Icicle Mountaineering - Windermere

Seb Folder

First of all Icicle is fantastic.

I spent a month with them on their extensive ‘Alpine Apprenticeship’ program.
Target at beginners this course plans to equip you with the skills and experiences to summit either the Matterhorn Or Eiger.
During the course we successfully and safely summited:

Mt Blanc
Dent Du Geant
Matterhorn

And many wonderful days on technical traverses and multi pitch trad climbs.
As well as more geeky days spent working on crevasse rescue and rope systems.
(There was a lot of room for individual input based on skill levels and desired routes or outcomes which was really nice)

This course was expensive, £6000 (not including cable cars and gear rental), but in comparison to other companies there is nothing even remotely like it in this price range. And in hindsight it delivered on everything that was advertised and more, a serious yet worthwhile investment for any inspiring mountaineers.

I think perhaps there are some corners cut when it came to some squeezed accomodation and less then great gear rental BUT! The safety standards are flawless, all of the guides are IFMGA qualified, with ample experience and a good balance of professionalism and friendlyness. I never felt that my safety was compromised or overlooked during the entirety of the month. On top of this the logistics were handled very well, during the 4 weeks there was only one or two small hiccups, a slight inconvenience at best. Other than that everything ran incredibly smoothly and the communication was crystal clear.

When it comes to Kingsley and Sarah, they couldn’t have been more helpful.

Sarah has excellent communication, she patiently responded to all of my 30+ anxious emails in the weeks leading up to the course and continually helped me with any and all inquisitions as big or small as they may be from 2 months out right through until the end of the course.

And Kingsley, head of on ground operations, has a priceless well of experience and knowledge with everything to do in the mountains. He often sat with me long after our daily briefings to help; teach me knots, explain rescue systems and talk about long term goals and plans, etc. I found it was actually during these sessions that I would learn the most and was able to retain the information thrown at me during the days.

During my weeks with Icicle 10s of people successfully summited Mt Blanc, The Matterhorn and The Eiger.

Icicle is an extremely experienced company with a high level of professionalism and expertise. The weeks I spent with them in Chamonix were some of the best weeks of my life and I will never forget them.

Thank you Sarah and Kingsley.

Thomas Jay

They were great from start to finish.

Just come back from the Mont Blanc trip & it was all planned excellently. Kingsley & Sarah were in constant communication with the group. The accommodation was great & guides were even better.

Thankfully reached the summit.

Will certainly be booking a trip with them again.

Marion Head

We had a wonderful 10 days walking the Tour of Mont Blanc. We used Icicle to plan our self-guided trip and this meant that all our refuges/mountain huts were booked and our days walking were well planned. Everything worked extremely well and we had a very successful and enjoyable trip. This is our second time using Icicle after having climbed the Matterhorn last summer. We have always found Sarah and Kingsley very approachable, welcoming and eager to answer any questions. They went out of their way to help us and to ensure the trip ran smoothly. We love Icicle and will book many trips and adventures in the future with them!

Alexandra Birchall

I've been on two trips with Icicle now - Monte Rosa 4,000m peaks last year, and a Mont Blanc summit course this year. Both had excellent guides and lots of fantastic quality mountaineering. Although the weather wasn't good enough for Mont Blanc, we did some incredible and challenging alternative routes that were a great experience and helped towards developing my skills, so I didn't feel like I missed out at all. The guides kept us safe and ensured an amazing time. I've already booked my next trip and I'm really looking forward to it!

Konstantinos Kostopoulos

An absolutely delightful experience is first of all to communicate with Sarah who runs all office work and booking procedures for Icicle Mountaineering. All logistics were flawlessly organized for both Eiger and Matterhorn that I climbed in July 2024.
Then comes Kingsley the “man” in Chamonix with such interpersonal skills that arranges schedules at an extremely professional way and finally my guides Juan and Martin were absolutely fantastic and did everything they could, in order to put me in the best position for success and transform a fearful dream into a rewarding experience.

Thank you very much for an unforgettable experience. Hope to see you soon 🙂

Dragana

John “Urby” Urbanik

Mount Elbrus Trip September 2019

I debated on whether I should leave a review or not and even longer on which rating I should leave. I’m not sure if they would warrant a 2 or a 3 star for their service and since being back from the trip almost a month and no contact from Icicle to ask for feedback or check how the trip went I decided upon a very reluctant 3 star given that communication is pretty much the single thing they’re offering on this trip and where I feel there was the most issues.

Let me start off by saying the trip itself was superb, an amazing experience but this is not a reflection on the organisation, diligence or effort by Icicle as it was very clear once we were on the trip that all the aspects were in fact provided by the company Elbrus Tours, the guides, accommodation, transportation etc are all provided by Elbrus Tours.

The extent of Icicles effort seems to extend to guaranteeing your booking to Elbrus Tours who then are the operator who fulfils your requirements.

So it seems we paid a premium to be booked with a U.K. based company rather than with the operator themselves. The benefit of this could have been communication but this is where Icicle were below par.

Firstly and to give an honest account, Hands up some of our group myself included were also slow with communication but there was little in the way of drive or focus from Icicle. There was delay and mix up when issuing invitations to allow you to complete Visas. Any changes in Invitation documents took days when this is something that can be done almost instantaneously online for little cost I found to understand.

Outdated and incorrect information was supplied about our trip regarding accommodation, itinerary and what to expect.

On the day I flew out we get an essential trip information email fully detailing what kit etc and also where to purchase maps of the area and other useful info. Something that should have been sent weeks and weeks before our departure.

The free kit bag gift arrived the day after I flew out and when I raised my disappointment it was met with passive aggressive remarks about it being free and not guaranteed or essential.

So if I was to do it again, I wouldn’t book with Icicle as I experienced no benefit and I would go straight to Elbrus Tours and save some money and get the accurate, up to date info directly from the operator themselves.

The trip itself and the experience would be a 4-5 star

The performance of Icicle and dealing with them as a business would be a 2 star.

Richard Harrison

Sarah & Kingsley were fantastic in organising our trip, not made easy as there were 9 of us and we elected to do the full TMB circuit in 7 days, self guided. From organising our airport transfers, making all the hut bookings, an excellent pre departure briefing from Kingsley, everything went like clockwork. Well done guys and thank you.

Dean Hague

Recently returned from my second Icicle trip and very impressed once again. Great company run by passionate and knowledgable people. The trips are super value for money and the guides I have had have all been safe and great fun. Icicle always respond swiftly to emails etc and provide a wealth of information relevant to your chosen trip. Would recommend them and will be booking again.