Challenges and opportunities of long-distance hiking

Tourism & Leisure — Jan 22, 2026
Michael Gams, CIPRA International

What role does long-distance hiking play and how has it changed over the years? On 11 December 2025, International Mountain Day, CIPRA explored these questions with a panel discussion and film screening in Liechtenstein.

The Via Alpina long-distance hiking trail has been connecting people, cultures and landscapes across the Alpine region for 25 years. The podcast series “Voices along the Via Alpina” explores the trail from different perspectives: the series concluded with a public panel discussion in Liechtenstein, featuring Laura Haberfellner, who has been coordinating the Via Alpina secretariat at CIPRA International in Liechtenstein since 2026. In her opinion, long-distance hiking is one of the most environmentally friendly and sustainable forms of travel: “I see value in the existence of long-distance hiking trails that allow people, especially young people, to experience nature without commercial exploitation, because we are increasingly living in digitalised spaces.” Refuges such as the Pfälzer hut in Liechtenstein offer genuine spaces for experience and refuge for long-distance hikers: Stefanie Alis Ritter has been managing this refuge since 2025 and told the panel how she teaches guests to be more conscious of their use of resources. Christian Baumgartner teaches at the Institute for Tourism and Leisure at the University of Applied Sciences of Graubünden. In his view, long-distance hiking can contribute to a greater awareness of nature and local life: “Through encounters, through slowness, through winding down and through regional products.” The discussion and other “Voices along the Via Alpina“ are available online and in the CIPRA podcast.

One of these voices belongs to Zoé Lemaitre. In 2023, she hiked the Via Alpina and interviewed women whose lives revolve around the mountains for a film project: a hut warden, a mountain guide, a freerider, a shepherdess, a climbing instructor and a mountain rescuer. Lemaitre’s film raises awareness of women in mountain professions: “I wanted to show their strength and give them a voice.” She is now travelling around the Alps with her film “Via Alpina – in the footsteps of pioneers”, which was also shown in Liechtenstein on 11 December.

More about the film: www.ulule.com/film-via-alpina-pionnieres/ 

The event took place as part of the Alpine Convention’s Reading Mountains Festival: www.alpconv.org/en/home/projects/reading-mountains-festival/