About Us
We're a small adventure company specialising in trekking, cycling & climbing trips around the world. We only run trips to places that we know intimately, which means that we offer you routes that are off the beaten track and away from the crowds, even on our most popular trips such as the Tour du Mont Blanc, Everest Base Camp and Kilimanjaro. That's our ethos - we always take the road less travelled.
On trips that are further afield, we use the best local operators in the business. We put painstaking hours into choosing the best accommodation, and we pride ourselves on our team of leaders. We only use qualified guides who are well-known to us, and between us we have a wealth of experience leading trips in far-flung places.
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Cloud 9 Adventure Team
Emma Jack
Emma is a qualified IML (International Mountain Leader), Mountain Bike Leader and Nordic Ski Instructor and has been leading treks and expeditions for the last 18 years. The Tour du Mont Blanc trek is one of her favourites and she's hiked the route over 50 times. Emma has led trips all over the world, with Nepal, Corsica and the Alps as her top three trekking destinations.
A passionate skier, in 2009 she made the first ever ski descent of Manaslu, the 8th highest mountain in the world (8156m).
Fluent in French, Russian and Spanish, Emma also works as an interpreter and loves to chat.
Becki Penrose
Becki is an International Mountain Leader with many years' experience of enthusiastically guiding groups in the great outdoors. She's worked at many outdoor centres and as a freelance outdoor instructor in Wales, Scotland and the Peak District. She's led groups in the mountains on walking, climbing and skiing trips. She also takes groups canoeing and kayaking on the UK's beautiful lakes and rivers as well as exploring below ground on caving trips.
Becki is a qualified BASI ski instructor and also an experienced International Mountain Leader having led groups on expeditions and mountain treks to Costa Rica, Ecuador, Morocco, Bolivia and China as well as guiding trekking and trail running in the European Alps.
Boi Sagarra Pascual
Boi is our first guide from Catalonia! Born in Barcelona, Boi is a qualified International Mountain Leader and Ski Intructor, and he's also on the guide scheme to become a UAIGM mountain guide.
After finishing his Biology degree, Boi went travelling to New Zealand to hike and climb. He ended up by chance in Chamonix, fell in love with the mountains here, and now spends his time in the Alps in the summer, and the Catalan Pyrenees in the winter.
Cam Bevan
Cam is a qualified International Mountain Leader taking hikers on excursions through the European mountain regions for the last seven years. His favourite destinations are the Italian Dolomites, the Spanish Picos de Europa and the Mont Blanc Massif - mainly for the exquisite scenery, wildlife and history of the areas.
He currently splits his time between Chamonix in the summer months and the Scottish Highlands in winter. When he's not leading trips, his main interests are climbing, mountaineering and ski-touring.
Charlie Boscoe
Charlie is a firm favourite with Cloud 9 Adventure clients and has led trips to Europe, Kilimanjaro, India, Morocco, Bolivia and Nepal in the last few years alone. Some of you may already be familiar with his popular Chamonix Blog, or his regular appearances as a commentator for worldwide climbing competitions.
Charlie has a great sense of humour and is guaranteed to make sure that you are having fun. And as Charlie is better at climbing than the rest of us put together, you are more likely to encounter him on one of our high altitude climbing trips than one of our more mellow treks.
Charlie is also a qualified Mountain Leader and certified Wilderness First Responder.
Emily Andrew
Also a qualified IML, Emily has many years' leading experience. Based in Chamonix, she's no stranger to the Tour du Mont Blanc; but also enjoys travelling further afield and has recently led trips to Alaska, Norway, Kilimanjaro and Nepal.
Emily is a full-time English and Geography teacher, and we just don't understand how she finds the time to stay so fit! When she's not working, she can be found trail running, road biking and ski touring, and this year she competed in the CCC and the Etape du Tour.
Despite claiming to do no training, she notches up some pretty fast times and is certainly one of our fittest leaders.
Fran Pothecary
Fran is a qualified IML with 10 years' experience, both in the Alps and her home ground of Scotland, and she is particularly fond of the Tour de Monte Rosa and Walkers' Haute Route treks.
Fran has spent a lot of time in Antarctica, including working at a British polar science research station. In the summer, she can usually be found talking to penguins from the deck of a sea kayak.
Other work includes photography, guiding in Iceland and biological survey work in her home mountains: the Cairngorms. A climber, paddler, skier and mountain biker with an MSc in Sustainable Mountain Development, Fran claims not to be an 'adventure athlete' but rather someone who loves being in the mountains come rain or shine, and sharing those experiences with others.
