We recognize the desire to authentically connect, not only to nature but also with each other, to strengthen community and sustain healthy environments. Our home is the mountains, they evoke our being, shape our creativity, invoke a kinder spirit and ultimately inspire us to take the initiative to do more.
We recognize the desire to authentically connect, not only to nature but also with each other, to strengthen community and sustain healthy environments. Our home is the mountains, they evoke our being, shape our creativity, invoke a kinder spirit and ultimately inspire us to take the initiative to do more.
The Canary Club program is primarily focused on engaging and influencing youth that are in close geographical proximity to the outdoors. The goal of this program is to provide an outdoor experience to kids who don’t have the means or otherwise the support to do so on their own. Lack of community involvement, lack of constructive use of free time are contributing factors to why kids may struggle. Connecting with mentors and learning the value of the environment they live in is especially important for youth. It’s also an opportunity to appreciate the incredible therapeutic aspects the mountains can bring to their day-to-day lives. We believe that a connection to the mountains will build confidence in our youth and harness a fun and positive experience to the surrounding world.
Our founder, JP Auclair was captured saying that he relished time in high alpine huts - to have time away from it all to unplug and reset. One of the initial Canary Club participants Alex Schreiber unknowingly echoed his thoughts. “It was an escape from daily life,” says Schreiber “Being in the middle of nowhere and listening to the mountains felt really good.”
Team
We are innately drawn to the mountains as skiers and riders. The founders of Alpine Initiatives recognized the potential in this passion for the outdoors and envisioned a unique non-profit to serve as a platform for inspired people to get involved. We fund programs, provide a network of support, and empower those who seek to accomplish a positive change in their own mountain communities. Alpine Initiatives helps the change makers, the startups, and the active volunteers harness and organize their energy to make their goals a reality.
Remembering JP
If you don’t know of JP Auclair, our founder, you should know the mountains inspired his being. They brought forth his genius, shaped his humble creativity, invoked his kind spirit, and ultimately took his life.
We gather every year to celebrate JP; the awesome mountains host the experience from which our new platform emerged. The silent power of the mountains is, and has always been, the answer.
So, that’s what we do. We foster authentic mountain experiences that pull you from the familiar to the untamed, a wild and beautiful place that nourish the body and mind.
