Mountain hutA mountain hut is a building located at high elevation, in mountainous terrain, generally accessible only by foot, intended to provide food and shelter to mountaineers, climbers and hikers. Mountain huts are usually operated by an alpine club or some organization dedicated to hiking or mountain recreation. They are known by many names, including alpine hut, mountain shelter, mountain refuge, mountain lodge, and mountain hostel.
Section (Alpine club)The section (German: Sektion) of an Alpine club (or that of any such Alpine society or association) is an independent club or society that, together with the other sections, forms the main organisation ("Alpine club"). Membership of an Alpine club is normally only possible through membership of a section.
Gottlieb Samuel StuderGottlieb Samuel Studer (5 August 1804 in Langnau im Emmental – 22 December 1890 in Vienna) was a Swissmountaineer, notary public and draughtsman. Studer was the son of Sigmund Gottlieb Studer. After the death of his father, the Studer family moved to Bern, where Studer was secretary to the cantonal justice and police department, later becoming prefect (Regierungsstatthalter) of the city of Bern.Alpine Club (UK)The Alpine Club was founded in London on 22 December 1857 and is the world's first mountaineering club. The primary focus of the club is to support mountaineers who climb in the Alps and the Greater Ranges of the world's mountains.
SwitzerlandCountry in Central Europe Swiss Confederation Name in official languages and Latin German:Schweizerische EidgenossenschaftFrench:Confédération suisseItalian:Confederazione SvizzeraRomansh:Confederaziun svizraLatin:Confoederatio helvetica Flag Coat of arms Motto: (unofficial)"Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno""One for all, all for one"Anthem: "Swiss Psalm"Show globeShow map of EuropeLocation of Switzerland (green)in Europe (green and dark grey)CapitalNone (de jure); Bern (de facto)Federal cityBernLargest cityZurichOfficial languagesGerman (62%), French (23%), Italian (8%), Romansh (0.5%)Nationality (2024)72.6% Swiss27.4% foreign nationalsReligion (2024) 54.7% Christianity 30% Catholicism 18.7% Protestantism 6% other Christian 36.8% no religion 6% Islam 1.5% other religions 0.9% unanswered DemonymsEnglish: SwissGerman: Schweizer/SchweizerinFrench: Suisse/SuissesseItalian: svizzero/svizzera or elvetico/elveticaRomansh: Svizzer/SvizraGovernmentFederal assembly-independent directorial republic• Federal Councillors Guy Parmelin (President)Ignazio Cassis (Vice president)Karin Keller-SutterAlbert RöstiÉlisabeth Baume-SchneiderBeat JansMartin Pfister• Federal Chancellor Viktor Rossi LegislatureFederal Assembly• Upper houseCouncil of States• Lower houseNational CouncilHistory• Founded 1 August 1291• Sovereignty recognised (Peace of Westphalia) 24 October 1648• Federal Treaty 7 August 1815• Federal state 12 September 1848 Area • Total41,291 km2 (15,943 sq mi) (132nd)• Water (%)4Population• 2026 estimate 9,154,242 (99th)• 2015 census 8,327,126• Density207/km2 (536.1/sq mi) (67th)GDP (PPP)2026 estimate• Total $960.599 billion (37th)• Per capita $105,680 (6th)GDP (nominal)2026 estimate• Total $1.147 trillion (20th)• Per capita $126,177 (3rd)Gini (2023) 31.5medium inequalityHDI (2023) 0.970very high (2nd)CurrencySwiss franc (CHF)Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)• Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)Date formatdd.mm.yyyy (AD)Calling code+41ISO 3166 codeCHInternet TLD.ch, .swiss Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located at the intersection of Central, Western, and Southern Europe.Bivouac shelterA bivouac shelter or bivvy (alternately bivy, bivi, bivvi) is any of a variety of improvised camp site or shelter that is usually of a temporary nature, used especially by soldiers or people engaged in backpacking, bikepacking, scouting or mountain climbing.
OltenOlten (German pronunciation: [ˈɔltn̩]; High Alemannic: Oute or Olte) is a municipality, a town in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland and the capital of the district of the same name. Olten grew into a town during the Middle Ages at the location of a bridge over the Aare. After a period of decline, it grew rapidly as a railway town in the 19th century.
Romansh languageRomansh ( roh-MA(H)NSH; sometimes also spelled Romansch and Rumantsch) is a Romance language of the Gallo-Romance and/or Rhaeto-Romance branch of languages spoken predominantly in the Swiss canton of the Grisons (Graubünden). Romansh has been recognized as a national language of Switzerland since 1938, and as an official language in correspondence with Romansh-speaking citizens since 1996, along with German, French, and Italian.German languageGerman (Deutsch, pronounced [dɔɪ̯tʃ] ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. It is also an official language of Luxembourg, Belgium and the Italian autonomous province of South Tyrol, French autonomous region of Alsace and as well as a recognised national language in Namibia.
French languageFrench (français or langue française) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, French and its closest relatives—the langues d'oïl, historically spoken in northern France and southern Belgium—descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. It was influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul and by the GermanicFrankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders.
Italian languageRomance languageItalian (italiano, pronounced, or lingua italiana, pronounced) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family. It is a standardised form of literary Florentine Tuscan and, together with Sardinian, is the least differentiated language from Latin. Current estimates indicate that between 68 and 85 million people speak Italian, including approximately 64 million native speakers as of 2024.
Topographic mapIn modern mapping, a topographic map or topographic sheet is a type of map characterized by large-scale detail and quantitative representation of relief features, usually using contour lines (connecting points of equal elevation), but historically using a variety of methods. Traditional definitions require a topographic map to show both natural and artificial features.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.