Sports & Activities

Hiking: This is a national passion in Switzerland, and hikers are very well catered for. Approximately 50,000 km of trails lead through all kinds of terrain in this spectacularly beautiful country. Hiking times are given on the signposts, and trails are graded according to degree of difficulty. The organisation responsible for maintaining the trails and for co-ordinating local hiking associations is the Swiss Hiking Federation, Im Hirshalm 49, 4125 Riehen (tel: (61) 606 9340; fax: (61) 606 9345; e-mail: info@swisshiking.ch; website: www.swisshiking.ch). The Federation can supply maps and guide books, which may be purchased at a discount by members. Guided walks, weekend trips and holidays are regularly organised by the Federation and the local associations and are open to individuals and groups. Most associations run at least one day’s walk per week (usually on Sunday), and these do not need to be booked in advance. All trips are led by qualified volunteer guides. Details of the walks and addresses of local hiking associations are given in the free booklet Switzerland on Foot, available from Switzerland Tourism or directly from the Swiss Hiking Federation. Programs of walks are also published on the Federation’s website (see above). In addition to the above excursions, there are also ‘Radio Walks’, which are announced during the season every Sunday at 0655 on Swiss Radio DRS in the Guten Morgen programme. The meeting point, cost, timing and route are also given on teletext (p.526), on the Internet (website: www.swisshiking.ch) and on the special telephone line of Swiss Hiking Trails (tel: (61) 606 9346). Participants need merely to turn up at the station or meeting point as announced.

Mountain sports: These are widely practised, and include climbing, ice climbing, ski touring, snow boarding, deep-snow skiing, heli-skiing and glacier walking. The Swiss Association of Mountain Guides publishes a list of approved mountaineering centres as well as a list of approved guides. Staff at the centres are all qualified, and there are strict rules governing leader-participant ratios. Further information can be obtained from Schweizerischer Bergführerverband, Hadlaubstrasse 49, 8006 Zurich (tel: (1) 360 5366; fax: (1) 360 5369; e-mail: sbv@awww.ch; website: www.4000plus.ch) or from Switzerland Tourism. Accommodation is available in the mountains in the form of alpine huts or chalets. As these are open according to season, visitors should check availability with local tourist boards before arriving. It is often necessary to book in advance.

Cycling: There are 3300 km (2046 miles) of well-marked interlinked trails, most of which offer easy cycling. Bicyles can be hired at most railway stations and at many other locations. Those hired at stations can then be returned to any station at the end of the tour. There are also inline skating routes throughout the country, varying in difficulty from easy to demanding.

Watersports: Lakes such as Lake Geneva, Lugano, and Neuchâtel offer sailing, water-skiing and canoeing. Rowing can be done on Lake Zurich.

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