Actioncamp — adventure sports summer camp in Flattach, Austria

Actioncamp is an activity week rather than a taught course. Instead of lessons, the days are built around a sports and adventure programme that changes from one camp week to the next, so participants who come back for another week meet a different mix of activities. Around fifteen sports run at the camp, all offered as taster sessions with no previous experience required, which makes the programme workable for complete beginners and for teenagers who already play sport regularly. Most of the sports are delivered by professional, licensed outdoor and sports partners rather than by general camp staff.

The camp fee covers accommodation at the Actionhotel on full board, the weekly sports programme, all transfers from the hotel to the activity venues, the activity and entertainment programme and supervision around the clock. Arrival is arranged separately: parents can bring their child directly to the camp, or the camp can organise train travel with tickets and reserved seats and collect participants at the station by shuttle bus. Families who book their own train journey can use the shuttle bus from Mallnitz station, and an individual taxi transfer can be arranged on request. The arrival service and travel and cancellation insurance are not part of the camp fee.

Participants stay at the Actionhotel in Flattach, a club hotel for young people in the Mölltal valley. Rooms are functional and shared, and are allocated on site by the animation team, with girls and boys accommodated separately; room requests can be given when booking. Bed linen is provided by the hotel and one towel per participant is placed in the room, so extra towels for daily use and for swimming should be packed. Alongside the rooms the hotel has a club theatre, club rooms, a fitness room, a whirlpool and a disco. A strict ban on smoking and alcohol applies throughout.

Full board is included for the whole stay. The day starts with a breakfast buffet, a snack lunch is served in the middle of the day and the evening brings a three-course dinner. The hotel kitchen prepares vegetarian dishes for participants who need them, and such requests should be given at the time of booking. Pocket money is used only for extras such as entrance fees on excursions, souvenirs, additional drinks and ice cream; the camp team can look after it and returns any unspent amount with a written statement at the end of the stay.

The sports programme is the centre of the camp and changes every week. Across the season it draws on rafting and canyoning in the mountain rivers of the region, mountain bike tours with fun sports, go-karting, bull riding, soap football, mega bubbles, the wall, bungee running, crate stacking, outdoor challenges, ropes courses, island swinging, soccer bowling, archery, sumo wrestling, horse riding, golf, bouldering and swimming, alongside team formats such as Expedition Robinson and capture the flag. Evenings have their own entertainment programme. Programme content may be changed or swapped because of poor weather, low participant numbers or unforeseen circumstances.

The camp is based at the Actionhotel, a club hotel for young people with functional rooms, a breakfast buffet and dining areas, a club theatre and club rooms, a fitness room, a whirlpool and a disco. The hotel sits in the Mölltal valley in Carinthia, close to the Hohe Tauern national park, and serves as the base for the whole programme. All transfers from the hotel to the activity locations are included, so participants move between the hotel and the outdoor venues with the camp team.

A week at the Actioncamp is aimed at teenagers who want an active holiday with other young people rather than a quiet one. Days are full and varied, evenings are organised, and the camp describes itself as a community of like-minded participants. Supervision runs around the clock and the camp team looks after room allocation, pocket money and the daily routine. Phones are allowed and are only collected in if they disturb the night-time quiet period, and the camp notes that frequent calls home can make younger participants more homesick.