Had a good few days shadowing Stuart Macdonald on a Avalanche Academy course based out of Chamonix.
Today we toured up towards the Monastery at the Saint Bernard pass looking at terrain, route choice and digging lots of facets out of the shallow snow pack.
Here a few photos from the day, and if your in the alps then have a look at the Avalanche Academy website.
The emergency shelter
Variable snow, there’s some crust about.
Mont Blanc and the Grand Jorass
Rating
I had an amazing experience skiing the Vallée Blanche with Ben, who handled our group graciously, was highly professional and willing to share his knowledge throughout the day. Thank you again!
We had an absolutely amazing time kit with Ben. Knowledgeable, fun to ski with and a great teacher and educator - thanks again for a memorable day!
Ben was highly professional and also great to spend the day with. We did the Vallee Blanche with him and had a great day out. He was very professional and careful to warn us of dangers and keep us informed and we felt very safe in his hands. Would highly recommend him and hopefully we can do a touring day out with him next time!
We had the pleasure of experiencing the mountains around Chamonix with Vertical Frontiers, Ben Bradford. I want to recommend Ben and Vertical Frontiers to anyone who want to have a great experience in the mountains. We had great ski touring and amazing adventures. Our holiday was made complete with Bens excellent knowledge of the area, knowing exactly where to bring us. Hope to see you again soon! Erika&Christian
We had amazing 2 days with Ben as a guide in Chamonix. He is full of interesting information, incredibly patient and makes sure everyone is safe at all times.
Our family had an incredible off-piste skiing experience thanks to our guide, Ben! He was professional, knowledgeable, and safety-conscious. He took the time to get to know our group and tailor the experience to our abilities and interests. The skiing itself was breathtaking, with powdery runs and stunning views. Our guide was an expert at finding the best routes and navigating the terrain, and he was always ready with helpful tips and encouragement. We can't recommend Ben enough - if you're looking for a truly unforgettable off-piste experience, look no further
Ski touring with Ben from Vertical Frontiers was an epic adventure and barrel loads of fun. Ben is super knowledgeable and I learnt a lot from him. Always felt totally safe and its clear Ben is a very experienced professional at what he does. Will be skiing again with him soon.
Ben Bradford and his Vertical Frontiers were excellent guides and partners for our adventurious trip to the peaks of Grand Paradiso and Mont Blanc in the Alps, first week of June 2022. Ben was very responsive, flexible, and informative during the preparation stage. He advised on equipment and preparation for the climbing experience. Our guide for the trip, Ali, was excellent too. He was fast, motivated and pushed us; made the right safety calls when needed; stayed calm with our inexperience; and provided us with extra equipment when he deemed it necessary. I would strongly recommend Vertical Frontiers for both beginners in the high mountains and also experienced alpinists who are looking for guiding support.
Great trip to Aiguilles Marbrees with Ben Bradford. Very professional, patient and very knowledgeable mountain guide. I would highly recommend Ben for anyone looking to have a great experience climbing mountains, even with beginners.
We spent the whole day out climbing. Ben is an excellent guy and fun to spend the day with. This was first time ever doing multi-pitch climbing and he made it easy to learn and taught me a lot about climbing. I highly recommend booking him for any of your outdoor adventures.
Fantastic guiding and organisation for some beautiful days in the Swiss Alps. Vertical Frontiers kept me well informed and updated on the trip and the guide was very friendly and made me feel very safe in the mountain. Highly recommend Vertical Frontier and Ben for your next adventure, thank you Vertical Frontiers.
Amazing weekend on an ‘alpine training course’ with Ben, going through all the basics like crampon and rope work, crevasse rescue and general mountain safety. I also tagged on an extra day for a 1:2 adventure up to Marbrees from the Torino refugio. Not only a lot of fun, but a very professional, safe and well organized trip- 100% recommend, will be back soon!
