June 27, 2024 Opération Montagne Responsable: Celebration of sustainability and adventure
Part adventure, part workshop, and part festival – Lafuma and partners wrap up another successful Responsible Mountain Operation event, emphasizing the importance of sustainable adventures and collective environmental action.
On June 15-16, the French outdoor brand Lafuma and its partners once again transformed the slopes of the ski resort Les 7 Laux into a dynamic celebration of sustainability and adventure with its annual Responsible Mountain Operation (Opération Montagne Responsable) event. Here, participants engaged in a rich program of engaging discussions, DIY sewing and repair workshops, educational walks, inspiring film screenings, and collection of litter off of the mountainside.
Day one – What does adventure mean to you?
The highlight of the first day was the round table discussion on “How can we make sense of our outdoor adventures ?” which featured Laurianne Plaçais (world ultra-cycling champion and bikepacker), Loic and Benjamin from “Mode Avion” (who are travelling Annecy-Shanghai on foot from next September), Guillaume de Koudlansky de Lustrac (who is cycling between France’s 300 ski resorts) and Jérémy Bigé (2000 km on foot from Kyrgyzstan to Tajikistan) shared their experiences and encouraged the audience to explore their own relationship with adventure.
That evening, rainy weather forced film screenings originally scheduled to take place outdoors under the stars inside. But that didn’t stop young and old alike from being moved and inspired by the adventures of Naïs au pays des Loups and those of Jérémy Bigé in Fils du vent.
Day two – Mountain clean-up
Following a night in base camp, the programme resumed the next day with a mountain clean-up – now under clear and sunny skies. Following a three-hour walk, participants returned with 254.2 kg of rubbish including the usual plastic bottles and cigarette butts, but also a few old telephones and a barbecue.
The day concluded with a concert and an aperitif, celebrating the collective efforts for a zero-waste mountain – wrapping up yet another instalment of the hybrid outdoor event that has successfully blended micro-adventures, sustainability education, and festival vibes for the past 15 years.
Photos: Loic Bailliard
