FAQ 12 hour Challenge
Below are the answers to the most frequently asked questions by participants in the 12 Hour Challenge. Is your question not listed? Then contact Charlotte at charlotte@bibianmentelfoundation.nl or 06-1680 9919.
The ideal team size is 3 people, with this you can change in a good rhythm and get through the 12 hours well. With more people it is too long to wait until you can ski/board again, with less people we think the risk is too great that you get tired and accidents happen.
You may participate with 4 (or more) people in a team, but this excludes you from the competition at the Distance and Tour Challenge. So you can compete for the most kilometers, but you will be out of the prizes at the awards ceremony because you are with more team members than the other teams. In the Fun Challenge, it is no problem to be in a team with 4 or more people. But it will be a long wait until it's your turn again.
For the Tour Challenge you can participate solo, for the Distance and Fun Challenge you need to participate as a team. Are you still looking for team members? Please contact us, there are always teams looking for team members.
Send a mail to Charlotte@bibianmentelfoundation.nl and mention whether you ski or snowboard, which challenge you are participating in (Tour, Distance, Fun), your level and your ambition (is the focus on making meters or having fun?).
Only at a few points do we provide lighting on the slopes, for example on a steeper section or before a turn. Apart from that, you ski/board in the dark. Each participant must provide their own lighting (red light at the back, white light at the front), so that you are clearly visible to others.
The rhythm to switch is up to each team. Per team you receive 1 GPS tracker that you hand over as a relay to the person who continues after your turn. Many teams start with a fixed rhythm (e.g. switch after 3 descents) and keep each other informed via a team app group if there are more or less descents. Other teams agree on times for swapping, so you can take a longer rest or sleep in the night (there is room for this in the picnic area at the middle station).
In terms of equipment, each participant is required to wear the following:
- Helmet
- Back protector (not required, but advised)
- Front light (white, the brighter, the better)
- Rear light (red, bicycle light will do)
- Race-BIB (vest, handed out at the briefing)
- GPS tracker (will be handed out at the briefing)
- Glasses or goggles with clear or light lenses (not required, but advised)
It is possible to purchase 1 or 2 sets of lamps per team and share them within your team. Keep in mind that transferring the lamps does take some time.
On this page we have put together an itinerary that you can follow. There is a short and a long variant and you are free to put your own spin on this. All participants are required to participate in the Riders Briefing, so that's the latest you should be in Saas-Grund. The Riders Briefing will take place (expected) on Friday, March 21, at 4:30 p.m.
On this page we have put together an itinerary that you can follow. There is a short and a long variant and you are free to put your own twist on it. The 12-hour Challenge ends at 12:00 on Saturday, followed by lunch, awards ceremony and après ski. The official program ends at 15:00, in the evening there will be an After Party in the village for those who feel like it. We advise everyone to get into the car only Sunday, March 23, so that you will be well rested on the road.
Very much so 🙂 because how fun is it that 2 days after the 12 hour Challenge you can see what great things are becoming possible thanks to your efforts. The Mentelity Games will begin on Monday, March 24, 2025. In the morning, all participants will first come to the middle station (Kreuzboden) and start making their first meters in the snow. Want to know more about the Mentelity Games? Visit the website.
Are you coming with your own transportation? Then we recommend taking the route by car train Lötschberg, via Kandersteg and Goppenstein.
You can also choose to travel to Saas-Grund by train. There is a good train connection from Utrecht to Basel (during the day and also as NightJet); from Basel take the train via Bern to Visp. From Visp, the Postbus takes 42 minutes to Saas-Grund. Total travel time then comes to about 10:30 hours. If you book in time, there are good deals available and conditions for adult(s) with child(ren) are extra advantageous. For example, for € 235 you have a return ticket including seat reservation for 1 adult and 1 child with Deutsche Bahn's Sparpreis. The return bus trip Visp - Saas-Grund costs CHF 32 for 1 adult, children under 16 travel free with the Swiss Familiy Card.
Do you still have a free spot in your car or looking for a place to ride along?
Then use the TaxSki.com platform for free. With the help of this Dutch platform you can easily car-pool (find and offer free spots), in addition, through them you can book a cab from the airport or train station to the ski resort and find other winter sports enthusiasts to share a cab ride with. Use of the platform is free and after making contact with your car-pool buddy, you make arrangements directly with each other to share costs and the like. We encourage our participants and volunteers to travel together through this platform as much as possible.
On this page we give you some options for your overnight stay. We have made special price agreements with these accommodations for participants of the 12 hour Challenge. Here you will find different options such as guest house, hotel or apartment.
In addition, of course, you can look on the Internet yourself. Accommodation in Saas-Grund is cheaper than in Saas-Fee (where you also have hefty parking fees). Should you want to spend a day skiing in Saas-Fee, you can use the free ski bus and you will be in Saas-Fee in 10 minutes from Saas-Grund.
If you use the package tour, accommodation is included. Look here for more information on package tours.
