Into the unknown: luxury mountain travel shifts from comfort to adventure
A new generation of wealthy travellers is heading off-piste entirely, trading five-star chalets for heliskiing, remote expeditions and one-of-a-kind mountain experiences.
The rise of the bespoke expedition
For today’s HNW traveller, luxury is less about ticking off another high-end hotel and more about something bespoke, perhaps adrenaline-fuelled or wellness-focused.
Think private heliskiing, remote mountain expeditions, river rafting or hiking and wildlife spotting with expert local guides. “What we offer is effectively built from the ground up,” says Tamsin Graham, Head of PR & Communications at Cookson Adventures, the expedition company founded by explorer Henry Cookson in 2007.
Cookson, who lives in Verbier, has a client base increasingly looking for new ways to explore the mountains. His first foray into expeditions resulted in a Guinness World Record as part of the first team to reach Antarctica’s Pole of Inaccessibility without mechanical assistance.
New perspectives
The company’s UHNW clients are predominantly multigenerational families and corporate groups, alongside some couples and solo travellers.
The age profile is shifting. “The average age of our clients is definitely getting younger as they sell their businesses earlier than previous generations,” says Graham.
The typical client is entrepreneurial and curious, someone who wants to put their own spin on an experience rather than simply buy the best packaged version of it.
Even succession planning is moving out of the boardroom and into the mountains. Family offices are increasingly using firms like Cookson Adventures to bring generations together, with experts brought on board to facilitate conversations around succession planning.
“The combination of wilderness, extraordinary landscapes and some distance from the day-to-day can provide perspective and open up conversations that might otherwise be difficult to have,” says Graham.
Image: Paddleboarding in Alaska
Heliskiing remains a perennial favourite. Guests might begin with safety checks and avalanche training before being collected from their lodge and flown directly to the top of a mountain.
Regulations vary, with France prohibiting heliskiing and Switzerland limiting it to designated sites. Italy remains one of the region’s more permissive destinations. “We’ll often collect guests in St Moritz or Gstaad and head to the Italian Alps to heliski,” says Olimpia Emo Capodilista, a Private Client Manager at Cookson Adventures.
The next frontier
The appetite for adventure is extending into the summer and shoulder seasons.
“Switzerland is seeing increasing demand in the summer months as clients look for cooler temperatures away from the Mediterranean,” says Emo Capodilista, “while Norway and Georgia are gaining attention alongside established favourites such as the Dolomites.”
And the mountains aren't immune from the global wellness phenomenon. Where once the emphasis was on the après-ski, now it’s more breathwork, remote saunas and cold-water immersion, including the prospect of a sauna beside Lake St Moritz followed by a plunge into a hole cut in the frozen lake.
Much of the magic happens behind the scenes. Teams can arrive days ahead, establish a camp or set up a bar at an extraordinary viewpoint, before the guests even know what's coming. “They give us the guardrails, but we then embellish and surprise them along the way,” says Graham.
For the most sophisticated mountain traveller and for families accustomed to having almost anything at their fingertips, perhaps the real luxury is something less tangible: not knowing exactly what comes next.
Liam Bailey is Global Head of Knight Frank’s Research Department, leading the firm’s global research strategy and overseeing projects across the UK and international markets.
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