Snowshoeing Trips

day of walking and we saw some incredible sights. I would definitely recommend it

activity to redo.

and memorable so I got online and started searching and this is where I came across Explore-Share and was put in touch with Happy Tracks. Anja designed our trip for us and came up with the plan to do a hike to a mountain refuge and to stay overnight. The chosen trip was from Les Troncs to the refuge at the base of Pointe Percee. On a Friday, We met our mountain guide Anja in Le Grand Bornand and then drove to the start of the walk in Les Troncs. The first part of the walk was through the woods. It was a gentle start in fresh snow so it was really very pretty and an excellent warm up. When we got out of the woods, we stopped for a break and put our snow shoes on to continue upward. Having never done this before we were eager to have a go. With snow on top and ice on the rocks below, we were certainly glad of the crampons for extra grip.  We enjoy hiking at home but are not overly fit and I’ll admit it was hard going but our guide was fantastic. Anja was encouraging and a brilliant guide. The terrain was difficult because of the fresh snow, as it had not compacted and was therefore very powdery making steep ascents tricky. Anja broke trail and she made us feel confident that we could do it. We were lucky with the weather so the scenery en route was stunning which spurred us on. We snow shoed for 4-5 hours then came to the last part to get to the refuge, this was a very welcome sight after a long day. It took us about 6 hours in all. When we reached the refuge the daylight was beginning to fade but the views, oh the views were so breathtaking that it moved me to tears. I have never experienced such beauty with my own eyes. I was in awe of the sight and also of my own personal accomplishment. At the refuge the adventure continued. Sawing logs, chopping wood, melting snow and a three course meal with wine. The toilets were a modest affair (compost toilet). Even paying a visit to the loo seemed more exciting. Anja made a path to them through the deep snow and a head torch was a necessity! We had a very cosy night and woke up Saturday morning to more fresh snow and sunshine. It was Andy’s birthday on that morning. Raphael (Anja’s partner) had baked a birthday cake for Andy and Anja even had a sparkler for the top. Absolutely brilliant surprise. We had hoped to see the sunrise from the Col de Vert which would have given us views of Mont Blanc. Alas the weather conditions meant this final stage would have been unsafe for us novices. So we listened to our guide did not attempt to go. Instead after breakfast we started our descent. It was snowing when we left. We walked and did some body sledging (sliding on our bottoms, or stomachs) in places, it was so exhilarating and so much fun. It took us about 4 hours to get down. This was a truly amazing, memorable and magical experience and I am thankful to all concerned for giving us mere mortals the opportunity to experience such a gift. A special thank you to Anja our mountain guide who was helpful, funny, kind and encouraging and carried the most enormous rucksack I have ever seen. AMAZING.

our route last minute because of weather. It was a great alternative. I would absolutely do this hike again, and I would recommend to anyone interested. Have fun!

my kids enjoy the trip. All of the arrangement up to the guide is very professional handled & we enjoy the company..and will definitely booked with explore share again..keep up the good work guys!! ?

to explore with snowshoes) and Lucas was a great guide that helped us in everything we needed, shared all his knowledge and passion about the place, showing us a lot of spots (some hidden and less travelled) to enjoy great views and also teaching us a lot of interesting facts about nature, the history and the culture of the places we visited. On top of that he made us feel as if we were walking with a friend and not just a guide which made the experience even better. So, on short, we strongly recommend to everyone this activity, the region and Lucas as guide for a great few days in the nature away from all. Best regards, Luis Manso

activité et une météo pas incroyable, Katarina, de par sa bonne humeur, à su motiver tout le groupe et nous a fait passer une très belle journée.  Nous avons fait un circuit autour du col du Lautaret et elle nous a emmené dans quelques beaux endroits. A faire !

elle reste sereine en toute circonstances pour nous faire part de sa passion de la montagne.

aux autres activités du séjour. J’ai été bien surpris car Katarina a su nous faire part de sa connaissance de la montagne et de la nature et ce dans la bonne humeur. On est sorti des sentiers battus, et la raquette a pris un tout autre aspect. C’est avec plaisir que je signe pour une autre randonnée avec ce guide.

expectations. Every single aspect of the trip was just simply perfect – wouldn’t change a single thing. Eric’s knowledge of the region, its history, wild life, mountain life and technical expertise were great, really felt safe and well guided, plus Eric was really caring and checking out everyone in the group. Besides, group was fun and really interesting, we shared some very nice moments during the walk. We also had a chance to taste local food specialties, seated in the open air at a refuge, feet in the snow….Paradise! The region’s landscapes are wonderful ; it was a fantastic two-day escape out of city life – definitely to be done again as soon as possible ! Thanks again Eric!

de ses bienfaits. Le week-end rando est également devenu un week-end gastronomique avec un pique-nique d’anthologie composé de produits locaux excellents. Le mot d’ordre de ce week-end: profitons de la vie et de la nature ! L’organisation du trek était également impeccable. Merci Éric pour ces purs moments de bonheur! JF

Si cela ne peut être le cas à chaque seconde, sachez le faire alors le temps d un week end, d un jour, d une heure…. Et qui de mieux pour vous accompagner dans cette démarche qu une personne passionnée par cette vie et cet amour du partage. Merci à toi Eric et à bientôt.

au refuge. à refaire!

sleeping in the mountain. He always made sure everybody was safe and happy while giving insights about the beautiful environment. 10/10 would recommend !