CONDITIONS · 12 NOV · 14:30 CET AIGUILLE DU MIDI — 3,842 m — STABLE VALLÉE BLANCHE — moderate (3/5) MER DE GLACE — open · skiable RIMAYE BIONNASSAY — closed pending refreeze HAUTE ROUTE — week of 4 March booking CONDITIONS · 12 NOV · 14:30 CET AIGUILLE DU MIDI — 3,842 m — STABLE VALLÉE BLANCHE — moderate (3/5) MER DE GLACE — open · skiable RIMAYE BIONNASSAY — closed pending refreeze HAUTE ROUTE — week of 4 March booking
Snow-capped mountains rising above a dark pine forest in the Alps
4,810 m 4,061 m
HARDLINE / ALPINE · IFMGA-certified guiding · Chamonix Mont-Blanc
2026 SEASON · 7 weeks already booked

THE MOUNTAIN
DOESN'T CARE
WHO YOU ARE. We do. That's why we read it, plan around it, and ski back down it with you alive.

Hardline is a guiding outfit of three IFMGA mountain guides running ski mountaineering expeditions in the Western Alps, Lyngen, and Patagonia. We do not run beginner programs. We do not run helicopter days. We climb routes and ski them, the right way — with planning, with weather, and with the discipline to turn around.

21YR
Operating · since 2005
3
IFMGA / UIAGM Guides
1:3
Max guide-to-client ratio
0
Avalanche fatalities · in 21 years
See the 2026 calendar → Inquire about a custom week

2026
CALENDAR

FIVE FIXED PROGRAMS · CUSTOM WEEKS ALSO TAKEN
01
Haute RouteChamonix → Zermatt · Western Alps
Dates10–17 Mar '26
Duration7 days
PD+ / IV
Programme →
02
Bernese Oberland TraverseGrimsel → Lötschental · Switzerland
Dates30 Mar — 5 Apr
Duration6 days
D / IV
Programme →
03
Lyngen Alps SkimoTromsø → Lyngseidet · Arctic Norway
Dates11–18 Apr '26
Duration8 days
AD / III
Programme →
04
Mont Blanc Three-Monts SkiAig. du Midi → St-Gervais
DatesMay '26 · weather-dependent window
Duration3 days
D+ / V
Programme →
05
Cerro Castillo TraversePatagonia · Aysén region · Chile
Dates22 Sep — 4 Oct '26
Duration12 days
D+ / V
Programme →

THREE / GUIDES.

Every Hardline guide holds the full IFMGA / UIAGM / BMG ticket — the four-to-six-year international certification. We do not employ aspirants or trainees. There is no junior tier on this roster.

IFMGA · since 2008

Olivier Marchand

FOUNDER · LEAD GUIDE

Born in Argentière. Mont Blanc summited 134 times — 18 of those on skis from the top. Lead instructor for the Chamonix Guides school 2011–2018. Speaks French, English, fluent rope-team English.

SpecialismBig alpine
LanguagesFR · EN · IT
Home rangeMont Blanc
Off-seasonPatagonia
UIAGM · since 2012

Sigrid Halvorsen

SENIOR GUIDE · NORDIC SPECIALIST

Lyngen-based eight months a year. Skied Spitsbergen north-to-south solo in 2019. Avalanche educator. Has guided in the Antarctic Peninsula four seasons running. Speaks Norwegian, English, German.

SpecialismSub-Arctic
LanguagesNO · EN · DE
Home rangeLyngen
Off-seasonSouth America
BMG · since 2015

Tom Whitfield

GUIDE · SKIMO COMPETITOR

Former British Skimo champion (2016, 2018). Specialises in long alpine ski tours and high-elevation acclimatisation. Six expeditions to the Karakoram. Currently the only BMG full-ticket in Chamonix.

SpecialismEndurance days
LanguagesEN · FR
Home rangeWestern Alps
Off-seasonKarakoram

Who this is for.

Ski mountaineering is not heli-skiing, it's not resort skiing, and it's not a guided lesson. It is climbing a mountain with skis on your back — sometimes nine to twelve hours a day, for six days in a row — and skiing back down at the end of it.

Bookings are by application only. We will reply to you within five working days with either a yes, a "let's talk first," or a "not this season — try X tour as a build-up." We have refused bookings; we will refuse yours if the fit is wrong.

You should be able to —

  • Ski off-piste, in variable snow, all day, without falling
  • Tour uphill for 4–6 hours with a 12 kg pack
  • Read & respond to avalanche transceiver drills
  • Handle exposure — short rappels, glacier travel roped
  • Spend a week in mountain huts, sleeping eight to a room
  • Turn around when the guide says we turn around

READY?
OR NOT
SURE YET.

If you've done the Haute Route before, just tell us which week you want.

If you haven't, write us a paragraph about what you've skied recently, where you live, and what you're hoping for. We'll write back.

Send an application → Download programme PDFs

Or, more directly: olivier@hardline.alpine