On this page you will find:

• Regulations 12-hour Challenge
• Itinerary examples
• Accommodations tips
• Material supplies
  
• Preliminary program
• Route & travel tips

Answers to the most frequently asked questions can be found on our FAQ page.
Is your question not listed? Feel free to call or mail:
mail: charlotte@bibianmentelfoundation.nl
tel: 06-1680 9919

Itinerary

For participants from the Netherlands, we recommend the itinerary below, so you can start the Challenge rested and still have time around it for some extra descents.

Accommodations

Below is a list of accommodations we have a price agreement with.
Book directly with the accommodation, mentioning that you are a participant of the Hohsaas 12-hour Challenge.

In the village of Saas-Grund: 

Montela Apartments:
Modern apartment complex a 5-minute walk from the gondola.
There are apartments for 2, 4, 6 or 8 people, all with balcony or terrace.
Price depends on the type of apartment and your length of stay; for participants there is an offer (3 nights for the price of 2 or 5 nights for the price of 4). You can assume rd. CHF 70 per person per night. The larger the apartment and the longer you stay, the lower the price you pay per person per night becomes. In the apartment you have your own kitchen where you can prepare your own breakfast and dinner (eating out is a bit more expensive in Switzerland than in NL, by cooking in the evening you can save some costs). Request your offer directly through the form on the Montela website or send an e-mail to info@montela.ch.
Visit website Montela

The Montela Apartments 

Hotel Bergheimat:
This hotel is a 3-minute walk from Saas-Grund and has a cozy bar and restaurant where many participants (as well as locals) go.
Price edition 2024: CHF 57 per person per night including breakfast, CHF 75 per person including dinner. Soon we will mention here the prices for edition 2025.
Visit website Hotel Bergheimat.

Hotel Primavera
This family-run hotel is located right next to the valley station of the Saas-Grund ski area. There are hotel rooms (1-3 people per room) and apartments (2-8 people per apartment) available and a restaurant. We will soon list prices for the 2025 edition here.
Visit website Hotel Primavera

Hotel Primavera, right next to the valley station of the gondola

On the mountain:

Mountain hut Weissmieshütte (NOTE: for Tour Challenge participants only):
Stay overnight on the night of March 15-16 during the challenge at the Weissmieshütte on the mountain. This costs CHF (Swiss Francs, prices 2024) 58 during the night of the challenge, including dinner. Breakfast is included in your Tour Challenge starting license. Staying longer? You can! Other nights it costs CHF 73 per night including dinner and breakfast. Bookable via this website stating: Mentelity 12h Tour Challenge.
Visit website Weissmieshütte

Hohsaas Hütte (NOTE: only for Distance and Fun Challenge participants):
Stay overnight on the night of March 15-16 during the challenge at the Hohsaas Hütte. This costs CHF (Swiss Francs, prices 2024) 45 during the night of the challenge. Stay longer? You can! The other nights this costs CHF 60 including breakfast or CHF 83 including breakfast and dinner. Reservations can be made via: https://www.hohsaashuette.ch/ stating: Mentelity 12h Challenge.
Visit website Hohsaas Hütte

Equipment and safety

The regulations for participating in the 12-hour Challenge can be found here:

• Regulations 12-hour Challenge

In terms of equipment, each participant in the 12-hour Challenge is required to wear the following:

• Helmet
• Back protector (not required, but advised)
• Front light (white, the brighter the better, at least 300 lumens)
• Rear light (red, bicycle light will do)
• Race-BIB (vest, handed out at the briefing)
• GPS tracker (will be handed out at the briefing)

It is possible to purchase 1 or 2 sets of lamps per team and share them within your team.
Keep in mind that transferring the lamps does take some time.

Suggestions for lights:

• Black Diamond Cosmo (to mount on your helmet with elastic), 350 lumens, example
• Running Sport LED vest with lights front and back like this
• High-end work-head lamp with 1600 lumens like this one

Preliminary Program

Below are some key program points in advance.
Around December 2023, the full program of the Hohsaas 12-hour Challenge will appear here.

Friday, March 21

• 5 p.m.: mandatory riders briefing in Saas-Grund (village)
• 22:00-22:30: all participants take the gondola to the Saas-Grund ski area
• 22:30-23:30: opportunity for participants to explore slopes
• 11:45 p.m.: participants gather at the starting location

Saturday, March 22

• 00:00-12:00: Hohsaas 12-hour Challenge
• 12:00 -14:00: Communal lunch at Kreuzboden middle station.
• 2:00 p.m.: Prize-giving ceremony & Apres Ski at Kreuzboden middle station

Route & Travel Tips

The Hohsaas 12-hour Challenge is organized in Saas-Grund, Switzerland. Should you come with your own transportation, we recommend you take the car train Lötschbergbahn to cross the mountains between Kandersteg and Goppenstein.

You can also choose to travel to Saas-Grund by train. There is a good (direct) train connection from Utrecht to Basel; from Basel take the train via Bern to Visp. From Visp, the Postbus takes 42 minutes to Saas-Grund. With this train connection you come to a total travel time of about 9:30 hours.

Car-pool
Do you still have a free spot in your car or looking for a place to ride along?

Then use the platform TaxSki.nl for free. Using this Dutch platform you can easily car-pool (find and offer free spots), in addition you can use them to book a cab from the airport or train station to the ski resort and find other winter sports people to share a cab ride with. Use of the platform is free and after making contact with your car-pool buddy, you make arrangements directly with each other to share costs and the like. We encourage our participants and volunteers to travel together through this platform as much as possible.