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IN BRIEF
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One hundred years of educational influence, a deep love for the mountains, and now a fragile financial equation: a historic holiday camp is fighting to preserve its project at the heart of the massifs. Born in Haute-Savoie in 1921, the Chalet des Forêts illustrates the tension between a powerful legacy, the soaring prices of real estate at altitude, stricter standards, and dwindling resources. While upholding values of friendliness, adventure, and sharing, the association explores other territories, imagines a 4 seasons model, and watches for public support — from the “Pass colo” to local grants — to continue taking children, summer and winter, along the paths of effort and discovery.
Above Boëge, in the Chablais, an austere building has long echoed with the laughter of children from all corners of France. Since 1921, the Chalet des Forêts has accompanied generations, building an intimate connection with Haute-Savoie and its landscapes. But at a time when the value of properties at altitude is skyrocketing, this pioneer faces a stubborn reality: maintaining a presence in the Northern Alps is costly, very costly.
The colony has had to leave its original nest and multiply temporary solutions, from Crest-Voland to Saint-Sorlin-d’Arves, accepting wandering so as not to give up on the mountains. This incessant back-and-forth summarizes a stark dilemma: to retain the alpine DNA while surviving in a real estate market that boosts the region’s fame… and inflates budgets beyond the bearable.
An anchorage tested by high-altitude real estate
Between renowned resorts and sought-after chalets, Haute-Savoie has become one of the country’s most coveted grounds. For an association, buying or securely maintaining a roof over its head is now a feat. The choice to stay close to the Lyon region — the historical heart of its audience — has long guided strategy. Today, the ultimate fidelity is to remain in the mountains, even if it means looking further ahead.
Staying at altitude, a matter of values
The educational project has not changed: the mountains as a school of effort and cooperation. Beyond the mailing address, it is a universe that the team wants to preserve, in the Central Massif, the Southern Alps, or the Pyrenees if necessary. Because the environment dictates the learning: pushing beyond one’s limits, helping a neighbor, living together through the same weather, the same slope, the same cool night under the stars.
Simple and powerful rituals
Each stay cultivates the same trilogy: hiking, campfire, sleeping under the stars. This common thread, from the little ones to teenagers, establishes trust and solidarity through concrete actions. More sporty activities — via ferrata, canyoning, climbing — bring the aspect of adventure, supervised by professionals and tailored to age. In its most alpine hours, the colony has guided young people to the Saint-Sorlin glacier, where they learn about ropes, walking to the group’s rhythm, and collective caution.
Ambassador of the “4 seasons” mountain
While summer accounts for the majority of departures, winter remains a strong marker, with sliding times like at Chamrousse. The dream follows its logic: to extend stays to Easter and All Saints’ Day to better smooth costs, animate areas out of high season, and show that the mountains are a playground year-round. The 4 seasons model emerges as a sustainable horizon: diversify to endure.
Aspiring ambitions hindered by resources
Realizing this agenda requires available teams, suitable accommodations, and stable funding. However, bookings concentrate on a few weeks, families are having to make choices in an inflationary context, and recruitment is becoming more challenging. The result is a recurrent puzzle when it’s time for summer camp registrations: convincing early, without perfect visibility on costs and subsidies.
A model awaiting vital support
The malaise exceeds a single name. Group stays for children have contracted since the 1990s when millions departed every summer. The decline in the number of BAFA certified leaders is increasing tension and weakening supervision. At the same time, demands are tightening: accessibility, safety, thermal renovations… essential but heavy to finance for an associative structure.
Standards as a measure of demands and budget wall
For example, the exploration of a building in Chartreuse stumbled over PMR standards: the installation of an elevator would have blown the budget, despite the educational interest of the site. These contradictory injunctions — impeccable reception quality, costs to be contained — create a narrow pathway where many initiatives get lost. There remains a glimmer of hope: the increasing attention of public authorities, the revival of “youth” topics, and some targeted programs.
Grants, “Pass colo” and glimmers of hope
Recently, the question of summer camps has returned to the decision-makers’ table. In 2024, the “Pass colo” was introduced and could cover part of the costs for families, enhancing the accessibility of stays. Other regional or departmental aids are emerging, sometimes linked to energy renovation or off-season hosting. The Chalet des Forêts is keeping an eye on these opportunities, seeking partners, and navigating an administrative calendar that is often out of sync with field needs.
Professionalizing without renouncing the pioneering spirit
The challenge is not only financial. It involves enhancing training, retaining animation teams, and building local collaborations — shelters, guides, stations — to pool resources. Models are evolving: some structures are specializing, while others are focusing on bilingualism, like a bilingual holiday camp that illustrates how pedagogical innovation attracts new audiences without giving up on the great outdoors.
Between heritage and future: a battle of every moment
Preserving a century of transmissions after Boëge means retelling the story of group departures in line with the evolution of school holidays in France, family practices, and contemporary constraints. It also means ensuring health safety and food quality, at a time when an incident can mobilize assistance within minutes, as seen in this recent alert in Isère. Summer camps must show that they know how to prevent, react, and reassure.
The strength of the collective narrative
If the colony overcomes challenges, it is also thanks to the power of shared stories: the child discovering snow at Chamrousse, the one mastering heights on the via ferrata, the girl warming up by the campfire after the rain. In popular culture, imaginary escapes awaken this sense of community. And on the ground, the Chalet des Forêts perpetuates this momentum: making the mountains a place of connections, a laboratory of mutual aid, and a promise — fragile, precious — for future generations.
