Crazy Snow Balance Camp – Switzerland January 2020 Edition

Location

Our mountain hut is at an altitude of 2.300m and right at the slopes (ski-in/ski-out). The ski area is not super big and not super small. There are mainly skilifts and chair lifts. Mainly red slopes but also blue and some black and ski routes. Max. vertical drop is around 1.350m. The hut is on a blue slope.

Accommodation

The mountain hut is simple. The beds are bunk beds in group rooms. There is a kitchen and a dining/living room. There are toilets and showers. Please do not expect luxury things like comfort, tv or wifi. In the house clothing is optional, except in the sauna (faq). In general you will have very limited personal privacy. You will be surprised how fast you will feel at ease with everybody, in a place where you can simply be who you are, far away from your day to day environment and habitudes. No smoking in the house or in the sauna. Bring a sleeping bag. Target number of participants is 15.

How to get there

We will be in the south west of Switzerland. Distance from Geneva airport is 180km, Basel/Mulhouse airport at 295km; Zürich around the same. Public transport: two buses from a main railway station.

Switzerland is member of the Schengen agreement. If you can travel in any other Schengen country, you can travel in Switzerland.

Mind & Body

Although just being in this absurdly beautiful, remote mountain valley is already a good reset for your stressed brain, we will be actively working on bringing back balance to your life. Every day there will be yoga sessions and meditations – in the hut, but in the snow around the hut as well…

There will be the unique Crazy Camp Slow Sauna – with jump in the fresh powder snow afterwards! as well as guided massage sessions.

There are uncountable moments of fun, feelgood and laughter at the Crazy Snow Balance Camp. And there are moments of emotional release. One of the house rules is “Feel happy at all times – except when you don’t feel happy.” All feelings are welcome and the intention is to not judge any of them. And you are invited to welcome all feelings that might arise in you. We will be doing plenty of exercises and games (eye gazing for example) to connect with ourselves and with the others. If you are not ready to engage in those exercises and games, or you are only interested in the “light & fun” side of reality, then please choose another Crazy Camp :)

Please notice that there is no ‘leadership team’ or ‘staff’ at the Crazy Snow Balance Camp. The yoga facilitator and Klaas will participate in the Crazy Snow Balance Camp activities just like the other participants. At best they are ‘primi inter pares’. We’re all in it together :) (faq)

Meet our Yoga facilitator

Monika will be our yoga guide. Here is her message for you: “Hi I’m Monika, originally from Poland, but I consider myself more as a world citizen. I did my Yoga Teacher Training 200h Asthanga and Hatha style. I received my yoga certification from the very sources of this ancient practice, which means in India. I’m very happy and excited to share it with you and to give what I received. In my practice, I focus on the union of the body, mind, and soul but also between internal and external, human as an individual and nature as a whole, nature of human and a human as a part of nature.”

What if I love mountains but don’t want to join all that sharing and yoga and massage stuff?
Then please choose a different Crazy Camp :) Of course you can opt out of certain activities if you had a bad day in skiing, but if all these mind and body things are not your kind of thing, then the Crazy Snow Balance Camp is not your kind of thing.

Snow sports

In the daytime we will be skiing or snowboarding. This can be individually but we will do some things as a group also. In previous Crazy Snow Camps it turned out that the participants enjoy shredding the slopes together, teaching each other some ski/board skills, etc.
Please keep in mind that SNOW comes from NATURE so there is no guarantee for the amount of snow that will be there and for example no guarantee that these trails will be open and that all lifts will be working. In that case, we might be doing snowshoe hikes, build a kicker near the hut, or other improvisations :-)

Program

After our daytime winter sports, at the end of the day and in the evenings we will be automatically together (we’re high on the slopes, there is nowhere else to go!) so we will make our own après ski. This will start with cooking, eating and cleaning together. There will be crazy group games, yoga sessions and so on. And let’s not forget the unique Crazy Camp Slow Sauna! Basically everybody is expected to participate in the group life at the end of the day and in the evening (faq).

Food and drinks

Cooking will be done by the group and for the group; no à la carte service :) Because we are high in the mountains, our resources are limited and we’ll all have to be flexible. If you are very precise/specific with your food, then this is not the right experience for you, sorry.
Read Details About Diets And Restrictions1. Gluten: If you have a hard core allergy, you’re not safe; you will have to bring your own alternatives for certain dishes. At breakfast there is oatmeal as an option. 2. Nuts: Can usually be left out of meals/served apart but if you have a hard core allergy, you’re not safe. 3. Sugar/Diabetes: Usually things are without sugar. However you will not be able to follow that precisely engineered menu that your dietician wants you to follow.

All food is vegan.
Read Food DetailsThe provided food is vegan. Also please don’t bring any animal origin foods with you, such as meat, chicken, fish, seafood, honey, milk, yoghurt, cheese, products containing gelatine, etc. If you can’t do without them, please choose another Crazy Camp :)

This is an alcohol free event.
Read Alcohol DetailsThe provided drinks are non-alcoholic. Also please don’t bring any alcoholic drinks yourself. We’ll do without external stimulants :) So no drugs as well. Only for coffee we’ll make an exception. If you can’t commit to this, please choose another Crazy Camp :)

Share your skills

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 want to, that’s fine as well!

Couples

If you are a couple, please understand that in the Crazy Snow Balance 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 opposite sides of the table during dinner, and accept that someone else than yourself might be giving your partner a salt scrub in the sauna.

The deal

Your participation in the cost for these 6 days and nights is EUR 395 per person for accommodation, vegan food (that we will cook together), guided yoga sessions, guided meditations and tourist taxes.

That is cheap! However, don’t come if you are only interested in an affordable holiday. The Crazy Snow Balance Camp is all about the group, spending fun evenings together, doing crazy games, and enjoying the mountains together!

If you identify as female or are genderqueer and you choose to use the Gender Pay Gap Compensation (faq) then your reduced participation fee is EUR 335.

The reduced price of EUR 335 is also available for students and people that receive unemployment benefits. In these cases you will be asked to provide a proof of your status.

If you feel that the Crazy Snow Balance Camp is really the right experience for you and you are seriously struggling with the participation fee: please reach out to me.

What is included/provided?
+ Guided yoga and meditation sessions
+ Accommodation
+ Vegan breakfast
+ Simple vegan lunch (sandwiches, leftovers of yesterdays dinner)
+ Vegan dinner (we will cook together)
+ Coffee, tea, water, juice
+ Tourist taxes
+ Unforgettable fun

x Snacks, fruit, energy bars, soft drinks etc.
x Sleeping bags
x Towels
x Skipass, equipment rental
x Parking fees in the village if you come by car