Evolution 2 Chamonix — Attraction in Bonneville

Be Careful - Very disappointed with the service received . I rarely provide feedback but this time feel it important to do so. My wife, good friend, his son ( 13 years old but has spent 4 seasons where he lived in the Alps and skied at least twice a week during the season ) were hoping to ski the Vallee Blanche and visited Chamonix precisely for this purpose. The 3 adults ( mid / late 50's ) have all skied for over 30 years . When we enquired about the VB with Evolution2 we were told that anyone under 15 years of age needed to have a ' ski test ' ( subsequently this proves not to be the case - and to my knowldge its only Evo2 who insist on this - be warned ) so the 4 of us booked a ski test / lesson for 2.5 hours for 240 Euros on Sunday afternoon , expecting an Off Piste Test / Lesson with the guide who would take us on the VB the following day . We skied at Les Grand Montets ( all unpisted anyway ) but in between the pistes rather than true off piste. It had snowed heavily in the previous days so we were skiing on steep slopes in 30cm deep, heavy, churned up powder in poor light / visibility / light snowfall - so not easy conditions. We are all very competent skiers, can get down virtually all slopes but our style does go a bit on the steeper , gnarlier slopes, and we have good but not excellent powder skills. We all thought the lesson went pretty well, with a couple of minor falls between us . At the end of lesson we received feedback - the 13 year old wasn't technically good enough , i was too unfit ( i don't pretend to be Joe Wicks and admit i was puffing a bit but felt the feedback harsh , especially considering the conditions and i had skied all morning as well ) and that the 3 adults were only capable of skiing the VB if we did the Classic ( easy ) route, there was a lot less snow than currently and in ideal weather conditions. I then phoned Evo2 that afternoon to try and book the VB for the 3 of us adults for the next day but they refused , advising we weren't good enough . Instead they suggested a further lesson for another 240 Euros to ' fine tune ' our technique - as if after 30 years of skiing this would have made any difference ! i politely refused the lesson. It is also worth pointing out that during our lesson we found out that our instuctor wasn't even a fully qualified mountain guide and had no qualifications to let him take peple on the VB - I therefore question his competence to make a judgement. By this time on Sunday evening, it was too late to get another guiding company for the VB the following day ( Monday ) and as my friend and his son were leaving on the Tuesday we couldn't ski the VB together. This was a real shame. However, luckily on the Monday, my wife and myself found another guiding company to take us both on the VB. They asked a few sensible questions about our skiing ability, which we answered honestly, and we were good to go. The guide was fantastic, and once he had seen us ski on the initial part of the descent , decided we were good enough skiers to do one of the more difficult routes. We had a great day - But No Thanks to Evo2 -...

Well, at the time of reservation for my ski lessons in group mode, asked for intermediate 2, I made sure my request was processed and off I went. Come the time for the lesson, I’m at the beginners group and not changed because all the groups are full. I wasted my day skiing on a green and blue slope. I’m under no circumstances the best most experienced skier but can handle myself down red slopes quite confidently. So, if you are going to book here, just make sure you are placed on a group were you are going to learn something or reinforce your technique not go down the easiest slope on the resort at crawling speed.

I do not want to highlight this but maybe they assumed I can not ski because I’m latin American, perhaps a bit of bias and unintentional racism, who knows!

I called this morning to let them know I’m not going to the rest of the ski lessons explaining my reasons and alas surprise, no refund nor help. I expected this so it’s ok. I will just not book again any other class with them and I will discourage anyone from doing it as well.

I got a phonecall from them saying “intermediate 2” was black pistes skiiers and I was not quite there (which is true, but I can do reds, so intermediate 1 is what? Confused here because I was in debutants)

Anyway, offered I could pay extra for a private instructor (I don’t have the money) and no other solution. Thus this is the end. Waste of money and be aware, intermediate 2 is for black piste skiiers so you have...

A review of Glacier Hiking Initiation completed in Aug 2021.

My husband and I booked a group session. Despite no prior experience with glacier/snow walking and no experience using any of the equipments, we decided to take up the challenge since the Evolution 2 assured that participants need not have prior experience and this activity is meant for “beginners”. Our experience was quite unpleasant.

Other than the both of us, there were 2 other participants who, despite being quite experienced, were very kind and encouraging. Our guide, Michel(?), seemed experienced but wasn’t patient enough to guide inexperienced participants. He kept rushing our group since the very start, offered very short and inadequate breaks (maximum 5 mins per hour) and offered bare minimum guidance. Whenever me or my partner made any beginner’s mistake, he retorted very harshly, which made us feel embarrassed and ashamed. This made the whole experience very unenjoyable and stressful. From what was supposed to be a 5-6 hours tour, we completed in under 4 hours. He admitted to skipping some areas for some reason. Nevertheless, I was glad when it was over. My only regret is not taking enough photos because I will probably never book this tour again.

Update in response: This review is put up here mainly to raise awareness based on my personal experience. My partner emailed questions prior to the tour but it went unanswered. Your non-apology here...