Booked a ski tour Mont Blanc trip with Vertical Frontiers in April 2022. We (group of 4) had such a great week preparing for the summit attempt and all successfully summited Mont Blanc and skiied off the top. Couldn't have made it to the top without the guides Ben and Ally who were amazing. Will definitely be hitting them up again in the near future.
We have used Ben multiple times for ski touring trips and always had a great time in the mountains. Ben challenges you to think for yourself in positive light hearted way and strikes the fine line between type 1 and 2 fun perfectly!
We hired Ben for a days ski guiding and touring skills refresher. He did a great job of understanding what we wanted to get out of the day and tailored his approach accordingly. Our day was very enjoyable as well as educational. I would 100% hire Ben again for a fun days guided skiing or for training and skills development.
We had a picture perfect day and had the best time with our guide Ally skiing the Vallee Blanche. Ally put our fears to rest about the descent from the Aiguille Du Midi with his focus on safety. We learned so much from his experience and knowledge of the area. I highly recommend Vertical Frontiers and Ally for anyone wanting to have an incredible experience on the Vallee Blanche. It met all of our expectations.
Great experience with Neil who absolutely adapted his level and advice to the level of our group. Really fun and interesting day with lots of skiing and lovely descriptions and explanations of the surrounding area! Would highly recommend :)
Ben was able to secure a guide for me at short notice which led to a great day of off piste skiing in the Grand and Petit envers, in the Valley Blanche.
Vertical Frontiers with Ben and his companion made our day on several peaks surrounding Chamonix. The level of challenges was spot on for our group, and the calmness and professionalism the guides made the skiing so enjoyable. We will definitely ask for Ben on our next adventure.
Great off-piste day with Gareth in St Gervais. We visited some superb locations well off the beaten track and felt safe at all times. Thanks again and highly recommended.
It was an amazing day! Ben guided us through a not so conventional path, which was not crowded at all. On top of this, we had the chance to ski touring and we climbed up to an area where the snow was really cool (especially considering that it hadn’t snowed for 2 weeks). Thanks Ben for being such a super guide!!!!
I can highly recommend Ben and his team. Exemplary attention to detail and safety. He and Lou guided us on the VB decent, 8 ageing skiers of varying experience levels and limited attention spans !!
Great ski guiding service. Really focused on safety and taking care of us, and ensuring that we had an enjoyable tour!
We went on a ski touring trip with Ben and had an amazing time. It was our first tour and he made sure everything was safe and that we had the best trip possible. He took us to some nice powder slopes with stunning views all around. Highly recommend it and would definitely come back again!
Great day of ice climbing in Aosta Valley with Vertical Frontiers. Jon was super professional, provided a great skills refresh before leading up a fun climb with the right amount of challenge. Efficient comms and organisation through Ben. Highly recommend whatever your skill levels or aspirations.
Excellent guiding and advice. 100% confidence in expertise for an exciting and safe expedition skiing or climbing and Ben is great company! Great communication. I have used twice and will be back for more!
Ben and his team Vertical Frontiers are the best. Highly responsive, flexible and accommodating. the best guides i have used in the alps. over summer i did a Mont Blanc summit, a big traverse in Chamonix and some end of season snow climbing in Cormayeur. All three were great experiences, and primarily because of the thought and preparation given by Vertical Frontiers. I'm looking forward to my next visit to the Alps
Wow, where do I begin? Having worked in the guiding industry, I was familiar with how trips could potentially be run. I was blown away by the outstanding communication from Ben, all the way to the guides. Ben was extremely patient while I was trying to figure out what to climb during my time in Chamonix. He gave great suggestions and honest feedback when I gave him mine and my friend's backgrounds. He was very responsive and extremely helpful. Before I even took my first outing with them, I felt very comfortable. Jonny was my guide for Aiguille d'Entreves, and I could not have asked for a better person to do that climb with! He was kind, professional, fun, and easy to talk to. I felt safe the entire time, and it turned out to be one of the most memorable days of my life! Thank you for this amazing day. My friend and I had an outing on Aiguille des Marbrées, and Ally was our guide. He was so awesome! We had tougher conditions with some new snow on the ridge, and even though my friend was a beginner, she felt safe and had a wonderful, exciting, and memorable experience! It was great to climb with Ally because he was personable, honest, and fun to be around. Some guides simply just "do their job" Jonny and Ally were not only doing their jobs, they went above and beyond to make sure we had a great and full-on experience. I am so thankful for Vertical Frontiers, and I cannot recommend this guiding company enough. I cannot wait to have another outing with them.
