USA-based Ultimate Alps students fly together from New York and begin and end their trip in Geneva, Switzlerand. Our travel office will book your flights.
Pack your bags and get ready to fly to the other side of the world! Before leaving, you'll have access to a packing list, flight roster and important contact information. We'll also send you a Bold Earth T-shirt so you can easily find other students at your departure gate. In Geneva's airport, you are met upon arrival by your Bold Earth trip leaders. We head to our first camp near Geneva to settle in and begin our orientation. During orientation we get to know each other and learn what to expect in the days ahead. Our daily routine, daily jobs, safety rules and all trip logistics are explained and the process of growing together as a group begins.
Our camp near Les Deux Alps is our first base and we attack the world's biggest skiable glacier for three days. We start our action-packed trip with rafting and a wonderful hike past many cascading waterfalls. During the mornings we are accompanied by certified ski and mountain guides, who show and instruct us how to ride and map out the areas. Skiing or snowboarding or both... it's your pick. Later in the morning, we ride on our own to enjoy total freedom on these wonderful slopes. Afternoons are filled with action as we hike past many cascades, visit a "cool" ice cave, get an adrenaline boost on the summer luge runs, and enjoy an afternoon of downhill mountain biking.
We travel into Italy and settle down at our Romeo & Julietta camp near Verona. We go for a swim, shop and visit this wonderful historic town. Viewing the arena in the evening, we experience an open air Italian opera. For dinner, real Italian pizza or pasta is part of our Verona dining out menu!
We make a short travel through the Alpine mountain ranges into the Italian Dolomites. This is where our three-day backpack starts. We try out the challenging Klettersteig (typical Alpine way of climbing). We stay in mountain cabins for two nights and enjoy some of the everyday festivities our mountain huts provide.
We enjoy two more days of skiing and snowboarding on the slopes, and enjoy a night in a Tibetan style mountain lodge where the snow covered peaks lie just outside our bedroom windows.
We travel to Interlaken, a renowned Swiss mountain village, where we settle into a cozy Swiss farm. We gear up for some more riding and skiing, this time on one of the impressive lakes in the area with two hours a day of wake board/water-ski/sailing instruction. At the farm we lend a helping hand with a service project in the surrounding forest, on the farm itself, or any other area that may need work. A group of fifteen people can accomplish a lot in one day!
It is only a short drive into Saas Fee in Switzerland, where many national teams are training for the upcoming winter season. We enjoy three more awesome days of skiing and snowboarding. We travel through the town of Zermatt, where we get to spend some time shopping. Our last night's camp involves an exhilarating downhill mountain ride into the dry canyon valley!
We pass by Chamonix as we head for Geneva, where we celebrate and look back on our last three fabulous weeks in the Alpine region of Europe!
Three CPR and First Aid Certified Venture Europe guides; all ground costs, all ground transportation including airport pickup and drop-off; all camping and camping gear (except sleeping bags, sleep mats and mess kits); all activities and gear listed in the above itinerary; all meals; local gratuities to wait-staff and all hotels or hostels.
Flights to/from Geneva, Switzerland; optional gratuities, extra snacks and souvenirs. Optional ski and snowboard equipment is available for rental at an extra price of $280 USD.
LEARNING • SERVICE • LEADERSHIP
