Adventurous Outdoor JFK Switzerland Summer Camp in Gstaad

Course Description: Adventurous Outdoor JFK Switzerland Summer Camp in Gstaad

🎓 Course Overview

This outdoor summer camp in Saanen, next to Gstaad in the Swiss Alps, offers children aged 6 to 14 an Alpine adventure built around outdoor learning. Campers explore the mountains, rivers and forests of the Saanenland in small groups, with teachers from around the world and professional mountain guides, developing confidence, teamwork and a love of nature. Core values are challenge, enjoyment, fair play, honesty and teamwork, and each camp unit writes its own Code of Living.

The camp runs from 4 July to 15 August 2027. Campers can join for one, two or three weeks, as boarders (Sunday to Sunday) or day campers (Monday to Friday). Three weeks is recommended, so that children experience all three weekly themes.

📚 Academic Content

Learning happens outdoors. Every week has a different theme, and weeks 4–6 repeat the cycle of weeks 1–3. All activities are supervised by qualified local mountain guides.

Water Week (weeks 1 and 4)

• Water adventure: kayaking and canoeing, raft building and racing, canyoning and supervised wild swimming with cold-water acclimatisation.

• River science: mountain-stream surveys testing water purity, velocity and temperature, and river-ecosystem hikes studying plants and animals along the river's course.

Mountain Week (weeks 2 and 5)

• Mountain skills: hiking and orienteering with map and compass, wildlife tracking, rock scrambling and via ferrata, and survival skills, including weather awareness and trip preparation.

• Mountain hut overnight: a compulsory overnight stay in a mountain hut (the youngest group, ages 6–7, is exempt).

Rock Week (weeks 3 and 6)

• Climbing: climbing and bouldering, abseiling and rappelling, ziplining and rope-park challenges.

• Geology and nature: cave exploration, rock formations and how limestone forms, fossil hunting, and observing how birds, insects and ibex use rocky habitats.

Alongside the themes, campers enjoy indoor and outdoor games, songs, folktales, crafts, music and movement classes, field days, cultural performances and special classes led by trained specialists, all of which help build English language skills.

📍 Campus & Location

The camp is based on a school campus in the village of Saanen, in the Saanenland region of the Bernese Oberland, a short distance from Gstaad. Geneva Airport is about two hours away by car and Zurich about 2 hours 50 minutes; Bern Airport is about 1 hour 20 minutes by car. On site are common areas, TV lounges, a sports field and sports equipment, table tennis, mini-football, a playroom and an assembly hall, and a sports hall and swimming pool are a short walk away.

🏫 Accommodation & Meals

Boarders live in traditional Swiss chalet-style boarding houses in Saanen, with separate houses for boys and girls. Children share rooms with peers of a similar age, and staff mix nationalities to encourage everyone to speak English. Showers are private. Bed linen is provided and washed regularly, and boarders receive a free daily laundry service.

An on-site chef prepares breakfast, lunch and dinner using fresh, regional produce. Lunch is sometimes an outdoor picnic or campfire with sausages and bread, there is a barbecue at least once a week, and Swiss fondue is sometimes served in the evening. Vegetarian options are available and alternatives are provided for religious requirements or allergies. Fruit is always available in the houses.

🚌 Excursions & Activities

Excursions complement the weekly themes. Recent destinations include Gruyères Castle with its cheese-making heritage, the Cailler chocolate factory, a boat ride on Lake Geneva, and Montreux with the Château de Chillon. Details of each trip are released one week before each session. Boarders also enjoy evening events such as talent shows, fashion shows, international evenings, quiz and games nights and movie nights. On changeover Sundays campers play team games at base camp.

⏰ A Day in the Life

A typical weekday for boarders (subject to change):

• 07:00 — Wake up

• 07:45 — Breakfast

• 08:30 — Registration

• 09:00 — Outdoor learning

• 12:30 — Lunch

• 13:30 — Outdoor learning continues

• 16:00 — Snack

• 16:15 — End-of-day meeting

• 16:45 — Return to the house

• 17:00 — Showers and free time

• 19:00 — Dinner

• 19:30 — Evening activities

• 20:30 — Milk and biscuits

• 21:00 — Lights out

Day campers are dropped off between 08:15 and 08:30 and collected between 16:30 and 16:45, Monday to Friday; on the final Friday there is a closing ceremony for parents.

2027 Dates & Fees 📅

The 2027 camp runs from Sunday 4 July to Sunday 15 August. Boarders arrive on Sunday afternoon (13:00–16:00) and depart on Sunday (11:00–13:00); day campers attend Monday to Friday. Places are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Fees are quoted in Swiss francs (CHF):

• Boarding: 1 week CHF 3,300 — 2 weeks CHF 6,600 — 3 weeks CHF 9,900

• Day camp: 1 week CHF 2,700 — 2 weeks CHF 5,400 — 3 weeks CHF 8,100

Weekly boarding stays start each Sunday: 4, 11, 18 and 25 July and 1 and 8 August. Two-week stays can start on 4, 11, 18 or 25 July or 1 August, and three-week stays on 4, 11, 18 or 25 July.

Airport transfers (per way): Geneva CHF 520 private or CHF 300 shared; Zurich CHF 800 private or CHF 450 shared.

Payment: enrolment is confirmed once the signed registration form is received and fees are paid in full by bank transfer in CHF (credit cards are not accepted). Travel details must be sent at least one month before the start. If a family cancels before 1 May 2027, 70% of the camp fees are refunded; after 1 May 2027 the full amount is retained. No refund is given for early departure or disciplinary exclusion. Cancellation insurance from the home country is strongly recommended.

✔️ What's Included

Outdoor learning with qualified guides, weekly-theme activities and excursions, a camp backpack and cap, and medical, accident, luggage and private liability insurance (including emergency medical repatriation; a 10% deductible applies to doctor visits). Boarders also receive shared accommodation with bed linen, all meals and daily laundry; day campers receive lunch.

Not included: airport transfers, cancellation insurance, personal expenses, and any equipment that has to be provided or rented if a camper arrives without suitable gear.

🛡️ Safety & Welfare

All outdoor activities are led by qualified local mountain guides at a ratio of one guide to six campers. Children have a safety talk and campus tour on arrival, and house staff and qualified first-aiders are on duty in the boarding houses. Staff meet campers at the airport and escort them to the boarding house, and passports, tickets and travel documents are kept safely by staff throughout the stay.

Medication must be handed in, labelled and covered by a signed administration form; staff give medicines only as specified, and children may not keep medicines in their rooms. House staff make sure boarders wash and shower daily. Boarders may use phones and tablets only during free time (about 17:00–17:45) on filtered Wi-Fi, and devices are collected at night; day campers do not bring phones. A clear code of conduct covers kindness, respect and staying with the group, and alcohol and drugs are strictly prohibited.

💡 Who This Programme Is For

This camp suits curious, active children aged 6 to 14 who love being outdoors and want to try kayaking, climbing, hiking and camping in the Swiss Alps while making friends from around the world and practising their English. A three-week stay covers the full Water, Mountain and Rock cycle; one- and two-week options and a day camp suit younger children and families holidaying in the Gstaad area.

John F. Kennedy International School — Google Maps ↗

Chilchgasse 8, 3792 Saanen, Switzerland Google Maps ↗