Splitboard Trips > Alps > Trip & Split 5 Day Sessions

Trip & Split

Our Trip and Split splitboard sessions are designed for riders who want the freedom to chase the best snow across the wider Chablais Alps. This five-day adventure is all about flexibility and micro-managing the weather to ensure you’ll be in the best place to ride, every time.

If it’s raining in France it could well be snowing at higher elevations in Italy, so we’ll take you there. If it clouds over in Italy we can move you to Switzerland where the sun is set to shine, sometimes all in the course of the same trip.

Because we’re supremely mobile, we can follow any storms and make sure each day delivers the best possible conditions. You will spend three nights in comfortable mountain huts, ride big-mountain terrain and tour through spectacular valleys while guided by one of our pro-UIAGM splitboard guides.

The session usually starts with a warm-up tour in our home valley. From the next day onwards, we travel to whichever zone has the best snow. Sometimes this might mean riding in three different countries over the same week. You simply focus on the experience while we handle the planning.

This is one of the most guaranteed ways to find the best conditions on your week in the Alps, and it remains one of our most popular splitboard trips. Our guiding focus is always on finding you the very best snow to ride. This exhilarating backcountry splitboard trip is for riders who understand that to score the best conditions, you have to stay flexible.

The trip always starts in our home valley where we’ll spend the day making a local warm-up tour. Early on the following morning, we will head to wherever has the best conditions to ride in. Over the next 4 days, we might travel to multiple zones to ensure you get the goods. It’s that simple.

What isn’t so simple is working out where those conditions will be, but you have booked with a supremely mobile and very experienced splitboard guiding operation, so you can leave that thinking to us.

Trip & Split

When’s the best time to come?

The best time for this trip is in the spring months. Most of our trips take place during March and April.

5th – 9th April, €2195

Enquire Now

Our guiding focus is always on finding you the very best snow to ride.

This exhilarating backcountry splitboard trip is for riders who understand that to score the best conditions, you have to stay flexible.

The trip always starts in our home valley on a Sunday, where we’ll spend the day making a local warm-up tour. Early on the Monday morning, we will head to wherever has the best conditions to ride in. Over the next 4 days, we might travel to 4 different zones to ensure you get the goods.

It’s that simple.

The possibilities are endless

It could be that we ride a giant untracked couloir somewhere in the Swiss Canton of Valais on Monday, and stay in a mountain refuge for a couple of nights before heading into Italy for the next few days, as the sun has come out and they received a half metre of fresh snow a few days before.

Touring through spectacular terrain and riding lines you’ll always remember are guaranteed on these trips.

This is high mountain (UIAGM) guiding at its best, and the possibilities are endless. It’s also one of our most popular trips.

Enquire Now

What about conditions?

We feel that the Alps don’t get enough recognition as a splitboarding destination these day’s and while we love going on our more exotic trips to places like Greenland or Kyrgyzstan we have very little influence on the conditions there, we either score or we don’t.

In the Alps, we can mitigate any bad weather enough to deliver the best experience every time. So, for us, that is why the Alps will always edge it as the ultimate splitboard destination.

How is this trip different?

Many people have had bad weather experiences in the Alps and haven’t had the option of moving to where conditions are better, or, more commonly, we find, have only ever been out with ski-tour groups led by a ski tour guide.

This can leave people feeling a little dejected on ascents suited to skiers and thoroughly fed up when having to push out on a long flat.

With a pro UIAGM splitboard guide at the front and a CPC qualified driver/ tour manager at the back, you’ll have a good time on the ups and especially the downs.

Enquire Now

Programme
Fitness & Ability
What’s Included
What’s Not Included
Why Book
Terms & Conditions

The Programme

We start the session in Chatel for big warm up day somewhere in the Chablais Alps, returning to Chatel for the night. The next morning we’ll jump into the T5 and head to wherever has the best weather and snow for a big mountain adventure. You will be led by a Rider Social High Mountain guide (UIAGM) over 5 days in potentially multiple different destinations. We will usually spend 3 nights at altitude in mountain hut’s looking for the next big turns on day by day basis.

