In February, I moved to Europe to work at the United Nations for six months. The job was exactly what I wanted to do — combining data and policy — and came with the advantage of being located in Geneva, Switzerland. Geneva, conveniently located an hour from Chamonix, France and a train ride across beautiful Lac Lèman to the Swiss Alps, was the perfect place for me to improve my fitness and challenge myself.
When I first arrived, I hiked up the Salève by myself in mid-March. At 800m of elevation gain, it was on the more challenging end of the hikes I've completed in terms of uphill fitness. Since then, I've regularly done double that elevation gain, despite believing I was incapable of more.
Finding comfort in discomfort
In May, one of my friends ran the Geneva Marathon, and we all went to cheer her on. Inspired and impressed by her and everyone running, I realized I was probably capable of more than I thought. I occasionally started going for runs, and found that despite not being in as good shape as I was in high school soccer, I was able to run longer distances faster than high school.
I found confidence in the discomfort and continued to push myself into that zone. In a way, it was like that last hard rep of a set of bench press, which I knew I could do.
Still, I was hesitant to push my limits on elevation gain, until my brother suggested we hike up to an alpine hut near Kandersteg. The hike was approximately 1,300 meters (4,400 ft) of elevation gain, about 500 meters more (and a few kilometers in distance) than the hardest hikes I did last year in the Rockies.
Friends who challenge you
After talking to one of my friends about that hike, she said that I did do "proper hikes", which I emphasized was the hardest one I'd done.
A few weeks later, I did a hike of similar elevation gain and distance with her, but it felt easier and I was determined to keep up with her. Besides getting caught in a thunderstorm on the way down, in which I lost my traction and slid down a muddy, flooded mountain bike path, I was able to trail close behind her and for the most part keep her pace.
Then came Zermatt; a place I'd been dreaming of going for years and had so many hikes to offer. Enthralled by mountaineering and in awe of the Swiss after hiking up to the alpine hut in Kandersteg, I really wanted to hike up to the Hörnlihütte, which sits at the foot of the daunting Matterhorn. However, I knew I wouldn't do it by myself, so I asked my friend to come with me. She agreed, but on the condition that we hike it from Zermatt, rather than from Schwarzsee after taking a lift from Zermatt.
In total, the hike was nearly 1,700 meters of elevation gain. Again, much more than my previous "limit". Although my legs suffered for days afterwards from soreness, it was 100% worth it to see the mountaineers checking into the hut the day before a summit push and get an up close view of the Matterhorn.
Following that challenge, I felt confident in my ability to take on hikes like Lac Blanc and Bachalpsee on my own, since both were well within the range of what I now knew I was capable of. While hiking in the dark by myself to see sunrise was a bit nervewracking (I found myself wanting to Google if there are wolves in the Alps), it was the most wonderful sunrise. As an added plus, no other tourist in Grindelwald could be bothered to do the insane thing of waking up at 3:30 to catch the sunrise, and I had a rather touristy lake all to myself.
In better mountain shape
Despite spending two fewer hours hiking this year, I averaged over twice the elevation gain and nearly 5 kilometers more. This distinction is reflected by 6 hikes over 1000 meters in 2026, compared to none in 2025. Additionally, 5 hikes clocked in over 16km this year, the upper bound from last year.
One caveat to this might be the difference in altitude. Hörnlihütte was the highest point I reached in the Alps, sitting at 3,260 meters above sea level; about 400 meters below the upper South Colony Lake. I'm interested to test this next time I'm in the Rockies. If it's anything like going from running in Geneva's pleasant weather to the sweltering, humid heat of Texas, then I'll be up for a new challenge.
As my mom said in response to me hiking at night, I'm in serious hiker territory now, and I look forward to continuing to push my athletic limits in the mountains.
The photos in this blog post were all taken by me on my Olympus XA. If you use them, please do so with credit! Check out more of my photo travel blogging @mbiancashoots