Switzerland today
Greetings from Lausanne!
From bisses to bees, without forgetting an important Matterhorn anniversary, Covid and the upcoming Tokyo Olympics – this newsletter has something for everyone.
I hope you enjoy today’s Simone Biles-esque “Yurchenko Double Pike” keyboard routine.
From our news desk: The Swiss Olympic flagbearers
Swiss Olympic has chosen sprinter Mujinga Kambundji and fencer Max Heinzer to carry the Swiss flag on Friday night at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 OlympicsExternal link. The International Olympic Committee changed it rules and asked each nation to select two flagbearers and to encourage gender equality and racial justice at the Games. “What an honor!” Kambundji posted on Instagram with an emoji of the Swiss flag. “When I started athletics as a child, going to the Olympics never sounded really realistic. Today, I’m preparing for my third Olympic Games, and this honor makes the experience even more special,” she wrote. Swiss President Guy Parmelin is also expected to attend the opening ceremony tomorrow.
Cultural activities have taken a huge hit during the pandemic. Some organisers have experimented with online or hybrid-style concerts or events over the past 16 months. After a long period of cultural shutdown, concerts, sports events and other performances are now possible again in Switzerland under certain conditions. A new survey reveals the importance of live concerts and other shows for the Swiss public.
Honey production has collapsed in Switzerland. The short spring and wet summer means Swiss bees have produced ten times less honey than usual. As a result the price of honey is set to increase.
What’s trending in Switzerland: More Covid news…
Covid-19 update: The highly contagious Delta variant is causing a surge in new cases. After weeks of falling Covid figures, since the end of June there has been five-fold increase in the seven-day average of new infections. The number of reported infections for July 11-18 rose by 85% compared to the previous week, growing from 2,055 to 3,795, the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) reported today. Hospitalisations remain low but doubled over the past week to 48 new cases. Covid-related deaths are also low.
Should Swiss health workers be obliged to get a Covid jab like in France? The debate continues. The Swiss nurses association said today that vaccinations of staff should be encouraged but it refuses to make them compulsory. It argues that such a measure would be “counter-productive” and could lead to nurses even giving up the profession.
Deep dive: The first woman who conquered the Matterhorn
In the early 1800s mountaineers began conquering Switzerland’s highest peaks. The Jungfrau and the Faulhorn were first climbed in 1811 and 1812, respectively. Many more followed. During the “Golden Age of Alpinism” (1854-1865), wealthy British climbers travelled to the Alps in search of adventure. Zermatt’s iconic Matterhorn was a dream destination.
On July 14, 1865, British climber Edward Whymper reached the summit of the Matterhorn for the first time, accompanied by a three other mountaineers, a French guide and two local guides. The descent sadly ended in tragedy with the first four climbers falling to their deaths. Whymper and the two local guides were the only survivors.
Six years later, on July 22, 1871, 35-year-old British mountaineer Lucy Walker made climbing history when she scaled the Matterhorn together with her father and five guides. Walker was an experienced climber who had already conquered various Swiss peaks. The story goes that she started the ascent of the Matterhorn wearing a long flannel skirt, with trousers underneath, in keeping with the morals of the day. But she allegedly took off her skirt when she started the climb.
Her ascent of the Matterhorn was considered a milestone at the time and received widespread press coverage. But she was almost overtaken by a rival, Margaret Claudia Brevoort, known as Meta. The American, who lived in England, was making a name for herself in the mountaineering world in the 1860s. But Walker got wind of Brevoort’s plan to climb the Matterhorn and quickly assembled a team to reach the summit first. Read more about the historic climb and the competition between the two climbers.
Culture corner: Valais’s unique irrigation solution
In the sun-drenched canton of Valais, long stretches of ancient wooden and stone water canals, known as bisses, still cling to the arid south-facing mountain slopes, supplying urgently needed melt and spring water for crops. Some of these channels date back to the 15th century, and people risked their lives to construct them. Read this BBC reportExternal link about the Swiss gravity-defying solution for irrigating mountain land.
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