HIF Winter Camp in the Swiss Alps

Ski and snowboard instruction is organised by ability, so beginners build a secure foundation while more experienced students refine technique, control and mountain awareness. Alongside the snow-sports mornings, applied learning turns winter into a natural laboratory: students explore snow, weather, forces, equipment, maps, forecasts and practical decision-making through short challenges connected to the mountain day. Alpine exploration adds navigation, avalanche awareness, first aid, cross-country skiing and winter challenges. Instruction and the camp day are in English.

A residential camp of eleven days and ten nights on the HIF boarding campus, for young people aged 10 to 16, with a maximum of thirty students. The programme fee covers accommodation on campus, full board and the camp programme. Airport pick-up from Zurich and single-room upgrades are offered separately as optional extras.

Students stay on the HIF boarding school campus in Ftan. Campers share bright, modern twin rooms with ensuite bathrooms. The school aims to honour roommate requests and matches children of similar ages and interests. 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 in the evening shared with the group. 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.

Mornings are spent on the snow in ability-based ski and snowboard groups led by qualified professionals. Afternoons are given to mountain learning, and evenings to games, sports and well-being activities with the group. Alpine exploration runs through the camp: navigation, avalanche awareness, first aid, cross-country skiing and winter challenges that build judgement, preparation, teamwork and responsible mountain behaviour.

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.

A typical day begins with a breakfast buffet at 7:30, snow sports from 8:15 until 12:15, lunch, mountain learning from 13:00 to 17:00, dinner at 18:30 and evening games, sports or well-being activities from 19:30, with rest from 22:00. Staff live on campus and are with the children from morning until night. Supervision and pastoral care are built into every part of the day and night, while qualified specialists lead technical mountain activities. Phones are kept safe during the day and can be used at set times in the evenings, and parents receive photo updates.