Ben and his team are exactly what you look for in a mountain guide. Professional, thorough and yet relaxed. He pushed me beyond what I thought I’d be capable of, I will be booking again. Cheers Ben.
Ben / Vertical Frontiers guided our groupof three adults for five days - after two days of acclimatization and technical training (incl. crampons) in the Aosta Valley with Ben, we successfully summited Mont Blanc via the Chamonix / Nic d' Aigle / Tete Rousse / Gouter Hut Route. For Mt. Blanc, Catalin Dobre joined our group as a second guide. Ben coordinated the preparation of and joined us for our trip - the whole experience was truly top-notch. Throughout the planning phase, Ben was very responsive, diligent and forward-thinking to proactively put together a program that perfectly reflected our expectations, while carefully considering our skill level, training requirements and sufficient flexibility for local weather conditions. We also made use of the option to rent various climbing / hiking equipment for a very competitive price through Ben. During the trip, we enjoyed being rigorously prepared and adequately challenged while feeling 100% safe at all times. Both the hikes and our joint leisure time at the huts were entertaining and it would be hard to imagine any better guiding experience. Esp. Ben is a very experienced mountain-lover with strong coaching skills, intimate know-how of the whole Western Alpine region and many interesting and fun war stories to share. In sum, we are glad to unconditionally recommend Ben / Vertical Frontiers to mountaineers across all skill levels - he has definitively become our clear go-to-option for any guided trips in the French and Swiss Alps!
We had such a great day with Ally! We did a family Via Ferrata, then I was guided up a multi-pitch. Ally was very safe, caring and supportive to the diverse people in our group. We had a blast and Ally was a huge part of that experience. We can’t wait for the next trip!
Absolutely amazing trip with Vertical Frontiers. Our guide Ally was brilliant, top bloke. An electrical storm hit our planned summit day, Ally made the call to hold back and we were rewarded the following day by an awesome climb. A stunning few days in the mountains, we had a blast.
Spent 5 days in Chamonix with Ben from Vertical Frontiers. He intuitively knew where to pitch me and what I wanted to get from my time in the Alps. Ultimately I ended up climbing Mont Blanc in good fashion. Ben is a good guide and is very fit. if you are looking to challenge yourself then he is a great person to climb with. Nice guy also..
Mont Blanc via the route Trois Monts. Since the first contact with Vertical Frontiers, it was very easy to communicate with them. They gave detailed explanations to every question I had, answered the same day and had absolutely no hidden costs. The initial itinerary of Italian Route had to be modified due to bad weather and we climbed the route Trois Monts instead. Vertical Frontiers did everything so I could reach the summit: they gave me a fantastic guide Ally Swinton, who prepared a perfect itinerary for acclimatisation considering the fact that we had to reach the summit a day earlier. In 4 days I learned and did things I have never done before, but always dreamed of. And all of this while having lots of fun, feeling super safe and being encouraged in a very natural way (which I think is one of the best Ally's qualities). I highly recommend Vertical Frontiers and especially the guide Ally Swinton.
From making first contact only 7 days ago, I have been supported in achieving one of my life time goals of completing a climb of Mont-Blanc in the most amazing way, via the Italian Route. Starting from the Val Veny Courmayeur to Chamonix using no lifts or trains. Sort of making an already hard couple of days harder. Ben Bradford is a very special professional who makes dreams happen.
Great few days intro to Ski Touring. Our guide Ben was super, very knowledgable and helpful!
