40 years transmitting love for nature in the heart of Alta Garrotxa

GironaEvery year, after Saint John's Day, at the beginning of summer, a group of about twenty adolescents between 12 and 16 years old spend a week in the mountains, in Alta Garrotxa, accompanied by a team of monitors specialized in adventure sports. They go to the Ribelles camps, near the Sant Aniol river, about a three-hour walk from the Sadernes parking lot. During all these days, they do a lot of outdoor activities and live completely isolated, disconnected from their mobile phones, in tents, eating under a tent and without showers or toilets. This 2026, the camps celebrate their 40th anniversary and on July 4th they will organize a big party with a popular rice dish and live music for over 70 guests.

The project was born in 1987 from the hands of Ramon Estiu, a mountaineer who had just returned from the first expedition from Girona to Kanchenjunga (8586 m), and Rafel Lafarque, also a mountain lover with a lot of pedagogical experience working with young people. Initially, they organized the camps through the Territorial Services of the Generalitat, later they received support from other administrations and, currently, they depend on the Colla Excursionista de Sant Julià del Llor. The original core of monitors has remained stable and the foundational essence of the beginnings remains intact over the years. "We try to transmit the values of hiking, but not those of competition and great achievements, but rather that children enjoy nature by doing more or less sporting activities. The fact of being a week without coverage, sleeping in tents and being active all day, we believe can be very interesting for them. I don't think there are many activities like this nowadays," explains Ramon Estiu.

In 40 years, more than 500 boys and girls have participated. And the dynamic has been practically the same. Young people and monitors leave the camp every day to do a demanding activity, walking more than 5 hours: routes to discover the fauna and flora of Garrotxa, speleology in a spectacular cave at the foot of Comanegra, canyoning, climbing or bivouacking at Bassegoda. Many of the activities certainly involve risk, so the monitors are all professionals, with experience in high-level mountaineering, and there is always a doctor at the base camp.

Marc Pinsach, Oriol Cardona, Maria Serra and Lluís Puigvert

The camp experience is very intense and, for most of the boys and girls who have been through it, it creates a strong sense of belonging. Some, over the years, have become prominent figures in mountain sports, such as skiers Marc Pinsach and Oriol Cardona, world-renowned, or Maria Serra, a finalist in the latest edition of the contestLa Travessa from 3Cat. Also Lluís Puigvert, winner of the 2025 Olla de Núria: "I went to Ribelles for 4 years and I liked it very much. We formed a very close-knit group and it was the place where we met every summer. The activities were all in nature. I loved the ravines, the day of Bassegoda, when we camped and had grilled meat for dinner. Also that feeling of living like a survivor: showering in the river, with the icy water, and leaving the comfort of home. Honestly, I loved it", recalls Puigvert.

When he started going to the Puigvert camps, he wasn't yet competing in mountain races, but he considers that Ribelles was decisive. "He made me love the mountains more. There were also some boys who did athletics and that motivated me. At 12 or 13 years old, it's physically tough, because you walk a lot and Ramon sets a good pace. But it teaches you to overcome yourself and to love nature, to leave everything as you found it," concludes the runner from Girona.

"It was the first time they treated me like a person and not like a child"

The footprint of the camps is also very deep among many other people who have developed their professional careers outside the sports field. This is the case of Anna Espelt, responsible for the wines of celler Espelt, in Vilajuïga. It happened during the nineties and, years later, she brought her daughters there. Every summer, moreover, she collaborates in transporting the material to set up the camp. "In Ribelles it was the first time they treated me like a person and not like a child. That was a very personal idea of Rafel's: to give you freedom, but also responsibility. It's very comforting to discover what you are capable of. That makes you a different person," she explains.

This learning, even if indirect, has also influenced her way of understanding and carrying out the work of a winemaker: "The way I make wines goes beyond the production process, it has a lot to do with the knowledge of the environment and I learned this sensitivity in Ribelles. L'Alta Garrotxa and Cap de Creus are my two favorite places in the world," concludes Espelt.

Now, after these 40 years, the short or medium-term future of the camps is not assured. The founding monitors are increasingly veteran, some are in their seventies and others are no longer here. Furthermore, the devastating effects of climate change are making it increasingly difficult to carry out activities, with less water in the rivers, a lot of heat, and a high risk of fire. Whether or not they reach fifty years of life in 10 years, theirs is already a story of success and love.