#1 With your fundraising: Be recognized as the person who has raised the most money for pediatric research. Share your fundraising link with your friends, family, colleagues and entourage. Don't stop at $250 per person, do more than the minimum! The top fundraiser will win the Pediatric Research Foundation's Alpine Cup.

#2 With your performance: Solo, make the most climbs with your timing chip. As a team, do the most relay climbs, with a timing chip for the team. Prizes will go to the solo entrant and the team with the most laps in 4 hours.

The ALPINE Challenge is organized by the Pediatric Research Foundation, in collaboration with Ski Garceau and Owl's Head. The primary mission of the Pediatric Research Foundation is to fund pediatric research aimed at protecting, promoting and improving the health and well-being of children and adolescents.

This year, proceeds from the ALPINE Challenge will be used to fund mental health and neurodevelopmental research projects conducted at research centers in or near each region where a Challenge is held:

ALPINE - GARCEAU SKI CHALLENGE: Mitigating polarization and reducing youth distress and violence: a pilot project to rethink preventive approaches in schools, Dr. Cécile Rousseau, Full Professor, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, and Director of the Division of Child Psychiatry in that department.
ALPINE - OWL'S HEAD CHALLENGE: Therapeutic use of rock climbing with school-aged youth, Pre Emmanuelle Jasmin, Sherbrooke University Hospital Center

YES! The Pediatric Research Foundation offers many tools and support to help you with your fundraising. As soon as you've completed your registration, we'll be able to send you a guide with sample social media posts, templates for emails, text messages and more!

A timing chip will calculate your time for each lap completed (up to the summit). One chip will be issued individually for solo entries, and one per relay team. For some challenges, it will be possible to start your descent halfway down in a turn around to allow less experienced people to take part in the ALPINE Challenge too. Turnarounds are not timed.

Choose your climb : Garceau or Owl's Head
Choose your route (skiing or snowshoeing)
Fill in the form
When asked, "Would you like to participate in the Alpine Challenge as an INDIVIDUAL or as a TEAM (2 to 4 participants)?*," select "As a team" and then enter your team name in the next question.
Each teammate must register individually via the registration platform.
Create your personal fundraising campaign
Start your campaign and raise $500 with two people, $750 with three, or $1,000 with four, to support pediatric research.
Don't forget that the Alpine trophy will be awarded to the team that raises the most money.

1 – Sign up on Strava and join the Alpine Challenge club:https://www.strava.com/clubs/defialpine

2 – Grab your touring skis and set off to conquer the mountain!

Record as many alpine hiking activities as possible on your Strava app and rack up as many kilometers and elevation gain as you can starting January 9. Your activities will be automatically added and counted toward the club's total.

⚠️ Please note that only ski touring activities will be counted by the club. For example, if you participate in alpine skiing, it will not be counted in the club rankings.

3 – See your efforts rewarded!

Throughout the challenge, we will offer rewards to those who achieve the best results!

What you need to know

📅 Dates: January 9 to March 21, 2026

📍 Location: Wherever you are! All your alpine ski tours count 🏞️

🔗 Join us here:https://www.strava.com/clubs/defialpine

It's your responsibility to bring your own alpine and Nordic hiking gear. We recommend the multi-layer system! Many shops offer the possibility of renting the necessary equipment. We've done the initial research for you: equipment rental. No equipment will be available on site. A working headlamp is mandatory to participate in the event.

OF COURSE! Tickets for accompanying persons will be sold online from the start of 2026. Contact us at to be the first to receive tickets.

Alpine touring is a demanding sport, combining ski ascent with skins and ski descent. We recommend that participants are already familiar with this sport. Most of the Défi ALPINE takes place in the evening, under the stars. The trail will be groomed before the participants' first departure, but the Challenge still requires a good command of alpine touring.

For those who are not comfortable with alpine hiking, this year the challenge also becomes a Nordic hike, with the possibility of climbing the mountain on snowshoes!

FAQ