Hiking because of Tiktok: Videos of ridge hikes go viral

Hiking goes viral: David Michalski posted a Tiktok about the Fronalpstock ridge hike. His video reached several million people and triggered a wave of hiking that other content creators picked up on and caused problems for the alpine operators.

Michalski says: “That wasn’t my intention at all, when I saw the hundreds of thousands of likes, I was surprised.” Of course, I was also lucky, the weather was perfect.”

The Swiss TikToker “DeWinterthurer” also published a clip about the ridge hike on the Fronalpstock. He was motivated by the German’s video and had already noticed in Arth-Goldau that he would not be alone. “The bus was overcrowded, so we took a taxi to the Stoos valley station,” he says.

“There were always traffic jams,” he says. Many hikers had a “I’ll give it a try” attitude and only later realized that the hike was challenging.

Bernadette Fassbind runs the Laui Alpine farm on Stoos with her husband. The increasing tourism is good news for their restaurant: “We had a good summer.” But the many tourists also bring disadvantages: “They pet our cows and take photos, which is dangerous.” Although Stoos Tourism has put up signs to prevent this, the cows are not left alone.

Fence posts are also sometimes used to light fires on the pastures. “There are a lot of wild campers who leave their rubbish lying around,” says Fassbind. The farmer’s neighbours have also had tourists simply walk into their houses to go to the toilet. She herself has hardly had any unpleasant encounters, however: “But when you hear about it, it’s a bit scary.”

Another Alpine woman says: “On the whole, the tourists behave decently.” There are always black sheep that you have to deal with.

Martin Langenegger sees it similarly. He is the managing director of Stoos Bahnen and lives on a less frequented hiking trail: “It’s a matter of give and take.” We are happy that we can sell our products to guests directly on the Alp. That means informing guests who don’t know about it and asking the few guests who don’t respect the rules for the animals and nature to follow them.

Lorenz Solcà, whose wife owns a holiday home on Stoos, is also affected by tourism. Although the holiday home can always be rented out, the region is losing its charm as tourism increases. “It used to be quieter and more relaxed,” says Solcà.

“We want to actively counteract the misbehavior of guests,” says Simona Barmettler, Managing Director of Stoos-Muotatal Tourism. Awareness boards have been set up in various locations, which are also available to local farmers.

Barmettler: “We also maintain contact with local farmers.” In general, social media has had a noticeable impact on tourism. However, there are only three or four busy weekends in the summer.