Founder & Team
"Sharing a passion and great respect for the mountain."
Everyone who is involved with AlpEmotion has a strong attachment to the Valais, whether they were born here or simply have an emotional attachment
Laure Wuilleret Mariéthoz
Founder of AlpEmotion
After working for several years in the luxury goods market, notably as Head of Products for the Swiss branch of Maison Cartier, Laure decided to throw all her energies and knowledge into the creation of AlpEmotion. She has been a skier since the age of 3 and is a qualified ski instructor (ISIA level 3).
Her grandfather came from the Valais, and it is perhaps this heritage which makes her so passionate about mountains. She always has her hiking boots and cross-country skis in the back of her car so that she can set off to discover new places at the drop of a hat.
Séverine Bornet
UIAGM mountain guide, ski instructor
Séverine is AlpEmotion's chief guide. With her permanent good humour, it is Séverine who will draw up your off-piste programme.
Séverine is from the Valais and proud of it! She played in the national volleyball league for some years, until she met a man who inspired her to leave the court and discover the mountains from another perspective.
A qualified ski instructor, she went on to complete several years training in a male-dominated field, eventually becoming the 6th female mountain guide in the Valais.
Nathalie Nemeth Defago
Lower altitude guide
Nathalie is a great lover of nature in all its forms!
At the moment she is training as a herbalist and is an expert in the plants of the Valais' high mountain pastures.
She is also a passionate proponent of the local dialect of the valley of her birth, making it the topic of her degree thesis.
She will take you off the beaten path and introduce you to the secrets of mountain wildlife, cuisine and local Alpine culture.
Pierre Olivier
UIAGM mountain guide, ski and telemark instructor
Pierre-Olivier Bagnoud is Swiss but first and foremost he is from the Valais.
Pierre-Olivier is an expert in heli-skiing and ski-touring, so you can feel safe in the hands of this skiing and mountain lover. He has great experience of the Alpine environment, along with that common sense and friendly nature which is typical of the people of the Valais.
He has a mass of experiences gained from his travels and expeditions to Russia, the Himalaya and Africa.
Georges Mariéthoz
Retired and bubbling with energy
Georges is like a Duracell battery.... always full of fun and brimming with energy! A sportsman through and through, Georges loves to share his passion for his mountain region.
He spent more than 40 years working for one of the top ski brands, so he knows all the sports shops in French-speaking Switzerland and particularly all the routes, paths and tracks in the Valais. He can welcome you in French, English, German or in his own local patois.
Marlène Galletti
Herbalist, lower altitude guide
Marlene is a real part of the land. She has spent her whole life in the mountains.
In her younger days she tended livestock and made cheese in the high pastures, and now she is a mountain guide and herbalist. She is fascinated by plants and their nutritional, medicinal and cosmetic uses.
She walks the mountain paths of the Valais and the Himalayas, making people aware of the beauty of the landscape and the connections between ecosystems.
Yannick Pralong
UIAGM mountain guide, snowboard and telemark instructor
After travelling around the world several times, splitting his time between Switzerland, Canada/USA and New Zealand, Yannick Pralong has finally come back home to the Val-d'Hérens.
He is a winter sports enthusiast, acting as a heli-skiing guide and chief snowboard instructor for a ski school. He loves the snow more than anything! Some years he never even sees green grass, as he strings together seasons in the Remarkables, Thyon and Aspen.