St Bernards, A Whole Lotta Love

Posted on February 2, 2013 by Schwingen In Switzerland

I love dogs, but I especially love big dogs. The St. Bernard (also known as St. Barnhardshund, Alpine Mastiff and Bernhardiner) is one of the world’s largest. They range from 25.5-27.5 inches ( 61-70 cm) and weigh 110-200 pounds (50-91 kg). The are most likely a cross between Tibetan Mastiffs with Great Danes, Greater Swiss Mountain Dog and Great Pyrenees. Initially, they had short hair; long hair coats collect icicles.

Augustinian Monks living in the treacherous St. Bernard Pass (the western route through the alps between Italy and Switzerland) bread the dogs. 8,000 feet above sea level, the pass is 49-miles long and is notorious for its changeable weather and high winds.

image from http://www.thorninpaw.com

The St. Bernard pass was well travelled before St. Bernard de Menthon founded the famous hospice in the Swiss Alps as a refuge for travelers crossing the treacherous passes between Switzerland and Italy around 1050. There are even remains of a Roman road there. If you were a pilgrim headed to Rome, this is a likely route you would have taken. You wouldn’t have been the only one. Napoleon famously used the pass to cross the alps to invade Italy in 1800.

Image from Stories About Animals on http://www.zookingdoms.com

In the 17th century, St. Bernards were used to rescue people from avalanches and other dangers in snowy alpine passes. Saint Bernards have many features that make them well adapted to this task. They can smell a person under many feet of snow. They can hear low-frequency sounds humans cannot, possibly alerting people to avalanches. Their broad chests helped clear paths through the snow. Their large paws helped spread out the weight and worked like snowshoes to keep them on top of the snow. Their large paws helped them dig through the snow. Upon finding someone, they lie on top them to provide warmth.

The most famous rescuer was Barry (1800-1812). He is credited with saving the lives of more than 40 people. Today, Foundation Barry (named after the famous pooch) works to educate people about and preserve the breed. They also do alpine hikes with the pups! Both Foundation Barry and the St. Bernard Museum are located in in Martingy, a village down the mountain from the pass. Both have the adorable pups on site.

Be Thankful For Your Friends But Avoid The Friendship Cup

Posted on November 21, 2012 by Schwingen In Switzerland

The object above isn’t the holy grail, an objet d’art, vase, fancy pipe or some kind of crazy teapot, it’s a friendship cup. As Thanksgiving approaches, one of the things we are most grateful for this year is all of the friends we’ve made in Switzerland.

A friendship cup (also known as Coppa dell’amicizia, grolla or grolle ) is a round container with a lid and multiple spouts made of turned wood. It is used for drinking special hot adult beverages with friends. There’s a saying, “he who drinks it alone, will choke.” Here’s how it works.

Gather your friends, or nearby people you want to become friends (because after you finish one of these you will be. Traditionally you have at least one more person than the number of spouts on the cup. Why? You end up sharing and drinking from a different spout as the cup gets passed around the table. People don’t worry about the germs for two reasons. First, it’s your friends. Secondly, what they put in the cup is strong enough that it could probably be classified as some sort of disinfectant. You pass the cup around your group, not setting it down until it’s empty. Trust me when I tell you that this is easier said than done.

We first encountered it when we visited the Aosta Valley in Italy. Thank goodness no one whipped out a camera that night… The friendship cup is an after dinner (or later) tradition in Lombardy and the rest of the Italian Alps. It comes from the “Soldats de la Neige” (which translates into Soldiers of the Snow) who acted as guides to travelers in this rough terrain. They needed extra “energy” to survive in the cold. Having had some, it does seem to warm you up. The drink’s popularity spread to include everyone who needed a little pick me up to brave the cold.

What’s in a Friendship Cup? Valdostana coffee, a liquor ( usually Génépy, but it can be plain or fruit grappa, cognac, Cointreau, red wine or cum), sugar and spices. Sometimes people add butter and orange peels. Just make sure you have friends around to drink it with you. It sounds delightful. It’s not. It’s Trouble. That’s right, trouble with a capital “t.”

