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When was the last time that you felt really welcome, with all your quirks and peculiarities?
At Crazy Camps, “come as you are” is a core value. You will never forget that wonderful experience.
All Crazy Camps are first presented to newsletter subscribers before they get published on the web site. So subscribe to the newsletter to be the first to know!
To give you an idea of what you might be receiving, here is the newsletter that was sent out in June 2020:
In this exciting and interesting newsletter:
1. Good news about this summers Crazy Camps!
2. What? A non-skiing Crazy Snow Balance Camp next winter???
3. Spring skiing in 2021
4. Lessons learnt from the pandemic: sustainable travel
5. Volunteering with CrazyCamp.org?
6. Help upgrading the Crazy Camp Sauna!
1. Good news about this summers Crazy Camps
The good news that I can share with you:
The Crazy Camps this summer are ON ! So you can finally decide about your summer holidays and JOIN one of the two planned week long mountain adventures!
Both the Crazy Mountain Camp in July as the Crazy Mountain Balance Camp in August will take place in Switzerland so we specifically depend on Swiss regulations. At this moment already the event regulations would allow us to do a Crazy Camp. Until now the only thing hindering us still were travel regulations. But there is good news today:
* On 15 June Switzerland opens its borders to to all EU states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and the UK.
* The Federal Council will decide on a further easing of entry restrictions for other countries at a later date and in consultation with the other Schengen states.
Still in doubt? Just join :) and you don’t run any financial risk, as the following special clause applies: if you make the advance payment and either the Crazy Camp can not take place because of governmental regulations in Switzerland, or you can not join because governmental regulations in Switzerland or the country where you reside prevent you from traveling to the Crazy Camp, you will get either a full refund of your advance payment or a voucher for the value of your advance payment to be used for another upcoming Crazy Camp – you choose.
In case you have concerns about your own safety and protection against a virus: during the Crazy Camps it will be possible to conform to the health advisories that the Swiss authorities have formulated.
Here are the details:
Crazy Mountain Camp July 26 – August 1st, 2020: Crazy Mountain Camp in an amazing location high in the mountains in eastern Switzerland. Mountain hiking, crazy group games, swimming in wild mountain lakes, nights without light pollution, simplicity… Read more
Crazy Mountain Balance Camp August 16-23, 2020: Crazy Mountain Balance Camp in an amazing remote valley high in the mountains in central Switzerland. Mountain hiking, Yoga and meditations, crazy group games, hot tub, swimming in wild mountain lakes – this adventure will bring you back in balance! Read more
2. What? A non-skiing Crazy Snow Balance Camp next winter???
Yes, it’s a novelty and YOU as newsletter subscriber are the first to get to know about it!
I like to see this as the Next Level Crazy Snow Balance Camp. Our main day time activity will be snowshoe hiking. Just like the hiking in the summer Crazy Camps, this will contribute to a feeling of bonding and community that is less present if we split up in small groups on the ski slopes… and the silence and sense of isolation that we will have in our uninhabited valley will totally contribute to bringing back BALANCE in our life!
This non-skiing Crazy Snow Balance Camp is planned to happen February 21 – 27, 2021 in a winter fairy tale valley in the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland. Snow shoe hiking, crazy group games, meditation, yoga and massage… Join this unforgettable experience! Read more
3. Another novelty: Spring Skiing in 2021!
Skiing (or snowboarding, of course) in spring is amazing! The days are longer, the temperature is not so cold, the snow is very pleasant and the slopes are nice and quiet! If you never did it before, join and you’ll love it! I am organising the Crazy Spring Snow Camp March 27 – April 2, 2021. It is a bit of an experiment, though. I don’t know how you all will like the idea! Therefore I have to get some feedback already this summer. If you sign up before August 15, you will get EUR 50 reduction!
