To better manage the inherent logistic difficulties of making a winter larp on a high mountain, and, above all, to meet our eagerness to enjoy a day on the snow together, we decided to offer a "larp + alpine weekend” experience.

The plan, in a nutshell: on Friday, participants can enjoy a day off in the mountain if they like, everyone should be back by 16:00 for sign in, workshops and final preparations for the larp; Friday’s dinner will be in-game. On Saturday, at dawn, “Beyond the Wall” begins! We will leave at first light to make the most of the daylight hours, the larp will end as the sun begins to set. Then, we’ll enjoy a warm tea, a delicious dinner and…a party! On Sunday we will have more mountain-time together. There will be plenty of choice in activities for skiers and non-skiers as well: even just relaxing and eating polenta is an amusing alpine activity! (see the detailed schedule in “Practicals”).
Anyone who wants even more mountain-time than that, is welcome to arrive the day before and/or stay the day after, as long as we have sleeping places left: first-come, first-served.

The event will take place 3 km from Sestriere, in the small alpine village of Sauze di Cesana, in the Susa Valley (Turin).
The location is highly touristic, rich in ski slopes, ice skating rinks, long snowy trails in the woods and much more :)

Beyond the Wall is not the typical "fit for everyone" larp event played in a quiet grove. It is a larp for those people who have a minimum of physical fitness and a little bit of familiarity with the snow and the mountain.

The game will take place in Valle Argentera, at about 2000 meters of altitude, it will require a few hours of walking uphill in the snow. Up there, the weather conditions can switch in a matter of hours: from 5°C to -15°C temperature; from a full shining sun to a stinging wind, to a covered sky, to a sudden snowfall.
That said, we are talking nothing extreme (not even “athletic”, strictly speaking): if you are the kind of person who normally takes mountain hikes, or walks with snowshoes, you will be all right; on the other hand, if your wardrobe doesn't include good winter clothing, or if you have never taken a long trek, please think twice before signing in!

You have to wear a layered outfit. A typical winter fantasy costume will work fine as a base (as long as it is not too warm and bulky), just take care of three important points:

❄ under the costume, wear full-body, warm and breathable thermal underwear (woollen socks and tights, long sleeved shirt and/or a sweater, handkerchief or scarf around the neck; everything strictly made of wool or microfibre)

❄ on top of the costume, bring a woollen cloak with a hood, that you can put on and remove at will

❄ the costume itself needs to be reasonably resistant to water, or at least not too easily soaked (wool or leather are fine, raw cotton is not); in particular, feet and ankles must be completely waterproofed. Wrapping parts of your body in plastic bags under the costume as a cheap waterproofing trick is not acceptable because the resulting frozen sweat would cool your body very, very quickly.

Considering it is very difficult to find warm and waterproof boots that also look medieval, we will be very forgiving in regard to the look of the footwear. I.e., we basically invite you to wear normal mountain or ski boots, just make sure to disguise them as much as possible with gaiters of leather or fur, cloth wrappings (puttees) and the like. All we ask is to avoid garish coloured Moon Boots: the '80s are long over!

All in all, bear in mind that by walking uphill in the snow you will generate considerable body heat: on a sunny day, even with 5°C it will be easy to sweat. Hence, the base thermal underwear should not be too thick, and layering is you friend: you want to be able to easily remove some pieces of clothing in the mildest hours (and still look in-game) and put them back on as the need arises.

Have a look at the full costume guide: "Fashion victims: the right costume to survive Beyond the Wall"