Had 2 great days in chamonix with Ben teaching us basics of ski touring in the Chamonix valley. Always felt safe and fun but got the oppotunity to challenge ourselves too. Ben was super knowledgable of the area and got us hooked on touring!
My first time ski touring, great experience all round, looking forward to returning for more challenging days. Ben delivered a great balance of coaching, guidance and knowledge of the surrounding area whislt leaving you time to enjoy the experience in a relaxed manner.
Ben - Thank you so much for the blindingly good weekend's skiing. Your ability to get us safely to the best possible snow is amazing!
We did Vallee Blanche with Vertical Frontiers and it was an amazing experience! Our guide Ally was fun, helpful, he provided us with comprehensive instructions, all the necessary equipment and an awesome choice of route which allowed us to ride some untouched powder. The whole descent was a dream come true for me!
Ben clearly knows the terrain and has experience in a wide variety of situations. He's laid-back and flexible but also excited to have an adventure with you. Highly recommended.
We booked two days of guided skiing w Ben. It was truly the trip of a lifetime thanks to Ben. He showed us all of the best spots to ski; all full of knee deep or waist deep powder. We rarely encountered any lift lines whatsoever. Even when the snow was skied off, Ben still delivered and helped us find amazing lines all over the mountain. Ben has a knowledge of Chamonix, that was second to none. We chased powder the entire time. We were able to ski multiple resorts within the valley in the same day; something I have never done before. Even when it came time to book dinner or après, Ben sent us in the right direction. I am already thinking about the next time I can come to Cham and ski with Ben. He challenged me to ski like I've never skied. Many thanks to Ben and Vertical Frontiers for making my time in Chamonix amazing.
Vertical Frontiers and more specifically, Ben Bradford, was amazing! His professionalism was only outweighed by his knowledge of the mountains. We were a little hesitant at first to get a guide, since everyone in our group has been skiing for a long time, but I can confidently say our skiing experience was at least 10 times better than we could have provided ourselves. I don't often write reviews, but good people like Ben deserve the recognition. Whether you are deciding if a guide is necessary for your holiday or if you are trying to narrow down your choices, the decision just got a whole lot easier. Put your trust in Ben and Vertical Frontiers because I know he turned our awesome holiday into an epic one!
We were a group of three experienced off piste skiers who spent two days with Ben of Vertical Frontiers and had a great time. Ben was super communicative as we planned out our trip and got us going right away. We were in search of the best snow so thanks to Ben's knowledge of the on-piste off piste conditions and his car (with ski box on top) we were able to start the day one at Brevent and then end the day skiing from the midway point of the Aguille du Midi. Day two we went to La Tour and traversed to some couloirs and back bowls as the sun softened things up. We'd highly recommend Ben if you're looking for an experienced and chill guide who also clearly enjoys leading groups. Ben is also great at capturing footage and stills of the trip which was a great bonus!
Possibly the best day I have ever had on a pair of skis in almost 30 years. Ben was fantastic at introducing us to touring with a beautiful steady ascent in to back country, we didn't see another soul until we had eaten our squashed sandwiches at the top and made it all the way back down the other side through some fresh powder and excpetional views. Can not recommend highly enough. 100% worth all the pain of getting up there and getting over any fear of it being beyond us, thanks so much, I am now a convert and never going back to a chair lift (well ... maybe a bit of help!)
My wife and I did an off piste day at grand montets with Dave and had a great time. Perfect pacing and plenty of fun skiing all with nice a combination of professionalism and a laid back vibe. Would highly recommend for anyone looking for a way to explore chamonix valley!
We had a fantastic trip with Ben who is professional and safe but also great fun to be around. Can’t recommend him enough as a guide.
Excellent guiding experience with Vertical Frontiers organised by Ben Bradford, with guide Dave Searle. Would climb with Vertical Frontiers again and definitely recommend.
