Taking Mountain Leadership Further
For students aged 13-18 who are ready to take their mountain experience to the next level, the VIS Alpine Academy provides an advanced pathway within our Mountain Leadership Programme.
The Alpine Academy is designed for students who demonstrate the readiness and motivation to develop greater technical ability, independence, and leadership in genuine alpine environments.
Working alongside certified IFMGA mountain guides and experienced VIS staff, students progressively develop advanced skills in ski touring, mountaineering, glacier travel, and alpinism.
Experiences may include ski touring across glaciated terrain, avalanche safety training, crevasse and glacier travel using ropes and crampons, mountaineering with ice axes, overnight stays in alpine huts and bivouacs, and ultimately the opportunity to summit introductory 4,000-metre Swiss peaks.
With a 1:4 guide-to-student ratio, activities are carefully planned and professionally supervised, with safety, weather, terrain, and individual readiness continually assessed.
The aim goes far beyond developing technical mountain skills. Students learn judgement, responsibility, resilience, leadership, and decision-making in environments where their choices genuinely matter.
It is an opportunity to progress from experiencing the mountains to understanding how to move through them confidently and responsibly.
