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In stark contrast to the warm and beautiful days before and after, Thursday 5 June started out cold and wet. Nevertheless, the participants in the annual Alpe d’Huzes challenge did not let this deter them, because the motto of the event is “Giving up is not an option!”. The 5,000 cyclists, runners and walkers had an important goal in mind: to raise as much money as possible for the fight against cancer.
On that wet Thursday, the participants started early in the morning on the 13.8-kilometre climb to the top of Alpe d’Huez, covering 1,061 metres of elevation gain. Among them were nine teams with a total of 84 colleagues from Damen Shipyards Group. Twenty-eight colleagues participated on behalf of Damen Naval. They travelled to France by bus with the rest of the teams to arrive at the start in good spirits wearing their special Damen version of the Alpe d’HuZes shirt.
All Damen participants in the Alpe d'HuZes pose for a group photo.
Tanja Schmitz (38) was one of the walkers and, for her, the timing of the event was perfect. She was able to participate just before she changed roles and moved to Germany to become Damen Naval Site Manager Landanlagen in Wilhelmshaven. She managed to complete the climb twice. “It was much harder than I expected. The first time, the weather was very bad. There weren’t many people on the side of the road, there was no music, and you didn’t see many other participants either. So I put on an audiobook and just kept going.”
Tanja Schmitz crosses the finish line.
She reached the top and then began the long journey back down via buses and ski lifts. After a two-hour break, she started the second climb under very different conditions. The sun had come out, and it had become much more lively along the roadside too. “The second climb went much better. I saw more colleagues along the way, there was more encouragement from spectators along the side of the road and there was music or something to do at every corner. That made the climb feel much easier. It was nice to see the Damen bus along the way, and I also knew that a good friend of mine was working as a physiotherapist at corner number seven. It was nice to be able to stop and see her for a while.”
When Tanja signed up for the event, she didn’t know exactly what Alpe d’HuZes entailed. She saw it as a fun sporting challenge with colleagues. “In Germany and in the German Navy, it’s much more common to do sports with your colleagues. So, I thought it would be fun to do this with colleagues and signed up. It was only later that I discovered that it was also for a good cause. Both my grandfathers died of cancer, and it was quite emotional along the way to see all the posters, banners and burning candles that family and friends had left behind.”
"It is very special to do it together with your colleagues and to contribute to something that means so much to people." Bob de Smedt
Bob de Smedt during his second climb.
Tender Manager Bob de Smedt (35) also put on his walking shoes for the climb. After a thoroughly wet first climb, he had only one goal: “After the first descent, I walked straight to the hotel to change into dry clothes. Fortunately, I had clean clothes for every climb. During the second climb, the weather was beautiful. It was dry and not too hot; the perfect conditions. My goal beforehand was to complete the climb least twice. I considered doing a third climb, but 10 minutes after the second time, my body was completely cramped, so I decided against it.”
Damen participants in Alpe d’HuZes paid the registration fee for the event themselves, were responsible for collecting sponsorship money and exchanged holiday days for the days they were away. Damen arranged bus transport and hotel accommodation and supported the fundraising activities by, for example, arranging a crêpe car where colleagues could buy delicious crêpes in exchange for a donation. Bob: “It’s great that our participation was supported by the company and that everything was well organised.”
Although the participants had a tough schedule and got little sleep, Bob would definitely do it again. “Maybe not next year, but I think I’d like to do it again. Although I might take a week’s holiday, because it’s a fantastic region and I’d like to stay there a bit longer.”
“I thought it was great that so many colleagues took part. The atmosphere was good, and it was really well organised. You get to know your colleagues a lot better." Tanja Schmitz
Both Bob and Tanja recommend their colleagues to participate as well. Bob: “It is a sporting challenge for a good cause that you can make as physically demanding as you want. It is very special to do it together with your colleagues and to contribute to something that means so much to people. For many participants, it’s a personal quest they undertake every year to commemorate family or friends. It’s quite emotional to see all those candles and banners.”
Participants travelled to France by bus.
Tanja adds: “I thought it was great that so many colleagues took part. The atmosphere was good, and it was really well organised. You get to know your colleagues a lot better. I can recommend it to everyone, because it’s a real experience, but you shouldn’t underestimate the need to train for it.”
During the eighteenth edition of Alpe d’HuZes, more than 19 million euros has been raised so far, including more than 200,000 euros by the Damen Teams. Donations can still be made: the fundraising campaign will continue until registration for 2026 starts in September.
The following Damen Naval colleagues took part: Mark Boke, Roland Briene, Perry Clerx, Thijmen Cornelissens, Marcel van Dalen, Pieter Degeling, Sebastian Dydak, Adriaan Hollaers, Kees Houtepen, Kees van der Knaap, Desmond Kramer, Erik Luiten, Nico Oertel, Maciej Ostapkowicz, Petra van Reijen, Kenneth van de Sande, Tanja Schmitz, Tim Schuhmacher, Mario Segato, Vanja Sersic, Jessica Sinay, Bob de Smedt, Joost Steenbakker, Moritz Troll, Vincent Verdaasdonk, Rini Verdonck, Peter Verstraate and Edward Windrich. Annemarie van Deventer provided organisational support and encouragement.