Excellent 7 day Mont Blanc and Gran Paradiso trip run by Ben and his team. Slight change of plans required when we got snowed off Gran Paradiso, but the guiding team quickly arranged alternative activities. Would not hesitate to use again. Highly recommended.
I recently returned from my fourth highly successful mountaineering trip in the Alps with Vertical Frontiers, this time summiting The Eiger with Bed Bradford. Whether it be conquering one of the ‘big names’ or heading off to remote parts of the Alps, Ben has always been excellent at ensuring that we are fully prepared to accomplish the goal at hand and that we are safely guided for the entire trip. While safety is obviously Ben’s primary objective for his clients, each trip with him has enabled me to develop my skills thanks to his advice and they have been a huge amount of fun. I’ve achieved some of my life goals and created many memories thanks to Vertical Frontiers and I recommend them at any opportunity.
Each time I go to Chamonix with Ben, he finds exactly the right guide and the rights routes for my trip objectives. Thoroughly recommended.
Incredible guiding, knowledge and experience! I've been on multiple trips with Vertical Frontiers and have had amazing experiences with superb choice of routes, level of safety, and high up on the fun scale. Would highly recommend to any aspiring climber or mountaineer.
Outstanding trip with VF on Cosmiques Arete on Aiguille du Midi. Although they may have had little to do with the perfect weather and low/no crowds, Ally (my guide) made sure every detail was attended to — most crucially, that my experience was tailor-made to my skill and ability. I’ll definitely work with them next time I’m back in Chamonix.
Unreal experience in the Le Your area with Vertical Frontiers. Our guide Ally was excellent, extremely interested in what we wanted to achieve as we were new to alpinism. Everything about the trip was professional and well managed. We can't thank the team enough.
Well organised, very professional guidance during the tour. Highly recommended
I couldn’t recommend Ben more highly. A brilliant week - everything we hoped for and more. Nothing was too much trouble and Ben really tailored the trip to our needs. Would definitely book again.
Ben is a fantastic guide. Friendly, fun, interesting. Loads of great advice. I learned a lot in just two days skiing with Ben. He could sense exactly what we were interested in and selected the perfect routes to match.
Great experience with Vertical Frontiers and a real pleasure to be in the group - Ben's guiding is relaxed yet reassuring and responsible.
Ben is a fantastic guide and always delivers a great trip. He's very knowledgeable and is happy to share his insights with his clients. We enjoyed a memorable trip ski touring in the high mountains above Saas Fee in May, bagging a few 4000+m peaks.
We had a great experience skiing with Ben and his team for a full 5 day off piste course. Really good at making the most of the opportunities even quite some time after the last snow fall. Got really lucky with a big dump towards the end of the week and had a glorious two days skiing powder at the Grand Montets and Le Tour. A mix of short, in resort descendt and more adventurous itineries.
I have recently done Gran Paradiso with Ally via Vertical Frontiers and he has been fantastic. He was 100% prepared, sorted out all my climbing gear (even what I forgot at home), food for the overnight stay in the hut, and made it really smooth and easy for me to just hop on a flight from London and do the climb over the weekend without any hassle, which is always hugely appreciated given time constraints on my end. He’s one of the guides that teaches you essential skills along the way, gives tips, shares experiences and is also fun to be around which overall made it a very enjoyable weekend. He is also very skilled and knowledgeable which gave me confidence that’s it’s a safe ascend. I initially reached out to Ben who runs Vertical Frontiers and he was also very professional, and quick & easy to communicate with. I would highly recommend them and will definitely be booking something again next year.
Awesome 3 days with Ally! We climbed the Marbrees traverse and explored the glacier using Rifugio Torino as a base camp, then back to Chamonix where we tackled the traverse des Perrons. Ben and Ally worked with me to find the best itinerary given the bad weather (originally we were planning to climb Grand Paradiso). Ally was super awesome as a guide, very knowledgeable. I felt always very safe with him. I truly enjoyed my time in chamonix with them. I just wished I could have stayed longer!
