Tired of dating sites? Try Singles Hikes

We wish a happy Valentine’s Day to all lovers, and we are wholeheartedly with the others. We even have a gift for all those who are fed up with dating apps: put on a backpack and go for a hike! A hike for singles is what a mountain-loving couple from Bidarray offers. A priori, it is unprecedented in the Basque Country, and for the first, they had launched the invitation on a very popular Facebook group of walking enthusiasts. Full house in a few hours: they were overwhelmed by registrations. France Bleu Pays Basque was still able to join the group to climb the Larla, above Saint-Martin-d’Arossa.

To follow them, we had to leave before dawn for a good half-hour climb in the dark, to arrive just in time. to see the sea of ​​clouds light up. This is also what motivated Ghislaine to get up before dawn: “I hike a lot, there was of course the single side, it’s innovative, but I had never tested the sunrise side. And as I really like human exchange, everything is there to spend a nice daytime.” The view of the mountains is breathtaking, but you have to resume the ascent, and little by little, the atmosphere relaxes.

Not dating professionals

“It started to hang as soon as the sun rose”tell Christophe and Jimmy. “Because at the start, we didn’t see each other too much. And then, little by little, the light appeared, we started to exchange. It makes it easier to be in a group… Sometimes, there are there are always people in front, people a little behind. But there, we all mix. Under the eye of Markotx and Dorothée, everyone introduces themselves, the atmosphere seems joyful and spontaneous, the conversations facilitated by their common point, the hike.

I think most used it as a pretext saying ‘I’m not on the internet, on a dating site, I’m just sharing a hike, and if contact is made, so much the better’ – Markotx, organizer of hiking

“In less than 24 hours, we had fifty registered “recount the one who has just met his companion during a hike. “We had to close the registrations, and define an age group. They are 30-somethings, 40-somethings, even 50-somethings, with all of them having the same passion in common, that of mountain hiking in the Basque Country.

And clearly, this is not the supermarket of dating apps, where some feel like take-or-throw products. “We are not professionals in encounters or hiking for that matter”continues Markotx. “We are just amateurs and we think that thanks to this common passion, we could perhaps allow people who usually hike alone to be able to meet a group that has the same passion as and to create affinities.”

Soon new hikes open to other audiences?

On the descent, everyone smiles, even those who have not had a crush. “I didn’t meet the person of my life, but it was nicethere was a very good atmosphere”, laughs a participant. Others, on the other hand, are more heartbroken: “I meet beautiful women both internally and externally. And I think that’s the future, much more than dating sites, because I’ve done a lot of dating sites too, I’ve never found love. These days, nothing beats the real and the unexpected.”

And if it is not possible to know if affinities for two have been created, several members of the group have become friends and have been able to spend other moments together. As for Markotx and Dorothée, they planned new hikes for singlesand plan to organize them for seniors, gays and lesbians.