Sawt Falasteen - Swiss 'Mountain Tinder' sparks high-altitude attraction

"It was just a beautiful way to meet," said Cathy Rotzetter during a recent hike in the Pre-Alps of the western Swiss canton of Fribourg.

Sick of online dating sites, the 58-year-old said she was thrilled to discover an analogue alternative, with a Swiss twist: "Mountain Tinder".

Last October, she clambered up to the Wandflue peak, at an altitude of 2,133 metres (6,998 feet), and jotted down her information in the red notebook she found there.

Rotzetter recalled the message as she sat in a mountain pasture, her arm laced around Patrick, with the Wandflue towering behind them.

"I wrote that I liked relaxed hikes, and also to have a drink afterwards," she told AFP with a laugh.

Patrick, who is also 58 and who declined to give his surname, found the message a week later, and was charmed.

- Started as a joke -

Mountain Tinder is the brain-child of Thibaud Monney, a 29-year-old avid hiker who told AFP the whole thing started in 2023 as "a joke".

During a climb up the Dent de Broc, overlooking the picturesque Lake of Gruyere, he realised he missed having someone to share the view with.

On a whim, he jotted down his feelings in a leather-bound visitor's book. The books are traditionally found on peaks across Fribourg.

"I wrote that I had climbed up for the sunset, and next time there would be two of us," he said.

Monney, who provides woodwork vocational training for disabled people, said that when he shared the story with colleagues they jokingly suggested he place dedicated "Tinder" notebooks on mountaintops.

"It has worked well," he said during a recent hike to the La Vudalla peak.

"A number of couples have been created," he said, thumbing through the red notebook he had stashed alongside the traditional visitor's book in a metal letterbox mounted on a large wooden cross.

In all, Monney said he has placed notebooks on seven Fribourg peaks, swapping them out for new ones as they fill up.

The idea has also spread, with people in other Swiss cantons and as far away as Argentina telling him they have started Mountain Tinder notebooks.

- Nature 'a good filter' -

Monney said he felt "proud" when hearing from couples who met through the notebooks.

It is nice, he said, "to make someone happy".

The notebook on La Vudalla is filling up fast.

"Passionate about mountains, skiing and climbing," one message reads, while another is seeking someone who "likes sports, metal and tattooed women".

"The idea is very simple," Monney said.

"If you contact someone, that person has also reached the peak, and probably likes nature and mountains. You already have something in common."

Rotzetter agreed.

"The shared love of nature... is a good filter," she said.

Her first date with Patrick last winter was a long scenic walk, ending with a picnic.

Rotzetter said she loved that Patrick brought along food and drink for her, and noticed that he kept pace with her.

"I wasn't looking for someone I had to run after," she said, adding that walking makes for a perfect first date and provides good insight into the other person's character.

"You can see if they adapt their pace... or if they charge ahead."

Patrick added: "It is very revealing."

- Mountain 'algorithm' -

Monney said he preferred his system to the online dating apps he stopped using a decade ago.

"I didn't like the idea of choosing a person based on a picture and swiping left or right," he said.

Others have congratulated him for liberating dating from algorithmic dictates.

With Mountain Tinder, he said, "you have to reach the peak. That's the only algorithm".

The peaks also naturally filter for age and physical ability.

La Vudalla, at an altitude of 1,669 metres, is one of the easier peaks to reach, allowing older or less fit people to leave messages there.

But Monney said only the fittest will make the technically difficult climb up the 2,376-metre Vanil de l'Ecri across the valley.

He has himself found love, not by leaving messages but still thanks to his notebooks.

"She saw me on television" speaking about Mountain Tinder and "got in touch", Monney said of his partner.

"Now I am happy."

T.Ibrahim--SF-PST