A rope team climbing a snow ridge at first light

IFMGA guides, Chamonix

Cordee

Small rope teams on the big routes of the Alps. One guide, two of you, and a summit that waits for the weather.

Highest summit we guide 4 808 m

Since 1998

We are a small company of mountain guides. We do not run groups of twelve, we do not sell seats. Every trip starts with a conversation about what you have climbed, what scares you and what you would like to see from the top.

Three climbers roped together crossing a snow field
  • 1:2Guide to client on every ridge
  • 28Seasons in the Mont Blanc massif
  • 41Four thousanders on our list

Six routes we know by heart

Each one has a line of its own. Pick one, or tell us your own and we will build the days around it.

Routes
A climber on a sharp rock and snow ridge
A climber with an orange pack on a snow crest
A ski tourer climbing a wide glacier
A steep pyramid of rock and snow
A climber on a blue frozen waterfall
A rope team on a snowy glacier slope

Cosmiques Arete3 842 m

  1. 01 Cosmiques AreteMont Blanc massif Grade AD1 day3 842 m
  2. 02 Mont Blanc, Gouter routeMont Blanc massif Grade PD3 days4 808 m
  3. 03 Haute Route on skisChamonix to Zermatt Grade Ski AD6 days3 796 m
  4. 04 Matterhorn, Hornli ridgePennine Alps Grade D2 days4 478 m
  5. 05 Ice falls of CogneValnontey, Aosta Grade WI42 days2 100 m
  6. 06 Gran ParadisoGraian Alps Grade F2 days4 061 m

A day on the rope

Most of our days look like this, give or take the weather. The mountain sets the hours.

  1. 02:30

    Climbers getting ready on a glacier

    Alpine start

    Headtorches, a hot drink in the hut and the first steps on frozen snow while it is still hard.

  2. 06:10

    A deep blue crevasse in a glacier

    The glacier

    Roped up across the crevasse field, slow and steady, as the sun lights the summits one by one.

  3. 09:40

    A climber standing on a summit above the clouds

    On the ridge

    Short rope, small steps, the guide in front. This is the part you will talk about for years.

  4. 13:00

    A mountain hut on a green slope under rocky peaks

    Back at the hut

    Boots off, soup on, and the route traced again on the map with a finger. Then sleep.

Two seasons, one rope

A ski tourer climbing a snowy slope in sunshine

December to April

Winter

Ski touring, the Haute Route, frozen waterfalls and quiet huts. Skins on before sunrise, first tracks on the way down.

  • Ski touring
  • Haute Route
  • Ice climbing
  • Avalanche courses
Seracs and crevasses of a broken glacier

June to September

Summer

Ridges, glaciers and the four thousanders. Training days first, then the summit, when the forecast says yes.

  • Alpine ridges
  • Four thousanders
  • Glacier courses
  • Rock climbing

The guides

Four IFMGA guides, all from the valley. You will meet yours before the first day, over a coffee or a call.

Guides
  • Portrait of a guide in a red jacket and helmet

    Leon Aubert

    Founder, guide since 1998

    Has climbed the Hornli ridge 112 times and still stops to look.

  • Portrait of a guide in yellow on the snow

    Sanna Holmqvist

    Guide since 2009

    Leads our ski touring and the avalanche courses.

  • Portrait of a guide holding a rope on a rocky slope

    Matteo Bressan

    Guide since 2012

    Ice falls, steep couloirs and the best coffee in any hut.

  • Portrait of a guide in an orange jacket in the snow

    Ilka Brenner

    Guide since 2016

    Takes first timers onto their first glacier, patiently.

A wide view of snowy summits above the clouds
We turned back two hundred metres below the top. Leon said the mountain would still be there. We went up three days later, in silence, at sunrise.
Hanna and Jonas, Mont Blanc 2025

Ask for a date

Tell us where you want to stand

No booking engine, no basket. Write us a few lines and a guide will answer with dates, the plan and an honest price.

A small red bivouac hut on a rocky ridge
Route