I don't move to Geneva until the summer, but would defintiely be interested in a hiking club!

Great! Contact me when you're here!

I also will me moving to the Geneva area in April, and would love to get involved in a hiking group.

I'll contact you when I'm in town!

I have never been with Geneva rando but I think they are at least middle aged.  There are several groups and obviously i will push my own, being a member of which always looks good on a cv .  Oxygene or oxygene 72 is a small group in roches sur Foron who often post on glocals and their programme is quite good.  as it is in France i think you have to have a medical certificate or sign a waiver.   Amis montagnards (I think you google MAM) get involved in snow shoes hikes alpinism eversthing - they own a a deconsecrated church part of whichn(the highest) has been converted into a climbing wall.  Club Alpin Suisse sections both in Carouge and Geneva.  Rumours have it that the membership of carouge is younger but from what I have seen I am not so sure.   There is also a guy who organises hikes and advertises on glaocals but he has just joined the Swiss Alpine club because he wanted to do harder things.

So to Swis Alpine Club. When I first came to Geneva I just set off into the mountains on my own to explore.  Joined CAS when I found they did ski touring and gradually got integrated so that I know lead hikes up to level of easy alpinism.  The mininum age tends to be around 28-30 but often higher.  you get round that by getting a friend to join.  My daughter comes (aged 32) occasionally and has no problem.  Language tends to be Frencvh although usually I have 40 % foreigners (ie neither Swis nor French).  The advantage is you can oprogress from hiking to climbing. There a climbing sessions once a week althrough the year.  Check out the programme on www.cas-geneve.ch.  It includesd snow shoes, climbing, skitouring and ordinary hiking from dead easy to what should not really be classified as a hike

If you decide to organise things on your own there is a huge selection of books in english and french describing walks.  Try one of the big Naville ofrPayot sections or Cactus sports in Carouge who are very patient

Paul Everett

President Geneve section of the Swiss Alpine but aged over 60)

I'm interested in found a hiking club too and I'm in the same situation, I'm not sure where to go. If you find some interesting club, let me know please! Or if you want, we can try together. I'm 22...:)

Hey,

thanks to all for your answers!

Brittany, just contact me when you're here! I hopefully found something up to then!

Paul, thank you so much for all this information!!!

Gisela, thanks for your private message, I'll answer it right now! :)

Joke

Hi, Joke. 

I'm searching through G-Locals for a hiking club - have you found yours yet? I'm a total beginner but really motivated and interested. I work out and jog, so I can keep up the pace. 

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Best, 

Luana

Not sure whether I am meant to reply to this or not. The details of what I do can be found on www.cas-geneve.ch but now that we are well into the season I am either doing two day walks or difficult one day walks.   That does not mean you would be excluded.  But this weekend am having a weekend off, next weekend I think is full and will only be posted on glocals if I have a cancellation.   Others will be posted if there is room.   In the Swiss Alpine Club there are other posiibilites - see website but the general idea is that you become a member.  Otherwise check out Oxygene 74 (Kassim) which has a very good selections of outings at a s lightly easier level but no less interesting or there are plenty of private outings but do not know the level of competence of the people if something goes wrong. weather / mist / fall  

Thank you, Paul!

So that means I have to be checking here for a vacancy, right? 

I'll do that!

Thanks again!

contact me on this email and I will give you more information [email protected]

You can also check out the International ski Clu. (Never tried it myself, though.)

http://scig.ch/pro_ete_10/index.html

Main disadvantage is that you have to sign up person on Thursday evening.

Hi Tor.  Not seen you on one of my walks for more than 6 7 years and that was a short one.   Had forgotten about International Ski Club - I know a couple of the chefs de course (David McClelland who have to be very fit to keep up with him) and William Larsen.  I have not been with them but have looked at their programme and it has not inspired me.  I have heard from people that they tend to rush off at top speed and do not stick together as a group.   On the other hand they are very good for skiing with.  <my daughter goes off with them regularly although she is now changing to ski touring (with  the Swiss Alpine Club.^)  For the rest on this thread look at Oygene 74 outings both past and present to get an idea.  I do not know anyone who has been with them but apparently the guy who organises the walsk is a nice guy 

Try this one out.  I do not recommend spending your whole life with them but you can meet other people new to Geneva there and at least you will get the feel for what a day in the mountains is. there are more than 50 ways up and some of them are serious

http://rando-saleve.net/

The big advantage of the Saleve walks is that they start at a reasonable hour (10:00). For people who like their beds (like me), that can sometimes be a deciding factor.

--tor

PS. Paul, your definitiron of a "short" walk is not the same as mine. That's probably why we haven't met for several years. On the other hand, i am trying to get in shape...

