We use cookies to improve your online experiences. To learn more and choose your cookies options, please refer to our cookie policy.
Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro is no ordinary feat, but this unique challenge is becoming something of a tradition here at Collège Champittet! Following the positive experiences of our previous expeditions in 2018, 2020 and 2023, in 2025, our school once again participated in this life-changing Global Campus adventure. We are immensely proud of our 11 student mountaineers, who displayed resilience, perseverance and teamwork in a magnificent ascent to Africa’s highest peak.
Our students travelled to Tanzania for their mountain expedition on 18 February 2025, but their preparations began much earlier. In order to pass selection, our students had to demonstrate a high level of physical fitness as well as motivation and academic performance. Aged 15 and up, our participants all followed an intensive training programme of trekking and other physical exercises before their departure.
Fortunately, with our physical education teacher Samy Schonne leading the expedition, our team was in good hands! An avid mountaineer, Samy has previously led our Champittet students through the gruelling Alpine Haute Route, and he is also our ice igloo specialist during our ski camp.
Upon arriving in Tanzania, our team received further support at Nord Anglia Education’s Shamba Kipara Camp, with professional local guides and porters accompanying the journey to the summit. In total, our young mountaineers spent 12 days in Tanzania, including preparation, acclimatisation, overnight camping – and an unforgettable climb of 36 kilometres, over six days, to Kilimanjaro’s 5,895-metre peak.
Despite harsh winds and extreme conditions, our adventurers admirably rose to the challenge and learned more about themselves in the process. Reflecting on her experience, our student Sofia said, “Ascending Mount Kilimanjaro was one of the greatest challenges of my life. This adventure taught me that the unknown is not a barrier, but an opportunity. Fatigue, cold and altitude tested my body and mind, but every step brought me a little closer to the summit.”
After returning from the summit, our expeditioners also dedicated a full day to supporting a humanitarian project on the ground in Tanzania. It was the perfect way to leave a positive impact while taking away the memories of a lifetime – and an unforgettable lesson in our capacity to push past our limits.
We are proud to announce that Collège Champittet has once again been ranked among the 100 leading private schools in the world by the Spear’s Schools Index!
At Collège Champittet, our culture of lifelong learning includes our teachers just as much as our students. Learning doesn’t stop when we leave the classroom or when the school day ends.
At Collège Champittet, our annual Career Day gives students a valuable opportunity to meet professionals from diverse industries and explore their future goals.
On 15 March 2025, music lovers at Collège Champittet were treated to an exceptional concert by Franco-Italian mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre and French lutenist Thomas Dunford.