Swiss canton bans nude hiking

[underpants]

Source: Reuters

APPENZELL, Switzerland (Reuters) - Hikers will no longer be able to stroll naked through the idylic Alpine countryside of Appenzell Innerrhoden after the conservative Swiss canton banned nude walking there.

Appenzell Innerrhoden has become hugely popular for naked ramblers due to its tranquil, picture-perfect meadows and valleys. But the hordes offended Appenzellers' sensitivities and they voted Sunday to order them to cover up.

The Landsgemeide is a popular assembly that takes place in Appenzell town on the last Sunday of April. Participants vote by raising hands to decide on local issues, a privilege reserved to men only until women were admitted in 1990.

Between 3,000 and 4,000 voters, many wearing traditional robes, turned up at this year's Landsgemeinde.

Read more: http://in.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idINTRE53Q03H20090427

---

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/media/ALeqM5hELSkI2Y7xXhRTiuXBDrUd9FnjQw
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/media/ALeqM5jsGLZRqfnFH0_oRg6YiC1eEpP0ZQ

[realisticphish]

1. is this a common thing?

gotta love europe :D

[Botany]

2. Yodeling?

I love google

[saltpoint]

3. The hills are less alive...

[chollybocker]

5. ...with the shame of shrinkage....

[saltpoint]

8. : ) Before they made the decision to have nude hikers cover up I think

Julie Andrews should have been consulted.

[chollybocker]

10. 'How Do You Solve a Problem Like Hypothermia?'

;) Julie did bare her best assets in Star!, but that was for Blake, and it was in sunny L.A. ;)

[saltpoint]

13. LOL! True. L.A. was a good venue for that sort of thing.

And thank god she made it into this country to do a few more films. That 11th-hour escape into the Alps was a close shave.

Had the Nazis captured Julie after that last performance, we'd have had no MARY POPPINS.

[Ken Burch]

18. Then again, we'd have been saved from the scourge of Christopher Plummer.

just sayin'.

[saltpoint]

25. Good point. Principled rescue can be a mixed bag.

[Hannah Bell]

23. or the horror version: "scary mary"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T5_0AGdFic

[saltpoint]

26. LOL!

:toast:

[onager]

31. That was a classic movie goof

In Sound of Music's "11th-hour escape into the Alps," the family is actually fleeing from Austria STRAIGHT INTO Nazi Germany--not away from it. Given the direction of the mountains, etc.

:rofl:

Not exactly on a par with ancient Roman soldiers wearing wristwatches, but still pretty funny.

[Solly Mack]

4. "began levying naked hikers on-the-spot fines" Which they couldn't pay "on-the-spot"

for obvious reasons. (Actually nude walkers/hikers wear a wallet around their necks or a small backpack...well, those I've seen do anyway)


It really isn't a big deal. The nudity, that is...after a couple of surprises, I pretty much go "Meh" when I see someone naked now.

[DCKit]

15. Yeah, but do you really want to be hiking the Matterhorn....

only to have some freak of nature pop into sight just a few feet away and scare you off a ledge? There's a reason leiderhosen are knee-length.

[Solly Mack]

28. Nudity isn't shocking in Europe and being naked hardly qualifies

one as a "freak of nature"

Besides, it's more likely a tourist that will take that tumble

Not that their life is valued less....it's just maybe they should get over being shocked by nudity...and they should certainly avoid high ledges until they do. :)

[DCKit]

32. If I though I could describe what I meant by "freak of nature" without being obscene, I would have.

But thanks for the moralizing anyway, preacher.

[Solly Mack]

35. LMAO

Thank you!

[Ken Burch]

19. This going "Meh" in response to seeing someone naked thing...

Is that when you're out hiking, or has your personal life become that dull?

[Solly Mack]

27. Funny. After a while, it just doesn't faze you

[JayMusgrove]

6. Oh damn, my principle reason for going to Switzerland again

Was to take off my clothes on a hike up the Matterhorn!

[Tom Kitten]

7. Franky I'm not impressed by these naked hikers

Looks good but it's probably warm enough where they are. I'd be more impressed if they were naked at one of the Poles and wrote a journal about how they conquered the bitter cold although still got to be naked the whole time.

[Ken Burch]

20. One word: FROSTBITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

n/t.

[underpants]

29. Riiiii COLAAAAA

[patrick t. cakes]

36. who is that a picture of?

catwoman? meoww...

[tomm2thumbs]

9. 'don't taze me bro..'

[pnwmom]

11. Having to wear sunscreen from heat to foot so you can walk in the snow

doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun to me.

Neither does a head to foot sunburn.

[Ken Burch]

21. ...And it's bad enough skinning your KNEES when you trip and fall...

:eyes:

[pnwmom]

24. OUCH! n/t

[tomreedtoon]

12. Isn't it miserable doing this in all that snow?

I mean, I've occasionally seen girls in bikinis skiing, but that's only thirty seconds in the snow. Hiking takes hours. They are either hypothermic or the cold-blooded lizard-beings from V in their human disguises.

[truthisfreedom]

14. This thread is useless without

pics.

[underpants]

16. under outdoor-sport-leisure

THIS GUY'S GOT A SOLAR PANEL!!!

[Ken Burch]

22. I'm never gonna borrow THAT newspaper.

There's no way I need to know anything that badly.

[Ken Burch]

17. So, were the members of the Landsgemeinde wearing anything UNDER their traditional robes?

n/t.

[Turbineguy]

30. I shower naked

is that still OK?

[damntexdem]

33. Oh no! Next thing, Norway will ban nude accordion playing!

;-)

[piratefish08]

34. I lived/worked in Switzerland for a bit - I never saw any naked hikers, and I did quite

a bit of hiking while there. But I have seen many nude bathers at some of the natural hot spring baths I would go to on the weekends......

Nudity really is no big deal in most of Europe but they still exercise common sense.

I am familiar with this area they mention in the article and my guess is that since many of these hiking trails cut from the wilderness directly through little mountain villages, they were probably tired of seeing German tourists searching for the local bar with their junk hanging out all over the place.