Maximum Group Size: 4

Fitness & Ability

You are comfortable riding pitches ( without assistance) of up to 35 degrees in variable conditions. Previous splitboard experience is highly desirable. A little mountaineering (using harness, crampons etc) experience is, again, desirable but not obligatory.

Please get in touch if you’d like further clarification on this.

For a Trip & Split you must have a good level of fitness. Expect to climb a minimum of 1000m+ of vertical each day at a pace of approx 300 vertical metres per hour.

What’s Included

5 full days of UIAGM splitboard guiding and backcountry craft tuition
3 nights’ mountain refuge accommodation including dinner & breakfast
All splitboard and safety equipment (axe, crampons, harness)
Transport over the 5 days
Rider Social backmarker / crew support member

What’s Not Included

Flights
Insurance
Personal snowboard equipment
Any odd lift ticket required
2 nights’ accommodation in Chatel
Airport transfers from Geneva

Why Book

This is a must for storm chasers.

Staying flexible on a snow chasing, splitboard adventure road trip means we will find you only the best conditions to ride in.

The mountains are living and breathing behemoths and don’t give care much about your week away.

We do though and our unique splitboard trips ensure you’ll get the best that’s on offer.

Read our blog post on we were able to deliver the best splitboard trips

Covid 19 Safety

Payment Policy: A deposit of €450 is required immediately upon booking your session with The Rider Social. The balance of your trip costs are due 6 weeks before the course start date. Failure to meet the payment deadline 6 weeks before the start date will forfeit your place on that session without refund.

Cancellation policy: For cancellations made up to 6 weeks before the course start date, 0% of the ‘deposit’ amount paid will be refunded. For cancellations occurring within 6 weeks of the course start date no refund payments will be made. If cancelling a course within 6 weeks of the course start date, payments made cannot be refunded, carried forward or moved to another course.

Refund policy: The Rider Social is not liable for refunds or compensation due to late arrival, failure to attend or complete a course due to injury or illness, travel restrictions, resort closure, adverse weather conditions, force majeure or any other causes or conditions outside the control of The Rider Social

Covid-19: In the event that you can’t attend your session due to Covid-19 associated travel and holiday disruptions including (but not exclusive to) resort closure, FCO imposed travel restrictions, airline train or ferry travel bans imposed by International or local governments, a total refund of the balance paid, minus the non refundable deposit amount, will be refunded to you (the client).

In the event that you can’t attend your course due to you, (the client) being personally affected by the Covid-19 virus (including illness, inability to travel due to illness or any other personal restrictions affecting your travel) The Rider Social will not be liable to refund any monies (as stated in the refund policy above). It is strongly recommended that you have adequate personal insurance for illness, personal cancellation and personal travel disruption.

Upon booking any advertised session of any duration with The Rider Social you are in agreement of the Payment & Cancellations policies listed above.

FAQs

Where are the best places to go splitboarding in the Alps?

The Alps have a vast amount of terrain, there are splitboarding routes suitable for all levels. In France, two of the most iconic places to visit include La Grave in the Ecrins National Park and Chamonix, the home of Alpinism in the Mont Blanc Massif. The best places for splitboarding will always come down to where has the best snow conditions on your trip. Chamonix is just a 90-minute drive from where we are situated, and we often run splitboard tours around the area.
How do you find good snow conditions for ski touring and splitboarding?

Finding good conditions for splitboarding comes from understanding the weather, the geography and the recent snow history of the place you want to go to. It isn’t straightforward and it takes time and practice to learn about these things. If you don’t regularly look for these good conditions yourself then you will always have a better chance of finding the best snow with a UIAGM splitboard guide.
What do I need for splitboard tours at high altitude?

Splitboard touring at high altitudes requires a higher level of fitness than if you are splitboarding in the mid mountains. The air at altitude is thinner and the ascents can be technical which can quickly tire you, if you aren’t experienced in the skintrack.

Standard kit for splitboarding at altitude includes (but isn’t limited to):

Splitboard & splitboard equipment: skins, bindings, splitboard crampons and poles. Safety equipment: Avalanche transceiver, shovel and probe. Alpinism equipment: Ice-axe, harness, rope and boot crampons.

The Rider Social runs clinics to teach splitboarders about using this equipment.