Podcast series: People talk about the Via Alpina

As a passionate trail runner, Belgian Ellen Boucké started the Via Alpina at running pace: “At first I wanted to be as fast as possible and didn’t take the time to enjoy the beautiful landscape.” Swiss long-distance hiker Sascha Dubach also underwent a transformation along the way: “At the beginning, I tried to control too many things. I planned too much. Now I get up in the morning and may not evenknow where I’ll be sleeping that night.”

Italian Katia Tomatis knows the Via Alpina mainly as the warden of the Malinvern hut in Piedmont: “Multi-day tours on long-distance hiking trails convey a feeling of peace that is difficult to find when on holiday in places with lots of people.” Slovenian organic farmer Matevž Pretner also accommodates long-distance hikers in Trenta in the Triglav National Park and demands: “Hiking from one valley to the next every day and moving between huts is not a matter of course in many places. The Alps must remain habitats, including culturally.”

Even before the Via Alpina existed, in 1992 Swiss geographer and landscape planner Dominik Siegrist hiked from Vienna to Nice with a group of like-minded people. The idea of crossing the Alpine arc was new. “Today, the Via Alpina is truly the most important Alpine-wide tourism project”, he says. Frenchwoman Zoé Lemaitre was inspired by long-distance hiking to make a documentary film about female pioneers along the Via Alpina. Zoé says of the women portrayed: “I really liked their respectful approach to the mountains. Mountains connect hikers and give them a very humble approach to life.”

The “Voices along the Via Alpina” in the podcast series of the same name tells the stories of those who almost gave up the hike, whose water froze in their drinking bottles, and what goats have to do with cosmetic products. On 11 December 2025, CIPRA will show the documentary film “Via Alpina - Sur les pas des pionnières” by Zoé Lemaitre and host a panel discussion on 25 years of the Via Alpina.

This project is financially supported by the Prince Guido Feger Foundation in Liechtenstein.