Chamonix Guide Recs

I'll be in Chamonix in June/ July, but with non-climbing friends, so I'm looking to schedule in advance with a guide. Any recommendations you actually know and have climbed with? Thanks in advance.

I climbed with Romain Luksenberg when I was there this past summer. He is a great guy and knows the area very well. His safety standards are very similar, if not higher, than guides I have had in the USA. (French guides are known to be a bit less careful..) He also speaks English, which is a big plus for being a French guide. Many of the English speaking guides there are from the UK and charge a fat premium.

He is really honest and his prices are reasonable too. If you do something easy, he charges you less. If you do something more significant, it's a bit more. I even had a pre-booked day with him when I was just too tried to climb and he told me to not worry about the payment. (I tipped it to him anyways at the end of the trip!)

romainguide.com/

My wife and I hired Kenny Grant for 2 days climbing in Chamonix last September and had a great time. He splits his time between the UK and the Alps so may have to check his availability but I'd definitely climb with him again.

http://www.kennygrant.guide/

Chris

I haven't climbed with them in Chamonix, but I had great experiences climbing with Kevin Mahoney and Silas Rossi on separate occasions here in New England. They are based on this side of the pond, so you'd have to see when/if they are planning on being out there this upcoming season.

Chris C. wrote:... speaks English, which is a big plus for being a French guide.

Lots of French mountain guides (especially around Chamonix) nowadays speak English plenty good enough for guiding climbing. You could just call one of the usual guide offices or services and ask for English-speaking.

All the ones I've climbed with have very high safety standards -- for _real_ safety on serious high mountain routes, sometimes different from the ABC rules followed by Americans with little serious mountain experience.

Definitely hire a guide who _lives_ around Chamonix / Mont Blanc. Because ...

• when the visiting-American-climber classic "tick list" routes are crowded (and therefore dangerous), they know other great routes, or special variations to get you on.
• with the big warming of the Euro glaciers in recent years, the approaches to many alpine rock climbs (and key sections of mixed routes) are changing (generally for the worse). You want to be with someone who checked with his French-speaking buddy from just last week about how it is for a particular route -- not an excellent climber who is guessing from reading the guidebook, or isn't sure what the hutkeeper told him in French.
• more ... you want somebody really experienced in making the transition from glacier approach to the steep rock or ice of the route, and how it's going to be different in the afternoon on return.
• to get you booked into crowded hut.
• more likely to unexpectedly ask: "Think you might want to lead the next pitch?"

Ken

Thanks for all the input, guys!

John