From August 13, 2016 till August 18, 2016 the Crazy Mountain Camp will take place in an amazing remote valley high in the mountains in Switzerland. Mountain hiking, crazy group games, sauna, swimming in wild mountain lakes – plus as a side dish improvisation theatre workshops for fun and personal development!
Welcome to the world of CrazyCamp.org!
Far away from stress and noise, high on the mountain: Enjoy simplicity! It liberates the mind.
Activities
We’ll have a mountain hut just for our group at an altitude of 2.000m and far away from “civilisation”. In the daytime we will be hiking in the overwhelming mountain landscapes with picnics and swimming in wild mountain lakes. In the evening we will organize crazy group games, cook and eat together, we’ll relax in the unique Crazy Camp Mountain Sauna and we’ll do theatre improvisation workshops. The Crazy Mountain Camp will be an intense and unique experience that will take you up in the sky and will bring you back on your feet!
Location
We will be in a simple mountain hut in the middle of beautiful nature: mountains with peaks of up to 2.900 meters above sea level, canyons, rivers, fields and forests. There are no villages in our valley. In our proximity there are only some summer farms here and there where the farmers make cheese from the milk of the cows that stay on the high fields during summer (more about seasonal migration in the Alps here). We are in the south east of Switzerland, at a walking distance from the Italian border. The local language is Italian.
From our hut, it is around 1,5 hour walking to get to the nearest village (altitude difference: 600m). In that village there is a bus stop; the bus connects to a railway station. The hut can be reached by mountain bike as well.
Accommodation
The mountain hut is simple and with a very natural feel. The beds are bunk beds in group rooms. There is an open kitchen with a wood stove. There is a toilet and an simple shower with warm water from the wood stove. Please do not expect luxury things like comfort, privacy or mobile network coverage. There will be max. 20 people in our group. A sauna is there for us to enjoy in the evenings. No smoking in the house or in the sauna.
Impro workshops
Jump into the cold water
We will have hikes during the day and improvisation workshops in the spare time (mainly evenings).
Everybody is welcome. All you need is intermediate English skills and curiosity for acting without textbook.
During the week we will train our ability to let go of control and to be spontaneous on “stage”. As a good impro show, this will be a lot of fun, laughs and trust.
“For myself, the basic principles of impro have a positive effect on my daily living and relationships. And being in the mountains gives me peace and relaxation” is how Annika (she is the one in the photo booth picture), who will lead the impro workshops, expresses it.
Saturday: “Oh yes I fail happily!”
We start easy with some group warm ups to get into the feeling. Maybe you know already some of these games like” yes and.. “, Toaster, mixer, “zoom, zuup, zoop” etc. and we will definitely do some “learning name” games. Don’t worry you will “fail”, like everyone in improv. But we will support each other as a group with a huge “hooray!!” to feel comfortable in order to overcome our perfectionism and shyness.
Sunday: “What are you doing!?”
Improv does not use props so let’s use our bodies to show all day routines like cleaning an elephant, riding a broom or…
to tell a story. (well done good association! You definitely should join in).
Monday: “Our story”
Have you ever tried to pitch your new fabulous invention… without knowing what you did invent?
No worries, we will be there to support you! As well as in other games like “foreign arms”, “pick up a line” and “5 heads talking one story”. In the end of the day you will know your mind is NOT empty, but full of ideas to tell.
Tuesday: “Kings & Servants”
Almost the end of the week and it’s time to bring all our energy and braveness together to create some characters, which might have a hard time thanks to rules like” in 1 min to death”, “positive versus negative” or ” kings & servants”. But luckily it’s just the character; we are going to enjoy and ‘failure’ is not failure but another chance to try a new scene/character in the next game.
Wednesday: “Friendly competition on stage”
In teams we let characters and scenes compete on ‘stage’. Like in a classic short form impro show and wohoo I am sure we will feel the great feeling of trust, a supportive group, and self-improvement!
¡¡Hooray!! Group hug!!!
Mountain hiking
The days in the Crazy Mountain Camp will be dedicated to mountain hiking. Not mountaineering; no ropes, crampons or helmets. More info on the trail classifications (T1 etc.) here. Please do read!
There is a hiking program set up but it is not an obligation to participate; if you are a seasoned mountaineer you might prefer to go rock climbing by yourself instead of hiking with our group. And also if you want to spend your days relaxedly searching for berries or spotting birds, feel free to do so. Basically everybody is expected to participate in the group life at the end of the day and in the evening (faq).
The program might look something like this:
Saturday We’ll all meet in the afternoon at the bus stop in the village. Walking up to the hut (2 hours, T2). Luggage will be brought by car to the hut.
Sunday As a warming up (and to give ourselves time to acclimatize to the altitude) we will make a hike (T3) that is not very long – we’ll be going to the two lakes that are above the hut. The water will be cold but we’ll enjoy a swim! Picnic and sunbath afterwards before we go back to the hut.
