A childhood of New Zealand bush tramping turns out to be excellent training for the Alps. Sophie Woods, born in New Zealand, has become the fastest person ever to complete the Via Alpina, the long-distance walking network that threads its way across the entire mountain chain. Speaking to Wilderness Magazine shortly after finishing, she admitted the achievement was still "slowly sinking in".
Woods credits two things with carrying her the length of the Alps. The first is her early years of tramping with family in New Zealand's backcountry, where multi-day walks and rough terrain are simply part of growing up. The second is a family phrase — "dig it in" — a shorthand for pushing through the hard metres when legs are tired and the trail keeps climbing. It's a fitting motto for a route that involves weeks of sustained ascent and descent through some of Europe's steepest terrain.
For those who haven't come across it, the Via Alpina isn't a single track but a network of five long-distance routes crossing eight Alpine countries, from Slovenia in the east to Monaco at the Mediterranean end. The best-known of them, the Red Trail, runs roughly 2,400 kilometres. Hikers typically break it into stages over a summer, hopping between mountain huts, high passes and villages that shift language and cuisine as you move — Slovenian, Austrian, German, Italian, French and more, all on one continuous line on the map.
Woods' record-setting pace is remarkable, but the bigger takeaway for ordinary travellers is that the route is there for anyone. You don't need to race it. Walked at a normal holiday tempo, a single section — say a week through the Swiss or Austrian Alps — delivers the same mix of big passes, hut-to-hut nights and valley-to-peak variety that makes the full traverse famous. Accommodation ranges from basic dormitory huts to small guesthouses, and the trail passes close enough to towns and train lines that resupply and bail-out options are rarely far.
Why does this matter if you're planning a walking holiday? Because the Alps' long-distance trails have a reputation for being either a serious expedition or a postcard day walk, and the Via Alpina sits comfortably in between. Woods' story — a tramping kid from New Zealand turning a family mantra into a record — is a good reminder that the barrier to entry is lower than it looks. Pick a stage that suits your fitness, travel light, book huts ahead in peak summer, and you can taste a slice of the same route she just conquered at speed.
If Woods' story has you eyeing the Alps, note that the walking season generally runs from late June to mid-September, when high passes are snow-free and huts are open. Sections through Switzerland (the classic Swiss Via Alpina from Sargans to Montreux) and Austria's Vorarlberg are among the most walkable for first-timers.
Via Wilderness Magazine NZ.
