Our Approach
We create unique personal growth experiences that intentionally combine coaching and outdoor adventure—all set against the breathtaking backdrop of the Swiss Alps. We utilize the outdoors, and the mountains in particular, as a coaching space to cultivate personal leadership, curiosity, confidence, and awareness.
Our retreats are designed to spark transformation, helping you tap into your full potential while immersing yourself in nature. Whether it’s glacier trekking in the summer or snowshoeing in the winter, each journey blends adventure with meaningful discussions, self-reflection, and experiential learning.
At the heart of our retreats are the beliefs that any change starts with self-awareness. and that nature is a powerful catalyst for change. The mountains challenge you, inspire you, and provide the space for deep reflection—helping you gain clarity, confidence, and a renewed sense of purpose. By stepping outside your comfort zone in the outdoors, you develop the resilience and self-awareness needed to create meaningful change in your life. This isn’t just about adventure; it’s about discovering what truly moves you and stepping into a life that feels authentic, fulfilling, and fully yours.
Our Vision
Alpine Azure’s purpose is to invite and enable transformations that unlock potential.
Our vision is to be catalysts for people to embrace their one precious life and their responsibility to the whole, moving beyond fear towards growth, joy, curiosity and wonder.
To accomplish this we are led by the following mission: “to expand capacity, courage, and connection through transformational coaching experiences.”
We work with individuals, teams, and organizations to achieve their goals and thrive.
Our People
Alpine Azure was born from the collaborative vision of Chris Nassivera and Dr. Andrea Barrueto and inspired by the success of the inaugural pilot programs in 2019. As two women driven by a profound love for nature, the great outdoors, and personal growth, we not only hold certifications as professional coaches but also bring a wealth of diverse experience from the global business arena and academic realms. Backed by a dedicated team of licensed mountaineering guides, we prioritize your safety as you embark on the transformative journey of exploring the high alpine environment with us.
Chris is a leadership & executive coach and organizational consultant. She works with clients in leadership and life transitions and is intentionally using the outdoors as a coaching space. She has over 20 years of professional experience from international roles at Procter & Gamble, living and working in the United States, Germany and Switzerland. Through her own personal development journey, Chris made a mid-career pivot to focus on the work that lights her up: leadership development, transformational change and the outdoors. She holds the ICF PCC coaching credential and a Masters in Organizational Change from INSEAD. She is particularly passionate about supporting women in leadership and life transitions. Outside of work, she enjoys travel, hiking and spending time with family and friends. In addition to loving the mountains, she’s a licenced sea kayak guide. Originally from the United States, Chris lives in Geneva and works internationally.
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Chris has always been drawn to exploration and adventure—both in nature and in personal growth. After spending 22 years in global leadership roles at Procter & Gamble, she realized her true passion lay in people development. A pivotal moment in Chamonix, watching mountaineers navigate glacial terrain, inspired her to step outside her comfort zone. With no prior experience, she took on the challenge herself to learn alpine mountaineering, rediscovering her inner strength and love for the outdoors in the process.
This transformative experience led Chris to shift her career toward coaching and leadership development. She now works internationally, helping individuals and teams navigate change, increase effectiveness and ultimately, live more meaningful and fulfilling lives. She co-founded Alpine Azure, blending adventure and coaching to inspire growth, and is an executive partner with Novus-Actus, an organizational consulting firm.
Chris holds degrees in mechanical engineering (North Carolina State University) and a Masters in Coaching & Consulting for Change (INSEAD, France) where she specialized in the systems-psychodynamic approach to leadership and change. She completed her coach training at the Institute de Coaching in Geneva and holds the ICF PCC credential.
Dr. Andrea Barrueto – Founder
Take the path less traveled — the path unique to you.
With a Masters degree in Glaciology, she is a seasoned mountaineer (who aside from exploring her backyard growing up in Switzerland, has also trekked through Peru, Nepal and New Zealand). She worked many years for an NGO in remote regions of Nepal and travelled for research to far away countries like Bhutan, Thailand, and Hawaii. She is fluent in four languages, and a long-time meditation and yoga practitioner.
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Andrea’s own path has taken a few unexpected turns. In 2015 she was pursuing her PhD in International Development while also working for an NGO in Nepal, applying her research in sustainable farming. One day while in Kathmandu meeting with Nepalese farmers in an old three-story building, an earthquake struck. She sprang to her feet as the floor and walls undulated, scrambling down the shaking stairs and out onto the street to safety. Andrea led her colleagues away from the falling wreckage of buildings towards the river, and there they waited out the aftershocks until dusk. That night, riding home on a colleague’s motorbike, she found Kathmandu unrecognizable with debris. People were gathered around makeshift fires, communing and singing to find comfort in the midst of disaster.
This 7.8 magnitude earthquake that later became known as Gorkha killed nearly 9,000 people, destroyed or damaged over 600,000 structures, and forever altered the direction of Andrea’s life.
The following 6 weeks, Andrea slept outside, suffering symptoms of PTSD from the deadly quake. With the help of friends and family she raised over $50,000 USD to help villages rebuild their homes, and lent a hand with every humanitarian task she could. The monsoon came and she returned home to Switzerland expecting that everything would go back to normal, but her body still tensed at every train or heavy vehicle that made the ground vibrate, and her sleep was disturbed by irrational fears of another earthquake hitting.
After the monsoon, she returned to Nepal to complete her research. When she met with her local co-workers, they delivered the required research interviews as promised from a district far away. Yet there was some inconsistent and missing information. As she trusted her co-workers deeply, she couldn’t understand why she was not approached or actively informed. They presented the reports as though they were complete. In the confrontation that followed, one co-worker finally said, “Andrea, we were scared. You sent us so far away from our homes. Yes, we agreed to do the research, but we feared for our families in case another earthquake came. We only partially filled the questionnaires so we could get back to our families sooner.”
