A huge THANK YOU to Sophie Winssinger Pelka for introducing us to Alpine Quest 2025 and her extraordinary adventure.

Roped together with her two companions, Loubna and Mélanie, she crossed the Alps on skis, bikes and on foot. Travelling from Vienna to Monaco, they covered 1,600 km in just 54 days, driven by their passion for the mountains and their friendship.
Sophie is involved with the Give It Forward Trust (GIFT) and Giving Women funds, hosted by the Swiss Philanthropy Foundation, and enjoys drawing parallels between the challenges of philanthropy and those of this extraordinary journey:

• Alignment of values: As crucial on a glacier as it is in a foundation. It is our shared compass.
• Interdependence: In rope teams as in strategic philanthropy, we move forward together or not at all.
• Trust: Relying on each other’s expertise, trusting local organisations as we trust our rope partners.
• Courage to act: Faced with the immensity of the challenge (climate change/social inequalities), choosing action over paralysis.

Crossing the Alps reminds us that the greatest challenges are overcome together, step by step, with humility and determination.

An inspiring project and a powerful message about sustainability and the threatened future of our glaciers.

👉 Discover the Alpine Quest 2025 expedition here.

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