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Swiss Alps

A Winter Wonderland

Story by Sandro Gämperle March 7th, 2014
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The Swiss Alps

The Swiss Alps - or Schweizer Alpen, Alpes suisses, Alpi svizzere, Alps svizras as they are called in the four different official languages in Switzerland - are the portion of the Alps mountain range that lies within Switzerland. Because of their central position within the entire Alpine range, they are also known as the Central Alps.

The Alps cover 65% of Switzerland‘s surface area, making it one of the most alpine countries. Despite the fact that Switzerland covers only 14% of the Alps total area, many alpine four-thousanders are located in the Swiss Alps and the remaining few are within 20 km of the country‘s border.

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FROZEN

The true beauty of the Alps is especially revealed during wintertime when the mountaintops are shrouded in thick blankets of snow and the air gets cold and crystal-clear. Nature gets to its well deserved rest in late autumn with the first snowfall and patiently waits for spring time to come again in a deeply frozen state. Well off the crowded skiing regions you can find seemingly untouched and pristine nature where the only sound you can here is the snow falling from heavy branches in the trees around you.

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Tranquility

Snow tends to swallow sound. Almost the only sound you can hear while wandering through these snow covered landscapes is the crunching of snow beneath your soles and your own breathing as you steadily make progress towards the summit. The steady rhythm of these sounds feels like a mantra for your soul and with every step you take peace and tranquility fills your mind.

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White an Blue

The predominant colors are white and blue. After a while you tend to forget that there ever existed other colors as well. I remember how awkward the landscape back home looked to me when I returned from a three week long army service on one of the snow covered mountains.

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WARM COLDNESS

Even though you feel the biting coldness of the sub-zero temperatures around you the winter sun throws its sun rays at you tickling your skin and giving comfortable warmth at the same time. The combination of warmth and coldness makes for a very special sensation that is especially emphasized high up in the mountains during wintertime.

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Ocean of frozen Water

Just a few days of snowfall is enough to hide all landscape features beneath a magnificent and undistinguishable white shroud. Hiking tracks you so well remember from you hikes back in summertime disappear and it is easy to get lost in this ocean of frozen water.

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Footnote: If you are interested in more of my Swiss Alps photos please head over to my personal page www.sandrogaemperle.com or my flickr page on www.flickr.com/sandrotto.
Switzerland