With all her experience living and working in the global community, Andrea had thought of herself as an effective communicator, approachable even across deep cultural differences. But when her Nepali team struggled to approach her that day with information that might disappoint her, she saw how layered communication can be, including not only the cultural context, but also personal history, the somatic, the cognitive, and even the moral layers.
During this time, she discovered the power of Integral Coaching and knew the training would help her strengthen her interpersonal capacities. Alongside this she pursued training in The Non-Linear Movement Method® that effectively healed her traumatic imprints from the earthquake, while imparting lifelong somatic skills.
Andrea had started transitioning from her work in NGOs towards a career in coaching and the human side of organisational development when she met Chris, who pitched to her the idea of co-leading transformational glacier treks. All of Andrea’s qualifications, passions, and life experiences lent perfectly to this pursuit. Her love of her native Swiss Alps, her expertise in glaciology and sustainability, and her training in somatics, coaching, yoga, and meditation to this day inspire transformation, wonder, and joy to the people she leads up the mountain.
Today Andrea lives in Zurich with her husband Leonidas and their children. In the mornings she works with coaching clients, deeply immersing in their challenges, while in the afternoons she dives into “being a mum”, curiously exploring earthworms between the potatoes. She loves leading treks with Chris with Alpine Azure. Aside she is collaborating with Pfyffer&Partner for cultural development, lecturing at the HWZ, University of Applied Science in Business Administration the subjects “Leadership” and “Change Management” and has her own consultancy working with clients on how to develop a more human culture. Andrea is also a published author for the book “The design of human organisations”.
Angelina Huwiler – Mountain Guide
Safe and competent in the mountains – on rock, snow, ice and water – my passion, your adventure.
Angelina is a passionate mountain guide and turned her hobby into her profession in 2013. -Since childhood, being outside, on the move on mountains, rocks, water and snow has been continuously an inspiration and an essential part of her life. She loves passing on her enthusiasm for the outdoors to her clients.
For her, a respectful way of working towards nature and people is important. She aims to enable a positive and consistent mountain or water experience. Angelina professionally assesses the risks and responds to individual requests, so that an unforgettable experience is assured!
She lives with her husband and their daughter in Giswil and when she is not working she surely roams the nearby woods with her family.
Read more about Angelina here.
Elli Meyer – Mountain Guide
Fullfill dreams, find stillness, deepen knowledge and truly enjoy nature with all your senses.
Elli has an education in social work and care giving. Over 20 years ago, she decided to follow her dreams and make her passion of spending time outdoors to her profession.
Eversince she has travelled the world loving to climb both in Africa and in the Himalayas. Since 30 years she has been visiting Nepal often for trecking off the usual trecking routes. She has a lot of exprience in rock and ice climbing and continues to be awe when she spends time in nature.
Elli lives Hasliberg, in the breathtaking Bernese Region. In her time off, she continues to explore rocks or spends time streching and relaxing doing yoga.
Read more about Elli here.
Laura Bomio – Mountain Guide
The mountains are my home and where I feel most alive.
Laura has been growing up in the mountains. Since early childhood she has been exploring the Alpine terraine with the local group of young mountaineers or with her father who is a guide too. Her primary education was becoming a medical nurse. Since 2002 she has been worked during the winter as a ski instructor, while she enjoyed the summers in different working fields within Switzerland and abroad. Two years ago she became a certified mountain guide and is deeply passionate about sharing her love for the mountains with her clients.
Laura lives in Grindelwald. In her free time, you can meet her in the close by crags or enjoying the splenditure of the near by nature.
Our team is expanding. We are currently open to receiving applications by interested facilitators and mountain guides for the winter season in 2025.
Alpine Azure’s Story
Alpine Azure began under the name ‘Women on Ice’, an initiative launched within Girls on Ice Switzerland. This initiative, along with the broader Inspiring Girls Expeditions organization, is dedicated to empowering young women through the combination of science, art, and wilderness exploration. Founded in the United States in 1999, additional programs have developed around the world, including Girls on Ice Canada and Girls on Ice Switzerland. As interest grew in a similar program tailored to adult women, Andrea and Chris partnered with the founders of Girls on Ice Switzerland to establish Women on Ice in 2018. This endeavor mirrors the overarching vision of Inspiring Girls Expeditions: utilizing mountain experiences to cultivate personal leadership, curiosity, confidence, and awareness. Alpine Azure remains aligned with these foundational values.
To learn more about Inspiring Girls Expeditions, click here. To support bringing expeditions to young girls all over the world, learn how you can get involved or donate.
Our name ALPINE AZURE
Inspired by the transformation of the azure butterfly, our name represents our vision to awaken change within our clients.
‘Azure’ represents not only the majestic blue butterfly but also the boundless freedom of the sky and the purity of mountain waters and glaciers.
‘Alpine’ stands for our home base in the Alps, where our expeditions originated.
The Azure transforms naturally, its evolution happens as it is written in the DNA of the butterfly. This is what we are here for, to allow a natural transformation within our clients.
Elisabeth (51, CH), Gynaecologist
“The 5 days with Women on Ice were a very special, very educational and unforgettable experience for me. I have tried and dared things that I would not have done otherwise and I am very happy for all the good conversations and discussions that have strengthened the experience. I can highly recommend Women on Ice to every woman who wants to push her limits and is ready to leave her comfort zone in a safe and friendly atmosphere.”
