Undiscovered Mountains Southern French Alps

We had a truly wonderful time and packed a lot into our 3 days: classic cross country skiing in Ancelle and Orcieres, snowshoeing at dusk high in the mountains, a whole day exploration of a remote valley on nordic touring skis which included skiing over a frozen river and, last but not least, learning how to shoot a rifle whilst taking part in a biathlon! We loved every minute and felt like we had been away for much longer.We stayed in Le Chamois, Ancelle which was comfortable, friendly and had very tasty food.Thanks to Sally and JB for making such a memorable holiday for us.

The snowshoeing adventure organized and provided by Sally Guillaume and her company, The Undiscovered Mountains, was the best snowshoeing experience I have had in my 25 years of practicing this sport.During this holiday outing the pleasant surprise awaited us every day. It began with the place where we were staying: The Farmhouse, a very unassuming name, the Grange des Ecrins in Chabottes, run by Jean and Mag. But inside you will see a historic building beautifully decorated. The dining room had a long table, which was perfect for including everybody in the group. And the next surprise was the food. Of course, breakfast was a classic French style buffet with croissants so fresh that your fingers “burned”, (ha ha). Everyone received sandwiches, drinks, etc., for the hike. But the dinners were a real fantastic surprise. We were spoiled like members of the king’s court with dinners different every day representing various cultural/national styles and served as a beautiful artwork! There were many different cheeses to try and to indulge our palates. (I included a few photos).Due to the climate change everyone was concerned about the snow. There was no snow in Chabottes. But Salley had another surprise waiting for us. She had a crew of two guides, (Fabrice and Bernard), who were trained not just in safe guiding on snow covered slopes, but experienced drivers on extremely narrow mountain roads to get us to the elevations where there was plenty of deep snow perfect for snowshoeing. These two gentlemen were not just guides who knew the local terrain like the palm of their hands, but trained in difficult mountain rescue missions. I could tell, they led us with confidence over the snow slopes which were fun and challenging, if you liked, and safe to glisse.We snowshoed in Prapic, Rocherousse plateau and the Queyrelet ridge, refuge du Tourond in Champoleon valley. We went up to the Col de Pourrachiere from Ancelle , to the Foret des Marches and to the hamlet of Les Marches from Orcieres.

We booked a short break, snowshoeing holiday close to the Ecrins Valley In the southern French Alps. This included accommodation and meals shared with our hosts at a small chambre d’hote (B&B) in the hamlet of Les Forestons near Poligny. We also used the company to arrange our guide and equipment. The trip was excellent. We traveled by train and Eurostar (self organised ) and that led to some problems due to strikes but Sally at Undiscovered mountains continued to offer guidance and support. At every step from booking onwards she has been excellent at communicating and making our holiday seem important to her personally. Our guide Philippe, and our hosts Dominique and Jean-Marie could not have been more welcoming and helpful. We felt like we spent the few days of our trip with old friends. The company name speaks volumes as we felt we were in places with a few other lucky people who’d been let into the secret with the Mountains almost entirely to ourselves. Our guide and hosts spoke enough English to manage interactions with us perfectly well but were encouraging of our attempts to speak French. The whole trip was a delight. Philippe found snow and routes appropriate for our group and we left with a feeling of real satisfaction.

What an amazing family holiday with Undiscovered Mountains! The package was so well organised from start to finish. Lovely accommodation in Ancelle, fantastic activities and quality family time together (not so easy to come by with two teenagers)! Absolutely loved the via ferrata. I've no climbing experience and this was a perfect way to get a taste of what it feels like to hang from a cliff face without needing a grip of steel. Best memory of the trip was an evening out that Sally recommended in Gap with late night music, great atmosphere and food. It was the perfect way to wind down after a day hiking in the mountains.

Fantastic fun for the whole family! We signed up to a variety of activities and enjoyed them all. Having Sally book all of the activities and hotel in advance made the holiday hassle free and everything went really smoothly and on time. All the instructors we had were friendly, professional, spoke English and were very good at ensuring we had a great time. Highly recommended.

Undiscoverd Mountains were very good support to us during our ski holiday in Orcieres. We are a company that support people with autism and learning disabilities and Sally accommodated our needs perfectly. From the hotel (Hotel Les Catrems) to the ski instructors, to our ski passes and ski equipment hire and to the amazing husky rides, everything was considered to fit what we wanted like a glove, helping us to support our guests to have a great holiday.

What a truly AMAZING trip we had with Undiscovered Mountains. Family of four, two teenage girls, stayed room only at Chamois Hotel, rustic but very comfortable, clean and fairly central, staff super friendly and helpful. The activities were all BRILLIANT and everything is tailored to your experience and ability. We tagged on a few days in the Ardeche at the end for some R&R as it is pretty exhausting but exhilarating!!! Highly Recommend!!!!!! Sincere thanks to Sally for all the help throughout x

I booked an intermediate paragliding course through Undiscovered Mountains and Sally was great at arranging to fit this with my available dates which were a mid-week start and finish, due to work commitments back home. All communications were great, clear, prompt and useful. I was provided with everything I needed prior to departing, including maps, packing lists and itineraries. Sally also advised on the best way to purchase bus tickets for making my way to Gap from Marseille. The course itself was excellent, with everyone from students to instructors assisting with my embarrassingly poor knowledge of the French language. I had some beautiful flights in the mountains, really improved my take-off technique and thoroughly enjoyed flying with other people who are passionate about flying.Overall, a lovely experience and highly recommended.

Un grand merci à Sally, nous avons passé un séminaire d'entreprise fabuleux ! Toutes les activités étaient très bien organisées et enrichissantes. Sally est à l'écoute et disponible. Nous avons découvert des paysages absolument magnifique ! Nous avons hâte d'y retourner

We went as a party of 6 and had an absolutely amazing time .. all the activities were well organised and planned out and the Vamoos app gave maps / vouchers etc .. spot on thank you esp to Sally who put it together for us