French Alpine Walking Challenge Holidays

Group challenges For groups who fancy something a bit more extreme than a standard mountain walking holiday why not spend a weekend tackling a Walk Weekender challenge walk? Ideal as a personal group challenge or to raise money for a favourite charity we will ensure you have an unforgettable weekend.

Events such as the UK's '3 Peaks Challenge' and the "Welsh 3000s" can be easily translated to the beautiful setting of the French Alps - and the chance of getting better weather for your challenge is higher here too!

Group on the summit of Le Suet We can work with your group to ensure you get the most from your challenge weekend, going so far as to include various multi-activity elements such as Via Feratta, Canyoning and Kayaking into your weekend. All the walking challenge routes we can suggest consist of long distance Mountain walking, with steep vertical ascents and descents and some scrambling in places.

Our base near the beautiful lakeside town of Annecy and at the foot of some of the most majestic peaks in the Aravis region, is ideal for taking on these challenges - you can even walk directly to and from the Lodge on some walks.

We appreciate that groups like to tailor their challenge weekend to their own requirements so contact us to discuss your thoughts. We can offer day walks, an 'Alpine 3 Peaks Challenge', overnight walks and much more, including peaks such as the Aguille Vert (2045 metres) overlooking Chinaillon, the Mont La Chat (2029 metres) above St Jean and the daunting Tournette (2351 metres) above lake Annecy.

Details of our favourite 3 Walking Challenges can be found below. We are confident that any one of them will provide your group with a suitable test, a rewarding challenge and some great memories - and maybe the odd blister or two!

The Belier Weekend Challenge

There is the opportunity to join more than 2,000 other competitors and take part in The Belier Mountain challenge - an annual event organised by La Clusaz sports club in August. The Belier is a running and walking route covering either 27km with 1000 vertical metres (The Belier) or 13km with 450metres of vertical ascent (The Agneau). The top athletes run the Belier in under 2 hours, but for walkers it is normally nearer to 5 or 6 hours depending on your fitness levels. Everyone can enjoy the great party atmosphere in the village afterwards.

The Grand Tour des Aravis

Our biggest walk is a full two-day event covering the full circuit of the Aravis Region. Starting from our St Jean base we drop down to Entremont before climbing back up into The Bargy above Le Grand Bornand and pass round to Chinaillon. After a full day's walking (likely to be 8 - 10 hours) we overnight (camping or chalet) and enjoy a hard earned meal before an early night. The next day the walk continues over to Col des Annes, passing round into the Aravis mountains and taking in Etale, Manigod and Beauregard before returing to our base in St Jean where we promise to greet you with a cold beer or glass of wine. A superb walk - but not one for the faint hearted!

3,000 metres in a weekend

During the course of this weekend you will climb the equivalent of approximately 3 Mount Snowdons with over 3,000 metres of vertical ascent. Each day brings a new walk and summit to conquer with a daily climb of around 1,000 metres. If the weather is good and your group are able walkers who don't mind a bit of non-technical scrambling then you could stand atop Mont Lachat, the Aguille Vert and Point Percee. These walks would either need your group to have a certain degree of hill walking experience or we could hire a local mountain guide to assist your group on the bigger climbs.

For more details or to talk through your group's requirements don't hesitate to email us or call us on 01202 661 865.