So as Thanksgiving approaches, thanks guys, we’re raising our glasses (or beers from the snow) to you and giving thanks, just don’t expect us to bust out the friendship cup. Here’s to you, Cheers! Kippis! Chin Chin! Santé! Prost! Slàinte! Skål! L’Chaim! Na zdrowie!

It Wasn’t Premeditated, Our Hike Up Rochers-de-Naye

Posted on July 29, 2012 by Schwingen In Switzerland

Rochers-de-Naye is the mountain with the rock top on the left, not the bump, but the one with the snow below the rock.

We woke up to a beautiful day. Since it was so clear, we decided to do one of the things that we’d been saving for a clear day so we could enjoy the view. Our choices were take cable cars to the top of Mont Blanc or hike from the lake in Montreaux to Rochers-de-Naye. I checked with him to make sure he know the hike meant climbing the mountain behind Montreaux. Please note the full disclosure (on my part) and assumption of risk (on his part).

We weren’t the only ones who thought it was hot. This guy jumped into the water fountain.

A reader suggested this hike and I wanted to do it because the views at the top are spectacular. Yeah, we could have taken a cog wheel train up, but where’s the fun in that? Especially on a hot day?

We spent about five hours…walking up, and up, and up.

On the way, we saw these brave fellows heading down. In this photo, you can’t see what is beyond the edge. In fact, it’s almost impossible to see from this vantage point. That’s because it drops off sharply and precipitously. If you look on the right of the photo below, you will see a small railing that prevents people falling from the steep rock face. Yep, that’s where we ran into them. Impressive.

I’ve always wanted to do a ridge hike in Switzerland. I thought it would be cool to look down on both sides. This trail had a bit of one. Cool huh?

At the end of the ridge, we finally caught sight of the summit. Although it looks pretty close, it took us at least another 45 minutes to reach it. I may have slowed us down by stopping every 10 feet to take pictures of the incredible scenery.

When we finally reached the top, we found snow! I know, I know. After several hours of hiking, the bandage on my paw looked about as dirty as the snow.

Yep. The finger is still bandaged.

He was exhausted at the end of the day (and very, very hungry). I thought it was worth it. He joked that I tried to kill him. I’m happy to report that he’s forgiven me. Either that or he is lulling me into a false sense of security while he plans his revenge.

It was a long, sweaty (especially on his part), but enjoyable hike from Lake Geneva (Lac Leman) in Montreux to Rochers-de-Naye at 2041m (6,709 feet). At the top, there was snow and unforgettable, jaw dropping views.

They also have Marmot Paradise. Who doesn’t love these beaver-like animals? I also enjoyed the Alpine garden with lots of special species of Swiss Alpine plants and flowers. I even saw Edelweiss!

Stopping At Lavaux (schwingeninswitzerland.wordpress.com)
Geneva’s Jonction (schwingeninswitzerland.wordpress.com)
Les Incompetents Vol. 10: Nothing Beats The Simple Pleasure Of A Bike Ride (schwingeninswitzerland.wordpress.com)

Hiking The Beautiful Bernese Oberland

Posted on June 23, 2012 by Schwingen In Switzerland

I bought a book entitled the 50 Most Beautiful Hikes in Switzerland. It’s a great place to get ideas on where to go. Although we probably won’t get through them all, we’re off to a good start.

We’ve been to the Bernese Oberland several times and love the area. With a good weather forecast, we decided to try a new hike in the area.

If you aren’t sure why we like that area, take a look at the first photo. We started the hike from Thun with that view. Wowzers! After about 30 minutes of walking along the lake, we headed inland. When you head away from the lake just about anywhere in Switzerland, you are in for a climb. This hike was no exception. We trekked up the Choleren Gorge. It is a long, wild gorge with beautiful waterfalls, bends, rocks and dizzying bridges.

