We invite you to step out of your comfort zone and into the wild Alps for a leadership-centred expedition that will change your life. 

 

Every Otro Elements trip brings people into the mountains and lets the power of the wilderness shape their vision for a better life and a better world, but now we’re bringing you something a little more challenging and truly adventurous…

 

After running many ‘base-camp’ programs in the Italian mountains, we’re curating a new leadership programme delivered while making an intrepid through-trek in a rugged and untouched part of the Monte Rosa Massif. You’ll get to explore some remote peaks, sleep under the stars, explore some of your inner world and participate in a pioneering leadership experience that focuses on growing humility and joy.

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Dates 2025

June 26 - 30

With a follow-up meeting in the autumn

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What to expect:

• A 5-day nomadic expedition through the spectacular Monte Rosa Massif, gazing across distant horizons, meeting its wild inhabitants (marmots, chamoix and if we’re lucky, wolves) and embracing a slower and simpler existence;

• Live in the wild, drinking clear mountain springwater, collecting wood, making fire, and sleeping under the magnificent night skies;

• Daily practices to help us be present, build emotional resilience and be calm in body and mind, including guided breathwork, silent walking, Qigong movement, cold water training and singing. 

• Develop your leadership skills through sessions created and delivered by experienced professionals.

• Learn about navigation and mapwork with International Mountain Leader Tjeerd Wits, montane ecosystems and the creatures around you with naturalist Dr Benny Palmer Fry; and the stories and uses of local plants with our dear friends and local guides Alberto and Maria; 

• Participate in a sweatlodge ritual, an incredible growth tool that has been used by numerous ancient societies around the globe to help you focus, connect more deeply with yourself, and so help you better understand your life priorities and the importance of being in the present moment;

• Eat exquisite local food prepared (and often grown) by Maria who brings an open joy that is rare in the world;

• Meet and connect with other leaders, entrepreneurs and change-makers, being inspired and challenged by your fellow adventurers.

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Route
Our journey begins at our converted alpine barn at Alpe Selvaccia, a place where time has stood still, far away from luxury and civilization. We then leave that modest comfort behind us and our journey continues into the remote high places of the Alps, skirting the ridgelines and hanging valleys around Rassa, Vercelli. Every day we set up a new camp and en route there will also be the opportunity to conquer a peak, with the help of our skilled and hardened mountain guides.

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Leadership programme

Informed as much by their strategic work in the institutional engine rooms of Western Europe as their diplomatic work in the Makushi meeting huts of the Amazonian rainforest (where they first met), Tjeerd and Benny have created an immersive leadership programme that focuses specifically on the often overlooked qualities of servant leadership and the cultivation of joy. We believe, in order to help create a better world, it is critical that leaders bring their personal values into the professional sphere. As such, through a nature-driven, experiential program, participants gain new insights into their unique story and qualities, while developing their capacity for humility and happiness, thus becoming better role models for their colleagues, family and friends.

 

Price

• €1,995 per person (excl. VAT).

• Invoices can be provided should you want to include this as a business expense for professional development.

• The price is all inclusive: 5 days and 4 nights; all meals and sessions; provision of some equipment; professional mountain guides; and airport transfer to and from the mountains.

• Excludes international travel to Milan Malpensa airport / train station.

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[Note: We make every effort to make these trips as socio-environmentally kind as possible, in terms of carbon emissions, general resource use, and ethical sourcing. As such we encourage low carbon travel as much as possible. We are blessed with fantastic train networks in Europe and there are always car-share options going for the expeditions. However, if flying is impossible to avoid, please consider offsetting your emissions with a donation to an organisation such as Trees for All, Mossy Earth or an equivalent.]

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Team

In Tjeerd Wits and Benny Palmer Fry, you’ll be led by a highly experienced, responsive and authentic team, bringing views and techniques from agile management, indigenous practice, mountain leadership and non-violent communication. We’ve lived and worked all over the world, from the islands of Indonesia and the deep Pacific, to the plains of South Sudan, to the jagged peaks of Tajikistan, to the deep forests of Northern Peru… and we’d like to think that these journeys have helped build attitudes of balance, tranquility and non-judgement. Our dear friend and local guide Alberto will be making sure we stay on the right trail and keep smiling, while Maria will be keeping us well fed by preparing the delicious, locally-sourced meals-on-the-move. Together we’re a wonderfully friendly family.

 

Click here to get to know the Otro Team better.

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Interested? 

Are you interested? Register now by filling in the [ registration form ] and secure your spot. As soon as we have reached the minimum number of participants, you will receive all practical information about the location, flight details, payment information, cancellation policy and a comprehensive packing list. And then the adventure will begin...

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Do you have any questions first? Do not hesitate to contact us at info@otro-elements.it .