Hiking

Boots tied, backpack strapped on, and one last look at the map before heading off: Around 60% of Swiss people are familiar with this ritual and go on several hikes per year. This makes hiking – which combines moderate physical activity with enjoying nature in a relaxing way – the most popular type of sport in the country. Unlike mountaineering, hiking usually takes place on prepared trails and doesn’t require additional safety equipment or technical skills. Around 65,000 kilometres of marked public paths are available to hikers. Cantonal organisations are responsible for maintaining these trails, which has been a constitutionally mandated duty of the government since 1979. Hiking culture involves mutual respect and mindful interaction with flora and fauna. Hiking guides, hiking newspaper columns and magazines, printed and digital maps and online hiking platforms help people plan their hikes and also help pass on knowledge that is traditionally transmitted within families, schools and clubs. Touristic hiking as we know it today traces its roots back to the Enlightenment of the 18th century and is connected with figures such as Albrecht von Haller, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Johann Gottfried Ebel, who published the first hiking guide for Switzerland in 1793.