bonatti on the Tour du Mont Blanc
Photos from trips - see more photos from 2005
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.
About us
Alpine Exploratory
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