Ski touring on Mount Etna, Sicily (4 days)

What a great day My daughter(18) and I met our guide, Renzo at the set time, he had the appropriate kit all ready and we then headed up the mountain on the lifts. I did not know quite what to expect of the day having never used a guide before but Renzo immediately put us at ease explaining the day and very interestingly the WWI history behind the route we were taking. The lifts went over a glacier I had actually skied 30+ years ago and it was great and also sad to be able discuss the shocking decline in this and other glaciers with Renzo, a local. As a teacher myself we are taught that a good teacher understands their students and their abilities and then sets lessons to push and extend the students but also not be above their capabilities. Looking back on the day, I can see that, without us knowing, as we were trekked across to the start of our route Renzo was gauging us. Obviously he is very experienced and good at this as the result was an absolutely fantastic day. Renzo pushed us to pretty much our limits both physically and technically without quite going beyond what we could do. The pace of the day was just right with Renzo using his experience to use mountain/rope techniques that others on the route weren’t using to keep the pace up and keep the day both challenging and interesting. He also added in a few extra parts to the route not on the original itinerary, which absolutely thrilled my daughter (exhausted and scared me at my age!--- I loved it though). Another bonus was that being a local Renzo gave us a good education on the history of our route and also environmental issues facing the area. I’m currently now enjoying reading about the history of our route. All in all, with the words of my ex-wife ringing in my ears (Is it safe?, don’t do.. , if anything happens… etc.) my daughter and I felt totally at ease, safe and comfortable throughout the whole day with Renzo. We were in the hands of a true mountain expert who is also a great teacher. And finally…. Renzo, thank you for teaching me about small steps – my lungs really appreciate it on the way up and as well as my knees on the way down!

Gran Paradiso was amazing! Renzo was an interesting character! Our group felt somewhat rushed by him though. But super grateful Renzo helped us summit the mountain and bring us back in one piece.

Renzo was a great guide and very knowledgeable of the area. Found a great spot to go touring and amazing snow to ski down. A trip to remember and would highly recommend Renzo.

Trip and guide were superb! Two things that should have been better: 1. I missed a more detailed describtion with an itinerary - I started the trip without exactly knowing what the plan is, since there are several options of doing the via delle Bocchette. 2. platform of explore-share: Before doing any booking I always have questions and want to clarify or specify things. But your platform seems to know only booking or not booking, although there is the questions/inquery button. Even when using this you're harrassed with booking reminders and your questions doesn't get answered! I don't know how often I stopped the booking process because of that! It just doens't help too much, when you're only able to get your answeres after the booking! Please, please make that better!