The Crazy Spring Snow Camp mountain hut is at an altitude of 2.300m and right at the slopes (ski-in/ski-out). In the resort there are mainly red slopes but also blue and some black and ski routes. The hut is on a blue slope. Because the resort covers altitudes from 2.000m till over 3.000m above sea level, the snow conditions in March and April usually are excellent. Read more
4. Lessons learnt from the pandemic: sustainable travel
I don’t know about you, but I find it fascinating what happens when we find ourselves in a very unusual situation. The different ways that people deal with their fear, the eagerness with which people accept or reject new rules and regulations… I personally am really looking forward to post-pandemia, when consensual touch and closeness hopefully will be normal :) Nevertheless there were some aspects of social distancing that I really enjoyed. I wrote a short article about it, if you want to read it find it here: Five things I love about Social Distancing. One of the many things that happened during the pandemic is that Nature suddenly got much more space. And I love it. The other day we had an online meeting with some 18 people that have participated in past Crazy Camps and we discussed the theme of sustainability. And the conclusion was that Crazy Camps really are sustainable holidays because at Crazy Camps we have a very small impact on the environment. For example, we make very efficient use of resources and usually all energy we use is renewable. Food in half of the Crazy Camps is 100% plant based and that also reduces our impact on the environment considerably. The new non-skiing Crazy Snow Balance Camp is an even lower impact alternative to the other Crazy Snow Camps.
The main area where we can further reduce our footprint is in traveling. I am introducing some small changes that should encourage people to travel by public transport or join a ride share. Of course everybody makes their own choices in this but from my side I will do what I can to facilitate more sustainable ways of traveling to/from the Crazy Camps. Already now all locations are easily reached by public transport – well, the villages close to our accommodations are. As Crazy Camps always take place in unique remote mountain huts, there is always a hike or some skiing involved in reaching the accommodation :)
5. Volunteering with CrazyCamp.org?
Did you know that there are volunteering possibilities with CrazyCamp.org? You could help with a number of online tasks or tasks that can be done in your community. The online tasks can be done wherever you are. Your compensation would be: free participation in one or more Crazy Camp(s)!
I’m looking for people with skills and experience in online marketing, event organisation or community building. If you happen to live close to Amsterdam, your help with administration would also be very welcome.
Send me a mail if you want to know more!
6. Help upgrading the Crazy Camp Sauna!
Some of you know the portable Crazy Camp Slow Sauna that I bring to some of the Crazy Camps. I built it myself and over the years the design has improved a lot. But some time ago it became clear that the current version of the sauna has some serious drawbacks.
1. The stove’s capacity is not sufficient in extreme cold or if there is a lot of wind in winter.
2. The insulation layer is cumbersome to be transported and unpractical for setting up the sauna
3. The chimney is to big for the sauna, and it is rusty/dirty and to bulky for transport
So I took up the plan to build a new and bigger stove; made from better material, assembled in a better way and with a more practical inox chimney. Furthermore I would love to remake the insulation layer to make it more manageable.
It would be so awesome if you could help me with this! As for the stove, your physical help is very welcome especially if you know about metalwork or flux core welding. I’m doing this work at home (close to Amsterdam) so that’s where you would have to be as well. As for the insulation layer: if you are good at sewing or have experience with/genius ideas about assembly of textiles, I’m looking for you! If you are not near Amsterdam I could maybe come to your area for a couple of days or you could come here.
So actually these are also volunteer opportunities :)
And if you are not able to contribute with physical help, a financial contribution is also very welcome! I expect to spend around EUR 500 on this sauna upgrade. Any small or big amount that you might want to contribute will be greatly appreciated! If you would first want to have some additional information or if you simply want to follow the progress of the sauna project without contributing: send me an email and I will keep you in the loop :)
Why would you join a Crazy Camp?
Because it is that one place where you can experience this:
“The Crazy Mountain Balance Camp really made me feel connected, even though there were no phones, no internet. There was real stuff, like cooking and eating together, hiking together to remote places, and recovering afterward in the hot-tub. For those who wanted to join, the massages and yoga completed the mental balance.”
It is no surprise that the person that wrote this already came back for their second Crazy Camp adventure :)
OK that was a huge newsletter! Forgive me, I’m just to excited about all these amazing things going on. I really hope to meet you in the mountains soon!
Peace
Klaas
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