We publish how we plan.

The shape of the company

The company started as a single route — eight days in the Dolomites — that one guide wanted to do properly. Twelve years on, the catalogue has grown to 8 routes across 8 countries, and the original brief has not changed: walk every route twice before publishing, name a guide on every departure, and keep the group small enough that one long table still works.

We cap every group at twelve, and two of our routes cap at ten because the specific accommodation will not hold more. We do not run departures we cannot staff with a named guide. The calendar on this site reflects exactly that: every departure has a real person attached to it.

How we plan

Every new route starts as one a lead guide already loves. We walk it twice, in different seasons. We watch the mornings. After the first scouting run we cut at least one day's worth of activity. A route is not published until a named guide has signed off on it.

The full method is written up in the journal. The short version: we would rather publish fewer routes and walk them well.

Who walks with you

Our guides are certified — IFMGA for the alpine routes, ACGM for Patagonia, cultural licences for Kyoto and Andalusia. Many of them are local to the route they lead. The guides page lists every one of them, with the number of departures each is leading this season.