We design and deliver experiences in the great outdoors to challenge, develop, empower and help our participants grow as individuals and communities. Read here more details about our core aims and values.
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4elements is passionate about outdoor adventure, education and culture. Based in the Bavarian Prealps we provide unique opportunities for schools, businesses, groups and individuals, to explore, challenge and discover more about the environment, local culture and themselves.
We specialise in guided hiking tours- from single to multi-day tours and transalp treks – from the Bavarian Prealps to Austria and Northern Italy. In the winter we offer snowshoe tours in the Bavarian Prealps. We love to bring the experience of the great outdoors to you.
We believe that through providing opportunities to genuinely connect with new environments, cultures and our natural wonders, we open minds, as well as nurturing curiosity and creativity. We strive to inspire hope and positive thinking in ways that cannot be achieved by other means. The power that these experiences bring, provides for learning and personal growth, as well as physical and mental wellbeing. These experiences can be harnessed towards more sustainable and ethical living.
Read moreWe are passionate about the positive force adventure can exert on our mindset, interactions and lifestyle, which will support you to travel and live more adventurously. We aspire to create experiences, which enable you to discover more about this beautiful planet in fun and exhilarating ways.
Whether it is bagging your first peak, learning to navigate your way across the mountainside or hiking across the Alps –our experiences will be a resource to turn back to and depend on.
We strive to craft experiences with long-lasting personal growth and learning. We create supportive spaces for you to learn new skills and build confidence to step outside of your comfort zone and break personal barriers.
We see nature, the local communities we pass through and each other as our classroom to spark curiosity, build knowledge and inspire personal confidence. Our experiences will encourage you to continue your explorations and growth.
We believe that the real magic in our tours lies in the strong foundations we build for connection. We support you to benefit from connecting deeply with nature, finding new ways to integrate it into your everyday.
More than anything it is the joy of shared outdoor experiences, which brings smiles to all our faces with unique memories of every tour.
Every single experience we provide has the fundamental requirement that it must be supporting personal physical health and mental well-being. The power of activity in nature and the benefit of time spent in the great outdoors on physical and mental health is undisputable.
Through our events we aim to sow seeds of awareness and provide tools to transfer the achievements from this time spent outside into your everyday life –empowering you to flourish mentally and physically beyond the event.
Providing genuine and meaningful experiences lies at the core of what we do. To that end you will be able to roam off the beaten track, smell the scents of the pine forest, taste traditional buttermilk fresh from the alpine pasture and experience local cultures first hand.
We choose routes, accommodation and destinations that are less heavily frequented and where we as guests contribute positively to support local cultures and communities. As a small business ourselves, we place value on supporting similar small businesses trying to do good in the world.
Our workplace, classroom and playground are the mountains, forests, meadows and streams – and we believe strongly that through supporting education and experiences in these environments, we can foster real understanding, responsibility and protection for these wonderful settings. We are committed to minimising the impact of our tours- both environmentally and socially - ensuring that if anything, we are leaving communities and the environment in a better place.
We do this by designing tours which have an inherently low carbon footprint – e.g. choosing public transport over private transfers, avoiding over-touristed areas, working with partners that share these values, small group travel and off-setting any carbon emissions through myclimate.
We place great value in building welcoming and inclusive environments where all participants can connect and profit from shared experiences, friendship, support and encouragement. We thrive on the curiosity our participants bring to our tours and the open-minded and deep exchanges which evolve.
Due to the nature of our events and experiences we really get to know our participants and partners well. We cherish the longevity of our relationships and the communities that evolve around our programmes.
We know that in order for you to embrace these experiences and get the most out of them, you place great trust in our organisation and expertise. For this we employ thorough risk management procedures and work with highly trained instructors and guides appropriate to the activity.
Whilst we can do everything possible to prevent incidents, nature is sometimes a higher force and out of our hands. But understanding this is a key to predicting risk. This is why an important part of our risk management approach is educating our participants - involving you in the risk management process. Whilst we will ultimately make the decisions, you will be aware of our reasoning and learn too the principles of outdoor safety to be able to adventure independently with confidence.
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