Monday A long hike. We will leave a bit earlier in the morning. Our goal of the day will be the summit of the 2.900 meters high peak that is right at the border between Switzerland and Italy (T3 with T4 in the last ascent/descent of the summit). We will go up on the Swiss side and go down on the Italian side.
Tuesday We will be revisiting the two lakes for some swimming and there we’ll do some meditations, a not-so intense day in other words.
Wednesday This will be the biggest hike so we’ll get up early for this one. We’ll first go to another mountain lake for a dip. Here we can decide to either take a ‘short’ way back (T3) or we can continue to the next valley with yet more lakes and two small rock glaciers. Until there all T3 and on our way back a good part of T4.
Thursday Vacate the hut in the morning. Then we might make a hike through the forests (the other hikes are generally above the tree line); partially over Italian grounds (T2 with a bit of T3). After this hike: the farewell group hug!
Weather conditions in the mountains can change fast and often. For this reason, the program can be changed according to what is safe and enjoyable.
One thing about hiking in groups. Keep in mind that a ‘stronger’ person can adapt to a ‘slower’ person, but a ‘slower’ person can not adapt to a ‘stronger’ person. So when we hike in a group, we’ll set the capabilities of the ‘slower’ group members as standard while the ‘stronger’ people will have the satisfaction of applying their social skills by adapting to the group :-)
Preparation
Although the Crazy Mountain Camp is intended to be a relaxed, non-competitive event, mountain hiking is a sports activity that demands some extra attention for two reasons: altitude and safety. You don’t really need to have experience in mountain hiking, but you will need a fair condition, good mountain hiking shoes, a daypack, a water bottle, rain protection and something warmer also. A pair of hiking poles is helpful but not a necessity. If you suffer from vertigo or acrophobia, most of our hiking program will not make you feel happy.
What if I love mountains but don’t want to join that ‘serious’ hiking?
I really like the whole idea and I would really like to join, but I’m really not into all this T3 and T4 hiking. Are there options for me?
Yes there are. You can make easy hikes for example to the village. For these kind of hikes you don’t even need mountain hiking shoes; good walking shoes will do the job, but forget about flip flops, heels and mocassins. If you’re into nature photography or drawing landscapes, you will find a multitude of subjects within 500 meters from the hut…
Most probably you will not be the only one that will not join the bigger hikes.
Share!
There is space and time for workshop-like activities, so if you would like to share some of your knowledge or skills, feel free! Maybe you want to teach us some capoeira, do a photoshoot or make us sing the traditionals of your native culture? Just some ideas… it really can be anything. And if you don’t have any such thing to share, that’s fine as well!
The deal
Your participation in the cost for these 5 days and nights is EUR 295 per person for accommodation, food (that we will cook together) and tourist taxes.
or EUR 250 if you are female and you choose to use the Gender Pay Gap Compensation (faq)
That is cheap! However, don’t come if you are only interested in an affordable holiday. The Crazy Mountain Camp is all about the group, spending fun evenings together, doing crazy games, and enjoying the mountains together!
What is included/provided and what is not?
+ Theatre improvisation workshops
+ Accommodation
+ Breakfast
+ Simple lunch (sandwiches, leftovers of yesterdays dinner)
+ Dinner (we will cook together)
+ Coffee, tea, milk, water, juice
– Snacks, fruit, energy bars, energy drinks, soft drinks, alcoholic beverages
+ Tourist taxes
– Sleeping bags
– Towels
+ Unforgettable fun
Couples
If you are a couple, please understand that in the Crazy Mountain Camp you can not behave like a couple. In general the beds are allocated through a lottery (faq) and we’re all sleeping in one big space. And you are expected to participate in all activities and group life as individuals and not as a couple. Yes you will be hugging – in the numerous group hugs! So be prepared to sit each at the other extreme of the group table during dinner, and accept that someone else than yourself might be giving your partner a salt scrub in the sauna.
How to get there
We will be in Grisons in the south east of Switzerland. Distance from Milano Bergamo airport is 135km, the other Milan airports at 165 km, Innsbruck airport 230km, Zürich airport 260km, Basel/Mulhouse airport at 340km. Can be reached by train (and then one bus). Train from Milano or Bergamo is cheaper and faster; train from Zürich is very scenic.
Back to The Netherlands/Belgium/Luxemburg there is a ride share available, approx. EUR 45 one-way per person (faq)Most probably, as time passes by, ride shares from/to other directions will be added.
Switzerland is member of the Schengen agreement. If you can travel in any other Schengen country, you can travel in Switzerland.
Don’t miss these 5 nights in the mountains!
LET’S MAKE IT HAPPEN TOGETHER!
Join!
If you want to participate in this event, then please use this application form. After review of your application, I will send you instructions on how to make the advance payment (faq) and about cancellation policies. The advance payment is EUR 135. Until you pay the advance payment there is no commitment – not for you and not for me. If you can not participate in this specific Crazy Camp, then please sign up for the newsletter and I’ll keep you updated about the other upcoming Crazy Camps.