Hi Joke

how did you progress on your search for an hiking club? I just joined g-locals mostly to find opportunities to hike.

Cheers,

Marta

Yep, and what's good with Saleve hikes is you can also do them in the evenings after work for the moment anyway...I hiked up on Monday evening with a friend and even leaving at 7pm we got back down at 9.30pm and it was fabulous.  Better to start at circa 6pm though. I will post something for one night next week weather permitting.

Otherwise check this site often, as members post hikes to do all the time.  For example this wkd a group (me included) is going on a hike in the Valais with overnight stay in a mountain cabin (but this activity is full now) :-(.

Have a good wkd

I noticed this one but a walk up to a mountain and then back is too tame for me.  I use mountain huts if I am on a two or three day hike but from the hut I do a summit or a traverse.  I dii ask him what his additional walk was going to be but got no reply. Going with groups that just do walking means you will probably not progress into climbing or suicidal walks. The advantage of going with CAS, Ami montagnards, international ski club or the CERN grouip is that you meet new people and can get involved in climbing, alpinism and ski touring, natural progressions from walking.  (CERN and the international ski club do not do climbing and if they do alpinism they take a guide which defearts the object unless it is something extreme).

correction - line one should read 'a walk up to a mountain hut....'

Cladagh. Just out of interest read a write up on the walk which is quite uinteresting, overhanging section with chain.  But same article which is about 20 years old states cabane is has no guardian.  Hope that was not the case

Hi Paul,

This hike was actually quite tough and the weather conditions obviously didn't help.  1400m denivelé is pretty ok I think (for me at least) with lots of bouldering.  We did it in circa 3.5hrs (some took less some took more.  We stayed in the mountain hut which was quite cosy and we had a lot of fun and met nice people.  Yesterday we did the panorama descent which meant over 6 hours of walking on the ridge with spectacular views (which we didn't see coming up due to the fog :-(!  All in all it was awesome. 

So you see, when one loves the mountains no need for extreme or suicidal...not for me anyway. 

Thanks for your advice though, now I know which clubs not be get into :-)

Seems as if was OK then.  Probably best club for you would be the International Ski Club.  Their leaders have no training and tend to rush off and let those at the back manage as best they can which is great until something goes wrong. But if you are just into hiking without wanting to progress into other aspects e.g alpinism, climbing, ski touring then it is adequate.   Also in the CAS we do tend too walk up more slowly than1400 metres in 3.5 hours to allow people time to take pictures, soak in the scenery etc 

Hi Paul, in fact just social hikes with Glocals members will do me fine - like the one we did this wkd.  People are free to go at their own pace and there are always a lead group and a slower group (and this with any hike I have been on including professional groups like TerDav).  We would of course have paced ourselves however it was foggy and extremely cold so no motivation to stop and admire the view and only motivation was to arrive at the hut as quickly as possible to warm up :-)...I suppose you could nearly have classed it as EXTREME!  But the next day we took 6 hours to get down precisely because we did indeed soak up the scenery.

Since I posted my last mail a couple of glocals have gone with Oxygene 74 and were quite satisfied although the pace is a bit fast but then they are young and fit.  I have also posted comments about insurance, a list of local guides and information on where you can view large scale maps of CH and Hte Savoie on the group 'geneva mountain hiking group'.  The only other warning I can give is to make sure you go out with somebody who can handle a crisis in a mountain.  The Alps are not like the Appalachians, the Urals or the Pennines.  It is an unstable, relatively young mountain area where stone falls can occur.  Weather changes quickly and if you are three hours from safety or shelter this can become serious.  Anyone can yodel along a clearly signposted path but in bad weather even a path can become dangerous.  Recently a swiss guy was put in hospital and all he was doing was walking on a path when a chamois fell on him (I admit that is unusual but the chamois could have dislodged a stone which is equally lethal).  For those of you have been to Tannay (above Vouvry) you will know the story of Nicole while collecting mushrooms....

Examined this forum and it seems it is as extinct as the dodo.  As I only entered to offer advice I depart with my parting comment.  Watch for activities as and when I decide to post them.  Will not be on this forum but on general activities

Hello,

How is your hiking club doing ?

Found your post on google

Try this one, www.friendsactivityclub.ch

Merry christmas

Sorry, I'm not in Geneva anymore. Have fun!

Hi,

The International Ski Club of Geneva leads hikes of all levels up to easy alpinism, also ski rando, ski de fond, kayaking, via ferrata etc. And of course downhill skiing. Each leader has his own style, but for myself I always keep my group together

Bill, if you found a green T shirt in your car yesterday it is mine.  Proof of togetherness?

I have it. How can I get it to you?