Lausanne,
Switzerland
Site
of the 1998 ITU World Triathlon Championships |
The
view of Lac Leman from atop the Olympic Museum. |
Lusanne,
Switzerland is billed by Swiss and International Olympic
Committee potentates as the Olympic City. The Olympic Museum,
a celebrated history of international competition, is one of
the IOC's crown jewels. From the museum's vantage point on the
north shore of Lac Leman (Lake Geneva), visitors can
watch the tour boats sailing out of Geneva toward
mountains towering 4000 feet above the lake.
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The
Swiss have a colorful heritage that they share at every
opportunity with visitors to their country. The sounds of the
past, which echoed during pre-race ceremonies in Lausanne, can
be heard throughout Switzerland.
Along
the waterfront during pre-race ceremonies in Lausanne.
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Around
Switzerland
Scenes
from Switzerland |
| Zermat
is located a few hours drive Southeast of Lausanne. A major
European ski resort, Zermat also provides tourists access to
miles of mountain walks. Off-season visitors from
around the world come for the spectacular views of the
Matterhorn, which hooks the clouds with the tenacity of a
gifted fly fisherman.
Walking
off worlds with the Matterhorn clinging to clouds in the
distance. |
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Mountain
walks wander through Switzerland like the spinnings of a
drunken spider. The heavily marked trails may follow the
asphalt of mountain roads, the narrow dirt paths through the
mountains, or the severe routes leading out onto the glaciers.
Ever present, the walks provide one of Switzerland's great
attractions.
Mountain
walk signs outside Lausanne. |
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Swiss have a surprise for those expecting to get away from it
all by venturing out on a mountain walk. In Switzerland, it is
virtually impossible to get away from everything. The Swiss
have learned to utilize every inch of available terrain. If
unsuited for people, then the sheep and other livestock get
their run of the land.
Sheep
on the slopes of the Sidelhorn. |
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Like
ants on the march, tourists wander the Swiss mountainsides in
search of visual thrills. |
| A
group of tourists are led down a trail over a glacial moraine
in Zermat. |
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The
Sidelhorn is a small little peak overlooking Grimselpass, a
major route dividing the Central Swiss Alps from the
Bernese Alps.
Behind
Jo Garuccio and Missy LeStrange lies the deep valley basin of
the Haslital, which runs for miles from Grimselpass down to
the town of Meiringen and the eastern most tip of the Bernese
Oberland. |
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Although
people are the dominating life form in Switzerland, cows place
a close second. Supported by lush green hillsides and valleys
fed by glacial runoff, cows graze throughout the countryside
amidst the clanging of their bells.
Cows
primp in the fields of Schwarzwaldalp, a small chalet in the
heart of the Jungfrau Region. |
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Expansive
glaciers cap the core of the mountainous regions of
Switzerland like icing on sweet rolls. But some of that icing
is melting at alarming rates and causing certain glaciers to
recede several feet per year.
Glacial
runoff fuels the geography and feeds the landscape in south
central Switzerland. |
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