About Us

We moved to the Ariège in 2007 from Sheffield in the UK with our two boys, Luca, 7, and Ben who is 5. We had got to know the area when Ruth's parents lived near Montpellier, up the Mediterranean coast, and we had travelled down in search of mountains to climb and walk. We fell in love with the region, in particular because of the friendliness of the locals, and because the diverse landscape lent itself to so many of the activities we enjoyed.

Ruth Jenkins was the first woman climber in the UK to climb the grade of 8b, was in the Britsh Climbing Team from 1992 - 1996, and until we left the UK was Joint Manager of the British Climbing Team. She has 15 years experience as a climbing and outdoor instructor, and is an International Mountain Leader.

She combines this with work as a stuntwoman for film and television. Prior to this she worked as a Youth Worker and also has qualifications in Personal Training and Massage, as well as Yoga and Kayaking.

Martin Rhodes qualified as a doctor in Sheffield. He has combined his medical career with his love of the outdoors to establish himself as an expedition doctor with particular expertise in Polar and high altitude medicine. This has taken him on many expeditions to the Greater Ranges and to the Arctic and Antarctica . He is Chief Medical Officer of two extreme environment logistics companies, Poles Apart and Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions.

He is a mountain addict and enjoys all you can do amongst them – running, cycling, skiing, climbing, snow-shoeing, dog-sledding and more!

He is currently working towards his International Mountain Leader Award.

Luca and Ben go to school in nearby Pamiers. We are really proud of how well they have settled in. They are fluent French speakers and more than happy to correct your French pronunciation!