The day starts with fantastic coffee. “We’re very lucky to work with a local roastery just down the mountain in Lausanne and their coffee is amazing, really butterscotchy.” Tom Avery, world record holder, ski mountaineer, polar explorer and Founding Director of Ski Verbier Exclusive starts his day just like the rest of us.

Breakfast: a full English, or perhaps a more healthy, homemade granola and fruit. Then, one of the drivers will take you to the bottom of the lift to meet your ski guide. They know the mountain better than anyone and, just as important, the best spots for lunch too. A sunny South facing terrace accompanied by a traditional Swiss rosti, followed by an ascent up Mont Fort, the highest mountain in Verbier at 3330 metres. Of course, the day wouldn’t be complete without an après sundowner on a terrace such as La Rouge’s. Driven back to your chalet, maybe a relaxing massage awaits, or the house cocktail, champagne, canapés? And the best thing, tomorrow, we do it all over again.

A typical day in Verbier with Ski Verbier Exclusive is perhaps as wonderfully atypical as it gets. Making the unimaginable tangible, the fairy tale a reality and a dream come true, this is what Tom Avery does. From the natural to the business world, from record-breaking polar expeditions to founding a luxury holiday provider, “it’s all very much the same” he confesses. “Whether you’re pulling a sled across an ice cap, whether you’re trying to lead a successful team out in the Alps, whether on a corporate level, whether it’s a sports team,” you have to get people to “buy into this crazy goal of yours.”

The fine words of a motivational speaker, a challenge of its own is not to feel empowered listening to Tom’s story. The hands of optimism and romanticism mould his outlook on humanity to preach an unshaken belief that anything is possible. Starting off rock climbing in the UK, snow’s ability to transform a landscape, creating something otherworldly and ethereal captured a young Avery’s imagination. An avid skier, combined with the utmost admiration for the likes of Ernest Shackleton, Captain Scott and Robert Peary, snowy caps and plains became the ultimate playground for undiscovered adventure. Crazy or genius, Tom’s instincts to survive have not just seen him through the dangerous terrains of snow and ice, but as a business leader in a global pandemic and endeavour him to fight through the rising threats of an ongoing climate crisis. Transformation is something of a theme here.

Crazy or romantic? Crazy or optimistic, mad, motivated? ‘Refreshingly eccentric’ was the phrase used by the now King Charles III as Tom Avery reached the North Pole in 2005. This fascination of his with the unknown capitalised on a faith in Robert Peary and Matthew Henson, known as the first founders of the North Pole back in 1909. A controversial expedition, achieved in 37 days, the pair’s success was doubted by many sceptics and, ever the optimist, Avery set out himself with a team of fellow explorers and dogs to prove them wrong. Not only did they achieve this, but their journey also slashed the record time by 4 hours, becoming the new, fastest team in history. With the odds stacked against them, their first thought was relief and the second, very quickly after: “right, we’ve now got to get out of here.”

Refreshingly eccentric, a compliment according to Tom, he admits that it is rather quirky that we do these expeditions. Yet, a self-confessed, warm-blooded person, these adventures and all the wondrous possibilities achievable by mankind that they stand for have, in turn, also brought him face to face with some of humanity’s catastrophic consequences: global warming. The Arctic Ocean has completely changed since Peary’s day, when the ice was around 3.5 metres thick. In 2005, Tom and his team stood on an average thickness of just 2 metres and today, you would only find around 1.7. Reaching the North Pole, the pinnacle of a glorious, white, frosted finish line; what their team were faced with was a real-life enactment of this disintegration, ice breaking up around them. As a result, a return journey to the Pole simply hasn’t been done within the last 30 years. Trekking backwards and flattening off the snow and ice themselves to allow a ski plane to land, they were whisked away with sights never quite to be forgotten.

A plane ride away, but never far from home, in the 23 years Tom has been visiting Verbier, the shortening of the Mont Fort glacier is also now frighteningly evident. Losing nearly a metre a day in depth, his first encounters with the piste saw himself and friends coasting their way down and right into the heart of the resort. Now, your options are a hike back up, or a secondary lift. With three daughters who love their skiing, Avery expresses a genuine fear for how soon they will start to witness their own changes too. It is therefore no surprise to discover that this green heart of a first-hand witness to our global, climate crisis permeates into the core values and ethos of his business. The inability to stand still of a man that has been moving and challenging his whole life is exactly the pace required to transform the rapid direction in which our Winter world is headed. Combating climate change with changes of his own, Tom’s business, Ski Verbier Exclusive stands to represent the future of an industry that can become capable of saving itself.

