Hey.

Does anyone have any experience with or know anyone that has completed an alpinism course with a company called UCPA in Chamonix? If so, are they any good? would you recommend them?
I'm looking for a good introduction course (1 week or more) that's not going to break the bank.
I'm leaning towards UCPA at the moment as they are a not for profit organization where accommodation and food etc is all included in the price. I'm looking for a course suitable for beginners but one that develops into something challenging.

Any recommendations? I'm from the UK, living in Sweden, USA as a destination is not on the cards at the moment. Europe only please!

Thank you.

Hello Wattsy876,
I know that some of the guides members of http://www.explore-share.com have been guiding in UCPA programs. You might want to contact them to ask if they can help you (for a reasonable price) in getting the alpinism skills you are looking for. Some of them have maybe already organised some groups that you could join.

You might want to check these mountain guides:
- Sébastien IFMGA: http://goo.gl/YRAD8U
- Quentin IFMGA: http://goo.gl/QgIlQ1
- Andrea IFMGA: http://goo.gl/9gIukb
- Goulven IFMGA: http://goo.gl/FhVuni

Good luck !

Hi Poncherelo!

I know it's been nearly a year since you replied to my post but I just wanted to say thank you.
Great information! I'll definitely check these guides out and see what they have to offer.

Thanks again!

You are welcome !!
I recently (last September) hired Elis, a mountain guide from the Aosta Valley to ascent Mount Matterhorn. It has been a fantastic experience. He is very friendly and a great professional ! He told me is used to teach to beginners the basics of rock / ice climbing and mountaineering. Feel free to talk to him. More info about him here - https://www.explore-share.com/p/722-elis

I did a basic alpinism course with UCPA this summer. I liked it, cheap, you stay in dorms, there's people to talk to, ok food. Don't have anything to compare the actual climbing with. We did some rock climbing in the valley first day, then we took a couple of hikes around aiguille du midi and glacier du argentiere and then summited aiguille du tour. The only thing I missed was that we didn't cover crevasse rescue which is obviously quite important. Only 1 out of 4 in my group had climbed before though, so if you have more experience yourself and in the group the guide might cover that.