Tel. +44 (0)1273 600030 (UK)
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The ethos and philosophy behind all of our trips is ‘Union’ – the union of body, mind and soul, and our union with the environment, nature and the people around us. Our holidays and retreats were born out of a spontaneous and nurturing community and we try to sustain that feeling through all of our trips.
We looked high and low for a low budget environmentally friendly place to run our communal ski holidays. Our Centre de Vacances runs Classe Vertes (Nature discovery weeks) for French Children during term time. Gerald, who runs the centre is an environmentalist and Mountain Leader and takes the time to share his love of nature with our group. His chef has studied sustainable cooking and they shop local and organic where possible. By supporting his centre, we are helping offer urban French children an opportunity to really experience and appreciate the outdoors.
Samoens is not your typical ski resort. It is a living breathing village with soul! All of our team have actually lived in the village so know it intimately. We work closely with the nicest local shop owners, guides and instructors.
There is no doubt that skiing has an impact on the mountains. We try to encourage alternative less explored and greener mountain sports. We also offer group transport from Geneva. We eat local and organic where possible. There is the option to snow shoe, cross country ski and ski tour. All of these lesser known winter sports are much lower impact on the environment than traditional lift accessed skiing and snowboarding.
The centre we work with is an old building but they do what they can to be sustainable by recycling, growing much of their own food, composting. The manager of the site is an environmentalist and very keen to educate guests about preserving the natural environment. He has recently conducted a survey on how improvements can be made to the carbon footprint and efficiency of the buildings. Rain water is collected and they are looking at the option of solar panels to heat the hot water.
We are partners with Respect the Mountain a charity that promotes greener travel in the mountains. Every year we take part in an initiative called the Envirotrek collecting rubbish and promoting cleaner tourism.
We invite every traveller who books a holiday via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the holidays they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same holiday can have different views!