Grown out of a love consolidated with Verbier in 1999, Tom Avery obtained a series of the region’s finest, “picture postcard chocolate box chalets” to launch Verbier Exclusive in 2009. During his time as a driver for Ski Verbier, a gap at the top end of the market was noticeably unfulfilled and, a seeker of the undiscovered, Avery did what he does best. Acquiring his beloved Ski Verbier and original provider in 2014, they are now Ski Verbier Exclusive, operating solely in Verbier since 1992. The resort’s beautiful South facing terrace overlooking the giant peaks of the Val de Bagnes captures an apex of the Alps, featuring the Montblanc Massif, the Grand Combin and the Matterhorn. Made for the people that embrace the best things in life, the finest restaurants as well as a vast range of runs, Verbier becomes, as Tom proudly professes, “one of if not the greatest ski resort in the world.”

Far from his own days of lugging snow chains on and off a two-wheel drive Ford transit, “driving is [just] a microcosm of what we do.” Verbier not being known for ski-in ski-out access, SVE’s driving service is paramount to ensuring customer comfort and ease on the slopes. Taking you to the start of the lift, it is not only the speed of service, but the charisma of the chalet teams that keep people coming back here. To be looked after with an attention for detail is at the heart of what Ski Verbier Exclusive does. A concierge service that gets to know you on a personal level, tailoring specific bookings and experiences; a chef that is aware of any dietary likes or dislikes, working on a menu designed for you; even an app, ready to deliver fresh bread and pastries every morning. One bonus of having an ‘eccentric’ adventurer at the helm, even the most unusual requests are always on the table.

Ensuring their customers live in the present, Tom and his team are busy taking care of the future. SVE goes much deeper than delivering an unrivalled ski holiday, acknowledging an interconnectedness between their operation and the very survival of the landscape on which they sit and shred. The company depends on these pristine mountain environments, not just for fun, but for jobs as well: something Tom expresses even more gratitude for with COVID-19 in the rearview mirror. Discarding bottled mineral water in favour of the mountains’ own alpine source, guests are invited to refill branded SVE bottles instead, donating any sale proceeds to the Protect our Winters charity. Food and kitchen ingredients are sourced locally; whilst in the bathrooms, plastic waste and individually wrapped items are bumped for luxury, refillable, Bamford Organic products and cosmetic pads in glass jars.

As a resort, Verbier’s lift system is proudly powered by 100% zero-carbon hydroelectric energy. With its bluebird days serving up a series of postcard pictures, they also direct rays onto the banks of solar panels that provide electricity and hot water for many of the mountain restaurants. The one area remaining a target, Tom confesses, is the driving service. The challenge of Switzerland’s lack of charging points for electric cars is one they are desperately seeking to overcome, in talks with a number of vehicle companies to hopefully make this change. As global warming threatens the numerous homes and retreats of the ski world, it is up to the resorts themselves to do their bit and ‘Protect our Winters.’ There is a great irony in an industry built on snow contributing to its melting and decease. Their futures are tied and the efforts of Tom and Ski Verbier Exclusive only seek to tighten this grip.

What’s next? For the company, a full and familiar COVID-free season to celebrate their 30-year anniversary this Winter. For the industry as a whole? The future is high. In terms of what else is out there to rival Verbier, Tom simply surrenders, “I haven’t found it.” Mountain restaurants, big mountains, high altitude skiing, incredible lift systems, snowmaking, atmosphere, stunning chalets, an iconic backdrop and its proximity to Geneva, it’s a tall order to rival. One place that is next on his list: Japan. With the climate crisis as it is, low-altitude resorts are struggling already, so places high in snow, the likes of Japan, the Rockies, Verbier, “that’s where the future lies.” For Tom, the future is perhaps a little smaller. A wife, children and life in the Cotswolds, new adventures are now closer to home. Climbing their first mountain together in Wales last year, there is plenty more to come.

Trading in the record-breaking for nurturing the next generation of adventurers in the making, be it as a speaker, as a business owner, as an environmentalist, as a dad, the explorer in Tom Avery is always searching. Upholding the spirit of Verbier with an energy and confidence to inspire responsible possibilities, his direction with Ski Verbier Exclusive presents a strong example to the ski industry of how the future is ours for the taking.

Because the best thing? Tomorrow, we can do it all over again.