Swiss Mountain Leader

The golden eagle must be one of the most well known birds of prey in Europe. I happened to spot a pair of fairly young ones as I was descending from a peak in the Vanoise. You can tell these are fairly young as the white markings under the wing are more pronounced. These birds are [...]

I seem to have good luck catching Ibex with the camera. The trick seems to be due to timing, early spring is a good time as the Ibex favor the terrain just below the melting snow as it opens up new grazing for them. These photo’s are of two different groups. The first group are [...]

Marmots are a sort of squirrel common in the alps. This is an Alpine Marmot (Marmota marmota) in the Vanoise National Park in France. Although they’re quite common in Europe now they actually died out in the Pyrenees before being reintroduced in 1948. Alpine Marmots eat plants such as grasses and herbs, as well as [...]

Swiss maps are quite good in many ways but a nightmare in other ways, I’ve got 1:25000′s, 1:50000 in walking and ski versions, 1:25000 and 1:50000 on DVD and a version for my GPS. One of the things that’s annoys me is the path information on a 1:50000 isn’t on the 1:25k. Until now…. SwissTopo [...]

Ian is a UK Mountain Leader and an International Mountain Leader (IML) Aspirant, and is a member of both BAIML (British Association of International Mountain Leaders) and ASAM (Association Suisse des Accompagnateurs en moyenne Montagne). He is a Nordic Walking instructor and uniquely holds both the UK and Swiss qualifications.

He leads groups and individuals in the mountains in Switzerland and further afield. In summer conditions this includes trekking and walking while in winter he leads groups snow shoeing. As a Nordic Walking Instructor he can give an added dimension to moving in the mountains and introduce clients to a simple fun exercise they can make part of their daily routine at home.