Gary Daines
A qualified International Mountain Leader, Gary is based in Argelès in the Pyrenees, and guides many of our snowshoeing and trekking trips both in the Chamonix area and further afield. He is also an accredited Duke of Edinburgh Award assessor, and often oversees the training and assessing of our Jura snowshoe groups.
In addition to having a brilliant laugh most of the time, Gary is also capable of being serious and we love his philosophical approach. It makes him a both a wonderful leader for our adult groups and an inspirational teacher for our youth groups.
Gary has been leading trips all over the world, and we're very lucky to have him on our team.
Helen O'Hara
Helen helps run the Cloud 9 Adventure office and will often be your first port of call when you email us.
Helen and Emma have been great friends for many years and have worked together all over the Alps. We worked our way through the Mountain Leader scheme together, and as a result developed a bond that only navigating through rainy weather in the mountains and still enjoying it can create.
Helen (affectionately known as Nellie) is based in Bellevaux in the Vallée du Brevon, so she is well placed to be on hand for all of our Alpine trips.
Ian Spare
Ian is an International Mountain Leader and First aid Trainer. He’s lived in Switzerland since 2003 where he also runs a B&B with his wife. His favourite places to trek are the Dolomites and Corsica where he enjoys the food, the wine and the beaches.
Ian is a director of the British Association of International Mountain Leaders and is the current president of their international association, the UIMLA.
Jack Doyle
Jack is a qualified International Mountain Leader. Jack’s college years coincided with his introduction to the Alps, and before the ink was even dry on his Computer Science degree, he headed off to Chamonix to hone his mountaineering skills and to learn how to ski.
Seven years of living and working in the mountains later, Jack has hiked, run, skied, climbed and wandered around various corners of the French, Italian and Swiss Alps, as well as spending spells in the Scottish Highlands. He knows more than a thing or two about cheese, having spent two years working in a Savoyard kitchen. He now splits his time between the Chamonix Valley and Athens in Greece, and will happily show you the best trails, routes and pizzerias in either location!
Jen Stretton
Jen is a qualified International Mountain Leader and yoga teacher based in Chamonix. She first visited the Alps on a university climbing trip, and immediately fell in love with the place. After graduating with a degree in Geography, Jen spent the next few years travelling the world, volunteering with conservation charities and freelance marketing to fund her adventures, and eventually settled full-time in the Chamonix valley in 2015.
An avid climber and environmentalist, Jen’s passion for the mountains and the natural world is contagious. When she’s not guiding, Jen spends her free time climbing, skiing, travelling and trying to keep up with her dog on trail runs.
Joel Evans
Joel is a qualified International Mountain Leader based in Chamonix. Weeks after finishing his degree in Finance in 2011 he left the Welsh hills for the Alps and has been exploring the Mont Blanc Massif ever since.
Joel currently splits his time between ski touring and steep skiing in the winter and trail running and mountaineering in the summer.
Lindsay Cannon
A qualified International Mountain Leader, Cross-Country Ski Instructor, Yoga Teacher & Trail Cycle Leader, Lindsay puts the rest of us to shame: and she's also pretty handy on a mountain bike!
Linsday is bubbly, brimming with enthusiasm and energy, and you may recognise her from the many BBC wildlife and environmental progammes she presents in her spare time.
Lindsay has been exploring the Alps for the last 20 years - she not only knows every nook and cranny of the Tour du Mont Blanc and Chamonix area, but is an expert on some of our lesser-known trails such as our Snowshoe Traverse of the Chablais, our Secret Tuscany hikes and our Norway cross country ski trips.
Lolo Frison
Lolo was born in “pretty but flat” central France and fell in love with the mountains after a winter trip to the Alps when she was 10. After leaving school, Lolo spent time visiting Asia, North Africa and Australia before embarking on a year working in Canada. Upon completing a road trip through the US national parks she returned to France and became an accompagnatrice (International Mountain Leader). Lolo loves sharing her knowledge and passion for the mountains and nature. She often works with school children introducing them to the outdoors and brings her extensive knowledge of flora & fauna and French culture along with her on every trip.
In her free time Lolo enjoys skiing, diving, yoga, art, trekking in the Himalayas and beekeeping.
Marit Van Kampen
Marit's is Dutch. Her love of the mountains started with skiing in Austria and developed in North Wales, where she started rock climbing and hiking at University. Climbing and hiking trips to the Alps and globally followed and, as a computer science and outdoor education teacher, Marit used her Mountain Leader (ML) qualification to take her pupils into the great outdoors.
