2023-06-23 12:55:00
Europe Switzerland
Mathematics for mountain hikers
The Swiss hike faster than holidaymakers from other nations. This is already evident from the signposts in the Alps, where the walking times are indicated. They are calculated using a complicated formula. But sometimes there is a little cheating.
Status: 12:57 p.m. | Reading time: 3 minutes
By Kira Hanser
responsible editor travel/style/motor
You have to keep this in mind when hiking
Hiking has been experiencing a real boom for a number of years, including among younger people. But hiking can also be dangerous, especially if you want to climb the mountains with the wrong shoes. The right preparation is everything here, too.
If you recently noticed on holiday in the Swiss mountains that you were constantly being overtaken by locals who scramble like chamois, then there is a plausible explanation for this: the Swiss officially hike faster than hikers from other nations.
In Switzerland, hiking trails are a matter of state, which is unique in the world. They have been enshrined in the Federal Constitution since 1979 following a referendum. And with that, the walking times are also calculated by the state, quickly and accurately. This information can be found on the Swiss hiking trail signposts.
There it is assumed that 4.2 kilometers can easily be managed in one hour for an average hiker. An additional hour must be added for every 400 meters in altitude. Another hour is calculated for 800 meters down. And with an incline of up to 20 degrees, ten meters of altitude must be managed in one minute in Switzerland, and on steep sections, just under two minutes per ten meters of altitude are doable. It used to be 4.5 kilometers per hour in Switzerland.
A guide with times for hikers in Switzerland
Source: pA / Zoonar/Jürgen Wackenhut
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This rule of thumb is just a guide. In fact, there is a complicated mathematical hiking formula, a so-called polynomial of the 15th degree, with which the Swiss walking times are calculated. Because gradients of more than 40 percent result in unrealistic values, a constant is used there.
Mathematically speaking, the increase in time there increases linearly with the gradient. For interested math teachers who are looking for a tricky task for the advanced course after the holidays: The brisk Swiss wandering formula is: t = (L × (C₀ + (C₁S₁) + (C₂S₂) + (C₃S₃) + (C₄S₄) + (C₅S₅) + (C₆S₆) + (C₇S₇) + (C₈S₈) + (C₉S₉) + (C₁₀S₁₀) + (C₁₁S₁₁) + (C₁₂S₁₂) + (C₁₃S₁₃) + (C₁₄S₁₄) + (C₁₅S₁₅))) : 1000.
Swiss are more ambitious than Germans
Not so in Germany or Austria: you only trust the junkies at most four kilometers per hour, not counting breaks. And 300 meters of ascent per hour or 500 meters of descent. You don’t want to know more precisely.
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Perhaps the Swiss hike faster because they are simply in better shape. Statistically, up to 80 percent of the Swiss go hiking all the time, according to a study by the Swiss Hiking Trails Association.
And in the 2022 hiking study by the Bergzeit outdoor shop, the Swiss turned out to be the most ambitious sprinters in the Alps: 16 percent stated that speed and time are important goals on their hikes.
For Austrians it was only eleven percent and only nine percent for Germans. They appreciate it more leisurely and comfortable, look at flowers, take pictures, chat, take breaks and admire the panorama.
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Nevertheless, there is a bit of cheating on the Swiss signposts when hiking in the mountains, presumably out of consideration for foreigners. Formula here, formula there. For hikes that lead to a mountain station of a cable car, for example, the times are often given higher so that lazy hikers don’t miss the last descent of the evening and then have to be fetched from the mountain crying. The rag collector walking time is displayed.
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This article was first published in August 2022.
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