HIF Spring Camp in Switzerland and across Europe

English is in daily use throughout the programme, in an international community. HIF applied learning connects real-world science, geography, data and problem-solving to the Alpine environment. The Alpine mission adds hiking, climbing, navigation, mountain biking and team missions adapted to April conditions, building confidence and judgement in a new mountain environment. The final week is a supervised cultural and applied-learning journey across three more countries.

A residential programme of twenty-one days and twenty nights for students aged 12 to 17, with ten to twenty students in the group. Fourteen nights are spent at the HIF campus in Ftan, Switzerland, and seven nights in organised travel and learning across Italy, Austria and Germany. Airport pick-up from Zurich and single-room upgrades are offered separately as optional extras.

For the first two weeks students live on the HIF boarding school campus in Ftan, sharing bright, modern twin rooms with ensuite bathrooms; the school aims to honour roommate requests and matches children of similar ages and interests. The final week is spent in organised accommodation on the route through Italy, Austria and Germany. Single occupancy with a shared bathroom, and a single room with ensuite, are available as paid upgrades.

Full board. On campus the day starts with a breakfast buffet, with lunch in the middle of the day and dinner shared with the group in the evening. The kitchen team prepares fresh, balanced meals daily and caters for a variety of dietary preferences and requirements, including vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and allergy-specific diets, when these are given on the health form in advance.

Week one settles the group in at the HIF campus with English, Alpine orientation and a Songkran celebration. Week two is given to hiking, climbing, navigation, rafting, Alpine science and team challenges. Week three travels from Merano and Bolzano in Italy through the Dolomites to Salzburg in Austria, with the old town, the Mozart House and the Hohensalzburg Fortress, and finishes in Munich with the Deutsches Museum.

The residential part of the camp is based on the HIF boarding school campus in Ftan, a traditional Alpine village in the Lower Engadin Valley. Students live in the school residence, eat in the campus dining room and share the everyday life of the school with peers from around the world. The hospital in Scuol is about ten minutes away.

Shared meals, evening activities, friendships and daily routines give a genuine taste of international boarding life, and for families considering international education the camp is a first-hand introduction to boarding at HIF as well as to supervised international travel. Experienced HIF staff provide structure, support and pastoral care throughout; supervision runs around the clock, qualified specialists lead technical and outdoor activities, and each activity has its own risk assessment and safety procedures.