Now a qualified International ML, Marit lives in the French Alps and teaches at an international school in Geneva. During the school holidays Marit is part of the Cloud 9 team, sharing her interest in the history, geology, flora and fauna of the Alps. Marit speaks four languages and aims to learn the names of alpine flowers in English, French, Dutch, German and Italian!
Marit Van Kampen
Marit is from the Netherlands. Her love of the mountains started with skiing in Austria and developed in North Wales, where she started rock climbing and hiking at University. Climbing and hiking trips to the Alps and globally followed. As a computer science and outdoor education teacher, Marit used her Mountain Leader qualification to take her pupils into the great outdoors.
Now a qualified International Mountain Leader (IML), Marit lives in the French Alps and teaches at an international school in Geneva. During the school holidays Marit is part of the Cloud 9 team, sharing her interest in the history, geology, flora and fauna of the Alps. Marit speaks four languages and aims to learn the names of alpine flowers in English, French, Dutch, German and Italian!
Nicole Claudon
Nicole was born in the Vosges region of France, but moved to Chamonix in 1984 with her mountain guide husband, who joined the PGHM (the mountain rescue). Nowadays they live in Sallanches with their 3 boys. Nicole has been working as an accompagnatrice (Internatianonal Mountain Leader) since 1996, and in the summers she leads popular trips such as the Tour du Mont Blanc, and also the lesser-known trips such as the Gran Paradiso, the Tour des Fiz and the Tour des Combins. In the winters she works as a snowshoe guide in Megève.
Nicole's favourite sports are hiking, skiing, ski touring and cycling. And her favourite places are Nepal, Réunion Island, Spain, Italy, Norway, Corsica and Morocco. And Nicole's other hobby: every autumn she joins her team of friends to harvest grapes, ready for wine making!
Pablo Herráez
A qualified International Mountain Leader and High Mountain Guide, Pablo is an excellent guide and leader and has quite a following!
Pablo is orginally from Spain, but came to the Alps to pursue his passion for the mountains. He's not bad at Spanish, and his English and French are pretty good too!
We love Pablo and are delighted to welcome him on board the Cloud 9 Adventure team!
Richard Betts
Rich is a qualified International Mountain Leader. He's been guiding and instructing for over 9 years. Since leaving the Fire Service he's focused on his passion for the outdoors, allowing him to explore the mountains of France, Italy, the UK, Austria and the Canadian Rockies. Learning about the weather, the natural environment and photographing outdoor experiences are passions which see Rich heading off to USA to chase storms in Tornado Alley.
When not in the mountains Rich is Search Technician for Lowland Rescue and is an Emergency First Responder. In his free time Rich enjoys climbing and trail running.
Robin Willmott
Robin is a qualified International Mountain Leader who has led expeditions in Africa, America, Asia and Europe. He is a natural explorer who's inquisitive and interested in the amazing diversity of peoples and places across the globe.
When he is not halfway up a mountain or cutting his way through deep jungle, Robin can be found navigating the inland waterways of the UK on his bright yellow narrowboat, Goldilocks.
Ronan Bégoc
Originally from Bretagne (Brittany), Ronan moved to the mountains 30 years ago to follow his passion for hiking, climbing, ski touring, running and painting. For the past 10 years he has been living in the Czech mountains and has been a qualified International Mountain Leader for 25 years.
Ronan loves to share his adventures, knowledge and sense of humour with all the groups he takes into the mountains.
Susanna Walker
Suze has been living and working in the Alps for the last 10 years and in her spare time is a keen mountaineer, trail runner, road cyclist, skier and yogi. Based in Chamonix since 2011, Suze is a fully qualified International Mountain Leader. Suze enjoys skiing all over the world and in 2014 organised a ski mountaineering expedition to climb peaks in Tajikistan.
An avid bird watcher and all-round nature enthusiast , Suze claims to be just as content wandering through a magical forest as she is ski touring and climbing in the steep peaks of the Alps. Whilst this may be true, she certainly has some impressive ski descents under her belt.
Tom Greenall
Tom is a qualified International Mountain Leader, Wilderness First Responder and Ski Guide. Based in Les Houches, Tom guides many of our snowshoeing and trekking trips both in the Chamonix area and further afield, along with cat-skiing and ski touring in Japan.
When not guiding, Tom can be found climbing up, or skiing or biking down various alpine peaks.
And as if that's not enough to keep him busy, Tom can also be found making eco-friendly wooden skis: he's the founder of the award-winning hand-made eco-ski company, Idris Skis.