On Thursday 20 February 2025, as night falls, the French mountains will once again be joining forces to bring you an exceptional event! During the same evening, all the French Ski Schools (ESF) are joining forces to organise torch-lit descents in French resorts simultaneously, in partnership with the Association Nationale des Maires des Stations de Montagne and Domaines Skiables de France. 

Our aim? To raise as much money as possible for charity programmes that enable children who are not fortunate enough to be able to go on holiday to discover our magnificent mountains and their benefits.  

Torch-lit descents are a magical event par excellence and a must for any winter holiday in the mountains, and are a delight for young and old alike!  

To join in the fun and do something good at the same time, members of the public are invited to buy torches, with all proceeds going to 3 charities: Enfance et Montagne, Génération Montagne and Petits Princes through the ‘Famille Plus, la montagne solidaire’ campaign.  

Let's light up our mountains for children on Thursday 20 February 2025!

→ For more information on the event and torch sales: contact your resort's tourist office. 

→ To take part in the torchlight descents (subject to availability, registration required): contact the ESF school. 

The French mountain community rallies for 3 associations 

Children and mountains  

Le Syndicat National des Moniteurs du Ski Français (SNMSF) est à l'origine du fonds de dotation Enfance et Montagne. Ce fonds, qui soutient les classes d'éducation et de découverte en montagne, a pour objectif de soutenir et de faire revivre la tradition française des classes de neige et des classes vertes. L'objectif du fonds est d'apporter une aide financière aux établissements scolaires qui souhaitent réaliser des projets éducatifs liés à la montagne, apportant ainsi aux enfants de nombreux bénéfices tels que la découverte d'un nouvel environnement, l'apprentissage de l'autonomie et de la vie en collectivité, la pratique d'activités sportives et culturelles. 

A word from Éric Brèche - President of the Syndicat National des Moniteurs du Ski Français : 

‘As teachers and ski instructors, we feel it's important to be the driving force behind helping children discover the mountains. Our aim is to give a new impetus to discovery classes in our regions. In three years, thanks to the financial contributions of the SNMSF and those of private donors and partners sympathetic to the aims of Enfance & Montagne, more than €1.5 million has been distributed, enabling us to help finance 1,560 mountain discovery classes, winter and summer, involving more than 39,000 children from all over France. I'm very pleased and proud of the success of Enfance & Montagne and the support this initiative has generated.

At the same time, Enfance & Montagne is supporting Imagine tes Montagnes, a call for projects created in 2021 by a group of 10 organisations, whose mission is to support and develop young people's commitment to protecting the mountains, by offering grants to project leaders.

Génération Montagne 

In April 2022, Domaines Skiables de France created the Génération Montagne dedicated fund, whose mission is to lead and finance targeted actions of general interest involving ski areas in the environmental, social and solidarity fields in the French mountain ranges.  

The missions and achievements of Génération Montagne : 

To open up and strengthen initiatives that enable disadvantaged groups to discover the mountains and downhill skiing.

This year, 30 pupils from Saint-Denis set off to discover the joys of the snow at the Carroz mountain resort in Haute-Savoie. Snow and sunshine were the order of the day on this unique trip, where the children were given the chance to try their hand at skiing. Up there, all the barriers between the urban and mountain worlds were broken down thanks to a shared desire and the involvement of all those involved. The Génération Montagne endowment fund provided financial support to help these two classes realise their project.

Supporting actions to promote solidarity and human values in mountain regions

In the spring of 2022, with the war in Ukraine in full swing, the small village of Roubion, situated at an altitude of 1,340 metres, offered to take in a family of Ukrainian refugees. The Génération Montagne endowment fund supported the training and professional integration of one of them, Viktor Veselov, who had been discharged in his country for health reasons, within the Roubion ski area.

To consolidate Domaines Skiables de France's commitment by speeding up the development of several of its eco-commitments through awareness-raising and actions to protect the environment

‘Zero waste in the mountains by 2030’ is the ambitious goal set by the Mountain Riders association for 2020. To achieve this, the Génération Montagne endowment fund is supporting the initiative and contributing to the awareness-raising and training phase.

Opération Famille Plus, the mountain of solidarity in partnership with Petits Princes

Set up in 1987, the Petits Princes association enables seriously ill children and teenagers to realise their mountain dreams and find extra energy in their fight against illness. The association is supported throughout the year by the Famille Plus resorts and the ANMSM through the ‘Famille Plus, la montagne solidaire’ operation.  

The Association Nationale des Maires des Stations de Montagne (ANMSM - National Association of Mayors of Mountain Resorts) has set up the ‘Famille Plus, la montagne solidaire’ operation, in partnership with the Petits Princes Association, to help seriously ill children realise their mountain dreams. Since the inception of this operation, the strong commitment of the resorts and holidaymakers has made it possible to fund a number of children's and teenagers' dreams, as well as welcoming 11 little princes and princesses to the resorts themselves. 

The Petits Princes Association, founded in 1987, makes the dreams of seriously ill children and teenagers come true, with 3 main objectives:

• Providing extra energy to fight the disease: a child who lives his or her passions and dreams is a child who finds extra energy to face the disease.  
• Following children throughout their illness: the Petits Princes Association is the only association in France to make several dreams come true for the same sick child if their condition so requires, depending on the progress of their pathology and treatment. The association's volunteers are in regular contact with the children, their families and the medical staff to provide long-term support.
• Supporting the whole family: Because the disease turns the whole family upside down, in most cases the parents and siblings live out their dreams alongside the child.

A national event in support of the French mountains

Les P'tits Flambeaux is an event organised by France Montagnes, under the impetus of its three founding members: the Association Nationale des Maires des Stations de Montagne (ANMSM), Domaines Skiables de France (DSF) and the Syndicat National des Moniteurs du Ski Français (SNMSF). 

Photo credit ©Bob Brunot - Alpe d'Huez