We emerged from the gorge to a beautiful valley full of farms. He kept thinking we were done climbing, but the “hill” just kept going and going. With a little refreshment, we were ready to tackle the next part.

Our perseverance was rewarded with a stunning view of Lake Thun and the Swiss Alps. Can you believe the view these goats have?

They were headed downhill to be milked.

The snowcapped mountains (from left to right) are Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau.

Along the way, we made some new friends. We wanted to move in to this guy’s farmhouse. It may have one of the best views ever. He was such a sweet puppy that we would want him to stay.

We just kept wrapping around the mountain keeping the lake view. The whole time, we were pinching ourselves. We couldn’t believe we were getting to experience something so beautiful.

Eventually, we wound back around to toward Thun and began our descent.

Once we hit the woods, look what we ran into. More Toblerone-style anti-tank barriers!

It wouldn’t have been easy for Hitler to get tanks up there. It was a bit steep. We shouldn’t have been surprised since we started the hike through a gorge, but this was a bit scary. My arm was still in a sling from my kitchen accident and so my balance felt a bit off.

On the way back toward the lake, we saw this cool climbing wall on the side of a house in Hünibach. Pretty cool.

In the park, we saw this cool Rube Goldberg type contraption. Since we were hungry, thirsty and dreaming of dipping our feet in the lake, we didn’t linger.

We sat on a dock, dipped our feet in the water and enjoyed the view. Then, we giggled when these guys drove by blasting the theme song from Baywatch. Is it possible that the Swiss love David Hasselhoff as much as the Germans?

Thun, Worth Making A Stop On The Way To Interlaken (schwingeninswitzerland.wordpress.com)
Our First Big Hike Of The Summer (schwingeninswitzerland.wordpress.com)
Interlaken, Your Starting Point For Canyoning, Base Jumping, Skiing or Hiking in the Bernese Oberland (schwingeninswitzerland.wordpress.com)

Epic Ride Through The Alps On The Bernina Express (Part Two)

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Schwingen In Switzerland

The Bernina Express is the only rail line through the Alps without a major (meaning kilometers long) tunnel. That translates into stellar and diverse views. There are so many amazing pictures that I’ve divided this train ride into a few posts.

After passing through the famous Landwasser Viaduct, we continued to climb toward Bergün/Bravuogn with its onion-shaped 17th-century “Roman tower.” We got a great look at it because the train continued climb, looping around the valley. And climb some more. And more. After all, we were crossing the Alps.

After Bergün/Bravuogn, we gained more than 1,365 feet in altitude on the way to Preda. To gain that much altitude required some clever engineering. The train loops up through five spiral tunnels, passes through two other tunnels, crosses nine viaducts and travels under two galleries in almost eight miles. The spiral tunnels allow trains to ascend and descend steep hills. It was amazing to look out and see the train we were riding on curving up the track through the stunning scenery.

Albula Pass the train enters the Albula Tunnel immediately and spirals down to Bever on the way to Samedan. It’s another outstanding piece of engineering with more spiral tunnels, looping viaducts, galleries, and bridges spanning the Albula Gorge. The views change. It is more sparsely wooded with Arven pine and larch trees. The train follows a river bed that was filling with snow melt.

The train continues through increasingly dramatic scenery, with steep cliffs and Val Bernina’s deep gorges on to Pontresina (1,774 m) and its view of Piz Bernina (the highest summit of the Eastern Alps).

I wish we could have gotten off at Morteratsch station (1,896 m), to do the one-hour hike to the edge of the Morteratsch Glacier. Apparently you can hike past posts that track the glacier’s recent retreat. Our seats were reserved through to Tirano so we stayed put. If I’d been smart, I would have booked seats on a later train or stayed over in Pontresina. Our day turned out pretty stellar anyway. I even caught some glimpses of blue glacier ice like we saw when we were skiing in Saas Fee.

