Our engagements
for the transition to
sustainable tourism
The creation of the new Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Tourisme Web-app gave us the opportunity to question our practices. Whether in the way we organize our services, in the choices for our communication, our equipment or our commitment to local life. The "Partir Ici" platform will highlight responsible, sustainable and benevolent tourist offers.
It's time to take stock !
To know better is to protect
The first times after participating in botanical outings, as a client, I no longer knew where to set foot. I felt like I was going to crush a small wonder of nature, a remedy or a rare flower with every step. By listening to the songs of birds, by taking part in inventories of biodiversity, we realize that each small puddle, each dead trunk is a habitat for a species.
During my outings I try to make people who come with me aware that we share the mountain, with other humans and with a host of other living beings.
Bivouacking in the mountains or sleeping in a refuge involves a certain number of unwritten rules, often simply common sense. Hiking and trekking without leaving traces can be learned. We strive during our outings to involve the participants, especially the youngest so that they are the guardians of our best practices.
Choose the place and the period
In the mountains, the natural environment is particularly sensitive to disturbance. The winter cold, combined with the lack of resources, forces us to think about our impact. Encountering wildlife, especially when caught in the heat of a wildlife photo shoot, should never be to the detriment of the species being observed. This safety distance can be seen as an engine of creativity, the most successful photos are not necessarily those taken as close as possible!
Spring is a wonderful time to observe the return of mountain birds, summer offers us a whole range of nature leisure activities and environmental discoveries, autumn delights us with the dazzling colors of the vegetation, t's the perfect time for photo workshops or tasting wild fruits and mushrooms. Why limit yourself to winter?
By carpooling just a few minutes from Chamrousse, we can access lesser-known places. This is an opportunity to vary the themes of the hikes, to seek other points of view and to discover other, more preserved spaces by limiting attendance on the sites which suffer from it.
Groups on a human scale
With the same concern for respecting the natural environment, but also so that you can make the most of your time in the mountains, we limit our groups to 9 people (guide included!), sometimes less.
Activities for all
We also believe that our services go beyond an offer "for tourists". Discovering the nature that surrounds us in our daily lives is the best way to protect it and realize how rich and varied our close environment can be. Our activities are aimed as much at vacationers as at those who want to learn more about where they live.
With each walk, by taking the dog out, by going to buy bread, we can contribute to the improvement of scientific knowledge. Citizen science programs, census applications are an opportunity to marvel at the early return of a migratory species or variety of edible plants by the wayside.
Because we believe that nature should be for everyone, we have declined certain offers so that they can be accessible to people with reduced mobility or visually impaired.
Like many other service providers and merchants in Chamrousse, we are pleased to provide the inhabitants of the town with advantageous rates so that they too can discover the secrets of the Chamrousse mountain.
Local involvement
Climate change forces us to rethink the economic development of ski resorts. Being based in Chamrousse, we are actively campaigning for the diversification of economic activities and tourist offers. By being active in municipal commissions, by questioning elected officials and major players in the resort on the merits of certain areas of development, we are building the tourism of tomorrow.
By choosing trusted partners for accommodation or meals, we know that we are helping to maintain the local economic fabric and support local and responsible producers. But above all we allow you to discover the taste of authentic products. If we prepare the picnic, it is with products that reflect our terroir and by limiting disposable items as much as possible to strive for zero-waste.
In addition to daily action on the trails, we also take part in collective waste collection events organized at the end of the winter season: Chamrousse Propre.
The choice of our equipment
Mountain equipment has become very technical and specialized. Petroleum is the basis of most materials used in clothing adapted to harsh climatic conditions. Tents, mattresses, snowshoes, ... obey the same rules. We try to favor the reuse of second-hand equipment, repairs and recycling. If we have to go new, we try to choose manufacturers known for their involvement in a more sustainable industry.
We still have work to do!
To be perfectly honest, we still have a lot of things to improve. For example, we have efforts to make on the operation of our website and on the printing of our communication media. We will also try in the coming years to build more projects in cooperation with shepherds, mountain farmers or farms.