A friend and I booked 5 days intro into classic Alpine climbing. With very little technical experience, Ben and our guide Owen provided an excellent, flexible itinerary with progressive skills training topped off with a summit of Grand Paradiso. A fantastique week and we look forward to the next trip to build on the skills learnt from this.
An amazing three day trip with Ben, from rock climbing, scrambling ridges and summiting a 4000m peak. I'm only a beginner but Ben filled me with bags of confidence to push myself to attempts stuff I wouldn't of done normally. Can't reckoned Ben highly enough. One day he will get me to the top of the Matterhorn, if not certainly more 4000m peaks, maybe Nadelhorn next year. Great guide, great company, great fun
superb week of type 1 to 4 fun, the Lenspitze was special, thanks as ever Ben and until the next time
A massive thank you to Vertical Frontiers for a spectacular week climbing the Gran Paradiso and the Mont Blanc. We had a great time discovering a new region and pushing our limits. Ben is friendly and professional, and remained flexible throughout the entire week. Cheers to Federico and James for guiding us up the mountains, answering all our questions, and keeping us safe! Overall a great experience.
As a family of three we joined Ben for a five day introduction to alpine mountaineering. We had done bits of mountaineering before and wanted to improve our technical skills so we could go alone. We had a fantastic few days learning crevasse rescue, scrambling rocky peaks, belaying, glacier walking, eating hut food and practicing our knots! Ben pitched the course at exactly the right level using his extensive knowledge of be mountains to find something that suited us all. He was friendly, easy going and instilled lots of confidence. We had great fun and would highly recommend Ben as a teacher and guide. Rosie, Amy and David
Spent 5 days on an intro to alpine mountaineering course- excellent! Learnt lots of new skills, able to put in to practice and did some fabulous routes. Lots of fun.
We had an excellent 3 day course in alpine mountaineering with Vertical Frontiers and loved it. Our guide, Guy, was competent and relaxed. He planned 3 very well thought through days for us working around fickle weather and unpredictable lift schedules. We managed to do 2 classic PD routes and 1 AD route alongside some rope work, crevasse rescue and basics of understanding how to move together on glaciers. We are experienced rock climbers but did not have any alpine experience before we did this course. This 3 day course has definitely given us enough confidence to start venturing out on some very easy alpine terrain independently and build from that. This is exactly what we were looking for so couldn't be more thrilled with how the course was executed.
We had fantastic 2days ski touring around Monte Rosa. Couldn't be better. Thank you so much, Ben.
If you are looking to conquer new Vertical Frontiers, I'd highly recommend Ben. He delivers the perfect balance of adventure and personal climbing development, tailored made in a way which is only possible with his small group ethos. Top class.
My boyfriend and I did a three day guided introduction to Alpine mountaineering with Gavin Pike. Gavin was an outstanding guide who taught us a lot within the three days. Although the weather wasn't always ideal (expected due to the fact we were doing this in early May) we managed to get three full and varied days learning and practicing glacier travel and crevasse rescue skills, and honing our rock climbing skills in the valley. The highlight was definitely doing the Cosmiques Arete (in perfect weather thankfully!) which got us absolutely hooked on Alpine mountaineering! I would definitely recommend Vertical Frontiers to anyone wanting to experience the Alps in safe and knowledgeable hands!
Superb couple of days with Ben at Vertical Frontiers. Always makes the most of the conditions and delivers some adventure. Professional and friendly.
Thoroughly enjoyable weekend in Chamonix. Ben is a master. He keeps us safe and finds the snow and the lines every time! Will be back next year.
Superb day with Ben skiing Vallee Blanche, amazing high mountain experience.
I always go to Ben for a mountain adventure in Chamonix and beyond. Friendly, highly competent, always helpful and tolerant :-) Frequently takes some great photos too when I'm too anxious or tired to get my camera out. :-). Ben has always got options ready if the weather isn’t great so I’d totally recommend him. 👍
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