Continuing on, we saw Lago Bianco and its a broad riverbed. The Lago Bianco dam marks the watershed between the Danube and the Po.

We even saw some frozen waterfalls. They must be spectacular in summer when they are filled with snow melt. This stretch is the highest public railway open year-round. You have a great view from the Alp Grüm station. Auf Wiedersehen Deutschsprachigen! Ciao realtor italiani!

Switzerland’s Panoramic Train, The Bernina Express (schwingeninswitzerland.wordpress.com)

The Road Through The Alps Into Switzerland’s Lötschental Valley

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Schwingen In Switzerland

Last weekend, we went to Wilder, Switzerland to see the Tschäggättä and Carnival parade. Wilder is located in the Swiss Alps in the Lötschental Valley. It is one of the most remote places in Switzerland. It remained largely cut off from the outside world until the beginning of the 20th century.

Courtesy of Mappery.com

Even then, the valley remained remote and difficult to reach, especially during the winters. It was so isolated that in the 1932, Dr. Weston Price, an American dentist, went there to find cultures relatively untouched by the modern world. He included it in his book of nutritional studies across diverse cultures, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. At the time, some towns in the valley were accessible only by footpath.

When Switzerland built a road into the valley, they did it with typical Swiss quality and precision. It is built into a steep gorge and hugs the side of the mountain. You can see the road climb up the mountain until it disappears into it.

We saw the first bit of snow and ice at the first curve. Coming out of that turn, you hug the edge of the road. If you aren’t the driver, the views are fantastic (even if the drive is a bit hair-raising).

The road zigs and zags up the mountain. Switchbacks abound.

Switchbacks are courtesy of Google Maps

Looking at the map, you can (1) all the switchbacks, and (2) why I am glad that I wasn’t the driver.

Surprisingly, there are cute roadside picnic spots sprinkled along the way.

English: Alpine Ibex near Lauchernalp (Lötschental), Switzerland (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Since this is Switzerland, there are tunnels and covered areas to protect the roads from impassability due to snow. As you climb back into the valley, the dates on the exterior of the tunnels becomes progressively more recent.

When we exited the tunnels, we thought the road had been reduced to one lane because the road narrowed. We were wrong. Although it may have been slightly more narrow due to the snow, traffic continued in both directions. There just wasn’t much room for you to put a road.

We were rewarded for long drive with a fantastic festival in a stunning setting. It is well worth the effort to get to Wilder.

We were lucky the weather (and roads) was clear. In 1999, around 1,000 avalanches crashed down Switzerland’s mountains. The Lötschental Valley is an avalanche hot spot. That year, avalanches made the road impassable and cut the valley off from the outside world. Tourists and people with health problems were helicoptered out while locals and food were flown in!

Tschäggättä Parade To Celebrate Carnival In The Lötschental Valley (schwingeninswitzerland.wordpress.com)
Tschäggättä. Tschwhata? A Swiss Valley’s Unique Carnival Celebration (schwingeninswitzerland.wordpress.com)
Heavy snow slows road, rail travel in Alps (mysanantonio.com)

Skiing in Sunny, Snowy Crans Montana

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Schwingen In Switzerland

Last weekend, I met some friends from Belgium in Crans Montana, Switzerland. They were lucky enough to vacation there for a week and I crashed with them for a couple of nights.

Their apartment had an insane view. I can’t imagine waking up to a sunrise over mountains like this every morning.

Although I’ve been to Swiss ski towns (Grindelwald, Zermatt) and skied in France (Contaimines, Clusaz) and Italy (Courmayeur), it was my first time skiing (and renting skis) in Switzerland. Typically, it runs about 18 Euros ($24). When I rented skis at Crans Montana, I gasped at the price. It was 64 CHF ($69) for one day! You would think that I would be used to Swiss prices by now. They haven’t lost their ability to shock me.

