The idea is not new: "Voluntourism" is the name given to vacation offers where guests do charitable work: whether it's building dry stone walls, looking after children in a children's home or accompanying newly hatched turtles into the sea. The offers are so popular that customers even pay to work during their vacations.

Not so at Lenk in the Bernese Simmental. Anyone working on the trail renovation here from July 18 to 22, 2022, will stay in a vacation apartment for free and will also have plenty of opportunity to take the area under the studded tires. "Half of the time" is reserved for trail construction, writes Lenk Simmental Tourism in the advertisement. When asked, product manager Rolf Marmet explains: "We have not yet decided whether we will work half days or the first half of the week in one go." Participants also have free access to the outdoor pool for the entire time. So relaxation after shoveling is guaranteed.

"We did a pilot project last year, a path renovation project with various work groups," explains Marmet. "Some worked on a daily basis, others for a week at a time and helped to renovate the most popular trail in the region for both hikers and bikers: the one in Summerwald." The Simmental mainly focuses on coexistence. The existing paths should be open to both groups and reinforced where necessary so that they can withstand the strain. "Our aim is to be able to signpost singletrail routes after the trail renovation and thus achieve a certain degree of separation. However, this is also dependent on the approval of the regional structure plan, which makes signposting possible," emphasizes Marmet, who himself regularly rides his mountain bike on the trails in the Simmental.

Long-term goal: a single trail network in the Simmental

The work is being led by the company Vast Trails. They have already carried out an analysis to determine which sections need to be renovated so that Lenk in the Simmental can promote a single trail network in the foreseeable future. The trail specialists from Brig, together with the trail masters employed by the municipality and other working groups, repeatedly take on renovation jobs. Lenk is therefore not only relying on voluntary work. Nevertheless, the contribution of the planned seven to eight participants should not be underestimated if they really get stuck in for half a week.

Incidentally, the volunteers will not just be doing manual labor, but will be able to take home effective knowledge in trail building, the announcement promises. The offer is still fresh, initial reactions have been received via Instagram, but no one has signed up yet, says Rolf Marmet. There is no defined maximum number of participants, "We envisage seven to eight people, because you can work efficiently with a group of this size." Nobody currently knows how popular the offer is. As a precaution, the website says: "First come, first serve!"