September 10, 2012

Hiking in Switzerland

A few days ago a QUENTIQ member has been spotted hiking in the swiss mountains with the QUENTIQ tracker.

This is another perfect example of how using the QUENTIQ Tracker app on your smartphone allows you to share your experiences with your QUENTIQ-friends on-line.

QUENTIQ-performance screen showing altitude and overall health analytic data. A map of the hiking path with the GPS-route points: Green (Start-point) and Red (End-point).

A some-time hiker’s reflections on Switzerland.

Switzerland is in many ways a hiker’s paradise. The beautiful scenery, the staggeringly well marked trails, the abundant fresh water sources, lack of bears and the easy transport connections all combine together for a unique experience.

Hiking mountains in Switzerland – beautiful scenery

The online portal of the hiking trail association also makes it very easy to plan and review trips. Switzerland’s compact size lends itself to this kind of digital innovation – other countries are simply too geographically large to produce such an efficient on line mapping system.

Switzerland’s size and population density mean one is often very rarely totally alone in the wilderness – indeed perhaps wilderness is the wrong word. Many hiking routes in Switzerland segue across high alpine farms and this in turn produces the delight of cheap rest stops. One can have just completed a tortuous ascent, calves and hamstrings burning to come insight of a farm house that sells you a refreshing beer or “moscht” (local fruit juice, sometimes already fermented.) for a fraction of Zurich costs.

Sitting with a cold beer surveying the alpine scenery is an experience that is hard to beat.

Whilst the more popular hiking destinations of the Berner Oberland make for some beautiful scenery there are numerous smaller Kantons that boast almost as impressive routes – and usually these have a fraction of the people on the trail. The compromise here is often a slightly longer public transport journey.

Some general tips and tricks:

Look after your feet! Good socks are always more valuable than good boots because Good socks can save average boots. Carry some blister pads as even the best combination of boots and socks isn’t immune to a blister.
Hiking with a pack? Consider hiking poles – these make descents much more comfortable on your knees.
Take enough water in the summer – though you can expect to be able to restock in most areas. Take enough rain and weather protection in the Autumn.
Enjoy yourself!