Booking individual requests for accommodations we unfortunately cannot do for you. Our organization team is too small for that. But we do try to make it as easy as possible for you to find suitable accommodation through our recommendations and discount arrangements.
You book directly with the accommodation, mentioning that you are a participant of the 12 hour Challenge (to take advantage of the negotiated price). Check here for recommended accommodations.
If you want to ski or board for additional days in Saas-Grund or Saas-Fee before or after the 12-hour Challenge, as a participant you will receive a 10% discount (up to max. 3 days). The names of all participants are known at the ticket office of the Saas-Grund and Saas-Fee ski areas (note: only at Alpin Express ticket office). More information about the different types of ski pass and prices can be found on the website of the mountain railway.
Thanks to the enormous help of many volunteers, every year we manage to keep the organizational costs low. But we cannot escape making costs when organizing the 12-hour Challenge: we rent the gondola (for a total of 14 hours, which is twice as long as a standard ski day), provide safety (nets, lighting, first aid), make arrangements with accommodations and recruit and guide teams in their preparation. Some extras (such as breakfast and lunch) are also included in the start ticket. All these organizational costs are covered by the start tickets.
We believe that organizational costs should be strictly separated from the money raised through crowdfunding. After all, 100% of that goes to charity: the organization of the Mentelity Games.
In short: the starting ticket covers the organizational costs of the 12 hour Challenge, the crowdfunding amount is used 100% for the organization of the Mentelity Games (= the charity).
The starting ticket costs €200 per person (early bird rate: €150 for applications through Oct. 27, 2024), included are:
- starting number (bib/shirt)
- use GPS tracker (1 per team), live tracking for home fans
- unlimited use of the gondola during the 12-hour Challenge
- breakfast on March 22 during the challenge
- lunch on March 22 following the challenge
- DJ & entertainment
- chance to win great prizes
- contribution to organizational costs (safety, gondola use, etc.)
We put 100% of the money raised by the teams through their crowdfunding into the organization of the Mentelity Games (= the charity). And what is part of the organizational costs? Simply put, we make the ski resort accessible to people with physical challenges (disabilities) for a week.
And this involves a lot: from adapted ski equipment (we take around 40 seated skis and other adapted equipment from the Netherlands to the Mentelity Games) to the shower stool, from headsets for communication with blind skiers to extra staff to support getting in and out of the gondola. Intensive preparation goes into finding suitable accommodation for each disabled participant, and in addition, the costs of accommodation and ski passes for the many volunteers are also part of the organizational costs. And without them the Mentelity Games really wouldn't be possible.
In addition to buying the starting ticket, each team must raise a minimum of €1500 through crowdfunding for charity (the Mentelity Games). It does not matter how much is raised per team member, as long as the total amount per team meets the minimum. For individual participants of the Tour Challenge, the minimum amount is €500.
No, unfortunately that is not possible. Start on time, follow the tips we give you via the newsletters and this website, and contact the organization in good time if you run into anything. The average crowdfunding amount last edition was €2300 per team, which is well above the required minimum.
The organization provides each team with its own fundraising page, for this we use the crowdfunding platform Kentaa. Check out the pages of edition 2025 here. After buying your starting ticket we will set up the page for you and send you some tips & tricks. The pages are easy to customize with your own photos and texts and there are many useful features on the platform, such as a sharing function for social media, writing and publishing blogs for your donors or generating QR codes or posters. The platform is very accessible and should you run into any problems: call, call or email and we will be happy to help you.
Contact information for inquiries about kentaa: Charlotte@bibianmentelfoundation.nl, 06-1680 9919).
Yes sure, on this page you will find the 10 most important tips for your crowdfunding. Once you have registered as a participant (i.e. after buying your starting ticket), you will receive a regular newsletter containing additional tips for fun and successful crowdfunding campaigns. You can of course also do your own google search, if you search on " successful crowdfunding" you will certainly find inspiration. You can also download the ABC raise donations
We recommend that all participants provide valid liability insurance, personal accident insurance and travel insurance. Each participant is responsible for this themselves. To purchase travel insurance, we recommend doing so through the Dutch Ski Association: they have the best coverage for winter sports enthusiasts. See all info on this on their website.
Yes indeed, on our website you will find several stories from Mentelity Games participants. By sharing their stories with your donors, you let them know what they are contributing to. In the interviews you can read what experiences they were able to gain during the Mentelity Games and what impact it had on their lives even after the trip: Veerle, Sarah, Arjan, Lies, Floor and Terry.
On this page you can download footage from the Mentelity Games and the 12-hour Challenge. Use the text, photos and videos to explain to your donors that it is about so much more than skiing.
Depending on your experience and skin level, it is possible to stay on as a volunteer for the Mentelity Games. We are also looking for helping hands for the construction of the 12 hour Challenge. More information can be found on this page. Here is also the form to register your interest as a volunteer. Please indicate in the form what you can/want to help with, and the organization will contact you.