The Alps for softies

Scale the Eiger if you want to, but the Alps in summer are just the thing for those who like holidays that pamper

Once upon a time — back in the 1990s — ski resorts thought that summer was for sweating. They’d built their fortunes on selling energetic winter holidays to energetic people, and believed that to fill their hotels, apartments and chalets in July and August, they had to offer more of the same. Bungee-jumping, zip-wiring, rock-climbing, mountain-biking, via ferrata — if it gave you vertigo and a heart rate of 160bpm, then it was on the agenda. They stocked the shops with Lycra and crash helmets, hired a bunch of hairy-chested adrenaline junkies as guides, then waited for their loyal winter customers to come scurrying back for more.

They didn’t. It turned out that even skiers like to take things easy on a summer holiday, thanks very much, so, in recent years, the emphasis on mountain holidays has begun to switch back to a more contemplative, even playful approach. In some ways, it’s been an obvious shift. Thanks to all the infrastructure left behind by skiing, the Alps are full of cutting-edge hotels, cute chalets, state-of-the-art spas and Michelin-starred restaurants, along with a sprinkling of innovative green-tinged projects designed to get you back in touch with nature without actually giving you blisters.

So, if you’re still sitting comfortably, and would like to do more of the same this summer — to the accompaniment of a chilled glass of white, the scent of pine forests and a gobsmacking view — let me begin. Because the mountains are made for softies, too.

Yoga in Samoens, France

Samoëns is not your average mountain resort. The village was famous for its stonemasons long before its snow, and its ancient core is on France’s national register of historic monuments. In summer, the wide valley in which it’s set — backed by towering crags and distant peaks — is lush, green and serene.

It’s an appropriate home for La Source (00 33 4 50 58 61 07,sourcealps.com), a chalet opened in 2009 by the film-makers and all-round outdoors enthusiasts Saskia Anley and Duncan McCallum. They’re pioneering a more balanced, less frenetic approach to mountain holidays, and a blend of hatha and vinyasa yoga is an integral part of their summer programme. A week’s course includes daily 90-minute morning sessions and three evening classes, which are usually taken in the open air — sometimes on a floating platform on the lake at nearby Morillon. This year, they’re giving guests the chance to take dance classes, too: Dan Ludwig, from New York, will be staying at La Source throughout July, and is going to demo a range of styles, with the group deciding which one they want to learn during the week. Between breakfast and dinner, guests are free to do as they please — hiking, biking or hiring a local massage therapist for just £38 an hour.

If that makes La Source sound laid-back, well, that’s just how it should be. The chalet is an eco-tinged establishment that serves organic vegetarian food and will knock £40 off the price of a holiday (typically £619pp for a yoga week) if you make the journey to nearby Cluses by train, which is eight hours from London. Return fares start at £135 through Rail Europe (0844 848 4064,raileurope.co.uk). Or fly to Geneva, which is served from 20 UK airports, as well as Dublin and Cork. Airlines include Swiss (0845 601 0956, swiss.com), EasyJet (easyjet.com) and BMI Baby (bmibaby.com).

Further information: greenadventureretreats.com.