English: Lac de la Moubra in Crans-Montana. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I guess I should have expected it, Crans Montana is a tony town where wealthy Russians, private bankers and the occasional celebrity (Roger Moore, the Sarkozys, Celine Dion, Princess Caroline) congregate. In addition to skiing, it is known for its golf course (redesigned in 1999 by Seve Ballesteros), meeting facilities and hotel school.

Crans Montana is on the north side of the valley in the Valais region of Switzerland, the sunniest part in all of Switzerland. It was a glorious sunny day, with plenty of snow and stunning views of the Swiss Alps on the other side of the valley. It’s snowed in Geneva, but the mountains have received even more of it. The snow report: lots of it.

These guys were brave enough to go off piste and look good doing it. Seriously, they were hopping around like little bunnies. I was just happy to just not fall (on piste) and embarrass myself even more than I did.

Once again, I was (by far) the worst skier in the group. Thankfully, everyone was very patient and encouraging. I gathered my courage and tried a black run for the first time over here.

At the top of the run, notice the pole with the black in the background

The good news is that it was tons of fun and I made it down in one piece. The bad news is that I was incredibly slow and slid about 40 feet down on my back, head first).

I slid down like the panda in this photo from Arkive.org

On second thought, that panda doesn’t look sufficiently panicked. He looks like he is enjoying himself and isn’t worried about the possibility of death or serious injury. Good thing I wear a helmet.

Courmayeur (schwingeninswitzerland.wordpress.com)
Tour de Romandie presents 2012 route (velonation.com)
Anzère, Switzerland: the world’s greenest ski resort? (telegraph.co.uk)
Men’s World Cup Super-G races canceled in January have been rescheduled (sportsillustrated.cnn.com)

Yodel-ay-ee-hooo!

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Schwingen In Switzerland

While sitting on the “patio” of this fine establishment in Appenzel, we were lucky enough to hear other patrons yodeling.

Yodel [ˈjəʊdəl] (n) (Music, other) an effect produced in singing by an abrupt change of register from the chest voice to falsetto, especially in popular folk songs of the Swiss Alps.

Courtesy of Yodellier

Yodeling was first developed as a means of communication in the Alps that served to warn a village of danger or other important information about their cows. At the start of the 20th century, it became rather popular, not just kitschy, in the US. Lots of US singers gave it a go. Here are some links to YouTube clips of them yodeling:

In 2006, Taylor Ware appeared on America’s Got Talent and made it to the finale. Some people remember Mary Schneider, the Queen of Australian yodelers from Howard Stern.

Image Courtesy of Pixar and Disney, you too can buy a Yodeling Toy Story Jesse Doll

How To Finance Building Roads in the Alps

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Schwingen In Switzerland

Every car that drives on Swiss highways must have a sticker (referred to as a vignette) showing that the car has paid the yearly approximately 40 CHF fee.

What if you don’t live in Switzerland? Even better. If you are a foreigner heading south and taking the Swiss roads because they are the fastest, most direct way to your Italian vacation, you’ve got to pony up. If you don’t have one, you have a large fine that must be paid on the spot.

Looking at these photos (I swear I was changing lanes in that one) you can start to get an idea of why roads might be expensive. We aren’t even in the alps yet and you have tunnels, mountains and lakes to contend with. Please note that even though it regularly thaws and freezes here, there isn’t a pothole in sight!

Mountaineering Deaths

Posted on October 7, 2011 by Schwingen In Switzerland

I try to read the paper every day to practice my French. Almost every week, there is an article about some sort of mountaineering or hiking accident (usually resulting in death). Sometimes, the paper will note the discovery of a body from an accident decades ago.

When we were in Zermatt, we happened upon the town’s cemetary. Four of the first seven people to successfully summit the Matterhorn died on the descent when a rope snapped. Since then, over 500 people have died attempting to climb the Matterhorn. Currently, about 12 people a year die at the Matterhorn. These deaths are usually due to falling rocks, falls, bad weather, inexperience and the mountain’s difficulty.