Symon Welfringer leads a team united by solidarity to 4,027 metres
To mark the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (17 October), mountain guide and Julbo athlete Symon Welfringer joined forces with 82-4000 Solidaires to guide a team of four participants to the summit of the Allalinhorn in Switzerland. An ascent with a purpose: raising a collective voice in support of making the mountains accessible to everyone.
Coming from different social backgrounds, participants Nayla, Ali, El Mustafa and Enis were accompanied by various social organisations working alongside 82-4000 Solidaires. They had already had the opportunity to discover the mountains through trips organised by the association. This time, they set their sights on the Allalinhorn, climbing together all the way to its 4,027-metre summit. Alongside them, mountain guide and athlete Symon Welfringer volunteered his time to lead the ascent and share his high-altitude mountaineering experience.
"These places and landscapes exist, and they're accessible to everyone if the right approach is put in place. It's incredible to see the level everyone reached, and above all, the motivation each person brought to this project." — Symon Welfringer
His commitment reflects the wider volunteer efforts of the mountain guiding community, which are essential to bringing 82-4000 Solidaires' mission to life. Today, the association relies on a network of around 30 mountain guides, each volunteering between one and eight days a year to help introduce the mountains to people who might otherwise never have the opportunity to experience them.
A 4,000-metre summit as an act of solidarity
Since 2012, 82-4000 Solidaires has been campaigning for equal access to leisure activities, working to reduce inequalities in access to the mountains and mountaineering for those who face the greatest barriers. From climbing and glacier hiking to via ferrata routes and summit ascents, the association's trips are built around a simple belief: the mountains are a place for discovery, freedom, confidence and connection, an experience that should never be reserved for an elite who already know the ropes or have the means to access it.
For the association, sharing the mountains means taking action against exclusion. It means giving those who are furthest removed from them the opportunity to discover an extraordinary shared environment. Above all, it means building strong social connections and creating a space where everyone can find their place.
