Details - Bespoke.

Heli boarding Switzerland’s best descents

Brief:
A group of energetic Swiss bankers, who were also expert snowboarders, were looking for their next adrenalin fix. They wanted a rare challenge, which would give them a sense of achievement.

The SwisSKIsafari solution:
Snowboard from Zermatt to Mont Blanc.

While staying in the best hotels around, the group started in Zermatt and we flew our way across the Alps doing all the best heli-ski descents along the way. This was every keen snowboarder’s dream: gliding down some of the best off piste Switzerland has to offer, with a helicopter on call.

One highlight began as a near disaster. The cloud was coming in so fast that the heli pilot called us on the radio to say we’d missed our pickup. Not a team to give up, we asked him whether there was anywhere else we could go, and seconds later were running our fastest through 200 meters of knee-deep powder to catch our lift which had only seconds to land before the cloud swallowed us up completely. Talk about exhilarating.

By the end of the week we could barely walk for all the energy we had used up: just what the group were looking for.

Hike father, hike son

Brief:
Adventurous father and son wanted to get away and share some quality time together in Summer before the son started school abroad. They were looking for a challenge to remember.

The SwisSKIsafari solution:
Why not climb a mountain together.

Perhaps one of our favourite summer trips since the beginning of SwisSKIsafari, we suggested this duo try a high mountain challenge, summiting a tricky peak in the Mont Blanc mountain range. Beginning with a helicopter landing on the Aletsch Glacier, a UNESCO world heritage site, the experience lasted for four days, hiking along tumbling ice-falls, past the dizzying crevasses of the Mer de Glace and along peaks as high as 10,000 feet. It was a unique endurance test which required team work and strong will, and the father-son team completed the mission successfully.

They came back exhilarated, having loved the experience. This is what the father said:

"There is something truly wonderful about being able to think about nothing else in the world but where you will put your next step and the mountain and conditions allow you nothing else. You’re forced to be completely in the moment and to do it together (as) father and son is the greatest of blessings."

Wedding anniversary walk

Brief:
A couple on a world tour for their wedding anniversary wanted to see Switzerland. The wife’s dream was to walk the Alps and see Switzerland’s tallest peaks.

The SwisSKIsafari solution:
Switzerland is home to some incredibly romantic hotels, which always helps for an escape like this. Using these as a base, we created a walking tour starting in Zermatt and ending in Interlaken. This included masses of sightseeing, and stopping at some charming local eateries en route.

From Interlaken, they took a helicopter flight to the Eiger, a famous summit in the Bernese Alps, over the easternmost peak, the Mönch (4,099 m), and then towards the Jungfrau (4,158 m). These three summits form a beautiful trio when seen from the air, perfect for a once-in-a-lifetime photo shoot. The skies were magnificently clear, giving us great views of the Nordwand, probably the most famous rock face in the Alps, towering a spectacular 1,800 m above the valley.

There is something amazing about walking and flying over the same mountains, and our couple left feeling they had seen all they wanted, and more.

A SwisSKIsafari-style Christmas romance

Brief:
Christmas 2007 came early that year with a fairy-tale story, complete with fairy-tale ending. In November we got a call from Cartier, Berlin, who had just sold an engagement ring to a young man who had not yet planned his engagement weekend, and desperately wanted our help.

"I want to propose to my girlfriend in a mountain cabin, alone in the world - in three weeks time", he asked.

The SwisSKIsafari solution:
Luckily, we knew just the cabin. Perched high in the mountains on its own, it was ideal. We spent weeks travelling there, fixing it up, decorating it and catering for that once-in-a-lifetime evening. You wouldn’t believe how many times we hiked up to 2000 meters with material, wine, flowers, even the bed... The evening before they arrived, we made one last midnight trip to check everything was perfect. The next morning to our surprise the cabin was under half a meter of fluffy white powder. Stunningly perfect.

That day, our couple flew up to a snowy landing spot and completed their journey by snow-mobile. Here the fire had been burning for two days, and after serving their dinner, we left them to a glorious sunset over the snowy Alps, alone in the world: exactly as requested. The small swiss village, meanwhile, had got wind of the surprise engagement and bets were on as to what her answer would be. When the couple finally descended from the mountain there was a parade of applause as the new bride-to-be whizzed by on a snowmobile, complete with a huge grin and newly ringed finger held up for us to admire. A huge success all round.