This is a story about an ordinary couple who decided to make a difference. Over a decade ago Sabine and Dario Schroeder set out on an expedition across the 7-seas to the 7-summits to raise awarness about climate change. “At the heart of the expedition is the thought to enjoy nature through sport, but also give something back to nature,” said Dario, the expedition leader.

TOPtoTOP started in 1999 with a small group of friends in Switzerland who wanted to do something for their beloved mountains. They decided to climb the highest point in each canton and then went to classrooms to tell kids about their adventures hoping to inspire the children to enjoy nature.

From there it was a small step to decide to take TOPtoTOP global and visit all the climate zones of the earth. Their mode of transport between continents is a custom-built, 15-metre-long aluminum sailboat. The hull, mast and sails were donated by a generous supporter, while the rest of the equipment and provisions were put together through the Schroeder’s own savings and donations.

With less than $2,000 in their pockets, the couple left France in 2003 on their sailboat Pachamama (Incan word for “Mother Earth”) under the patronage of the UNEP (United Nations Environment Program) and the government of Switzerland.

So far they have sailed over 60,000 nautical miles in their expedition vessel, climbed over 400,000 vertical metres, cycled over 18,000 km and visited more than 70,000 students!

In the meantime their family grew as well: Their kids Salina, Andri, Noe and Alegra were all born during the voyage and are now part of the core team. The four kids now aged between three and nine years all grew up on the sailboat. The questions often gets asked if it is not too dangerous to bring little children on such adventures? Being respectful with nature, and responsible parents, Dario says that during the most difficult passages such as the Southern Ocean or when climbing Mt. Everest the children are not on board. Dario points out that it would perhaps be different if their children were not born on the boat. But having them growing up on the ocean they learn to respect the elements and feel very much at home at sea.

When asked about a memorable experince where they made an impact on a local community, Dario recounts the story about Polynesian fishing villages. Rising fuel prices made fuel so unaffordable that local fishermen sold fishing rights to Korean companies. As a result, fishing stock plummeted making it even harder for the fishermen to make a living so they were forced to sell more fishing rights. This was the beginning of a vivious circle.

The TOPtoTOP team installed solar powered water makers sponsored by Katadyn. An investment of less than $5,000 enables an entire village to produce clean water and as a result they are less dependant on fuel.

These expeditions help to raise awareness through action. At each destination the expedition team visits schools and organizes beach and mountain cleanups. They collect literally tons of material from the summits such as the Mt. Everest and Mt. Denali and from the shorelines wherever they make landfall.