
How ‘Mountain Tinder' is helping hikers find love away from dating apps
Advertisement
'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'.
In October 2024, she clambered up to the Wandflue peak, at an altitude of 2,133 metres (6,998ft), and jotted down her information in the red notebook she found there.
Cathy Rotzetter and Patrick read the 'Mountain Tinder' notebook at the top of Wandflue peak in the Fribourg Pre-Alps. Photo: AFP
Rotzetter recalled the message as she sat in a mountain pasture, her arm laced around Patrick, with the Wandflue towering behind them.
Advertisement
'I wrote that I liked relaxed hikes, and also to have a drink afterwards,' she said with a laugh.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


South China Morning Post
09-08-2025
- South China Morning Post
Europe is expecting a wave of Chinese tourists. Should it thank Donald Trump?
Europe is basking in summer, with sunny skies, high temperatures – and a surge in Chinese tourists. Advertisement . Despite lingering challenges such as visa requirements and reduced airline capacity due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the continent's tourism industry is hopeful that 2025 could mark the highest number of Chinese visitors since the Covid-19 pandemic 'We're pretty optimistic. I work at the centre of Brussels and we see a lot of Chinese. I hear Mandarin everywhere,' said Ludivine Destrée, senior marketing manager at the European Travel Commission (ETC). Europe as a whole, including Switzerland, recorded a 13 per cent year-on-year increase in Chinese tourists during the first half of 2025, according to Destrée. This momentum is only expected to continue. A recent report by the ETC found that 72 per cent of Chinese tourists expressed a willingness to travel long-haul to the continent. That was well above the global average of 39 per cent, and higher than the US and Japan – two traditionally strong markets – at 33 per cent and 13 per cent respectively. Advertisement


South China Morning Post
05-08-2025
- South China Morning Post
How ‘Mountain Tinder' is helping hikers find love away from dating apps
Cathy and Patrick relish describing how they found each other: through a message left on a Swiss mountaintop. Advertisement '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'. In October 2024, she clambered up to the Wandflue peak, at an altitude of 2,133 metres (6,998ft), and jotted down her information in the red notebook she found there. Cathy Rotzetter and Patrick read the 'Mountain Tinder' notebook at the top of Wandflue peak in the Fribourg Pre-Alps. Photo: AFP Rotzetter recalled the message as she sat in a mountain pasture, her arm laced around Patrick, with the Wandflue towering behind them. Advertisement 'I wrote that I liked relaxed hikes, and also to have a drink afterwards,' she said with a laugh.


South China Morning Post
11-07-2025
- South China Morning Post
2 Americans rescued from Japan's Mount Fuji prompt more calls for tougher rules
Two Americans have had to be rescued from Japan 's Mount Fuji in separate incidents before the official climbing season began on Thursday, prompting renewed calls for tougher penalties on rule-breaking hikers who endanger themselves and drain local resources. The deployment of Shizuoka prefecture's mountain rescue teams twice in two days to rescue the pair has again triggered criticism of people who insist on trying to ascend the 3,776-metre peak outside the season without adequate preparation and equipment. While the two rescues on July 4 and July 5 did not require the use of helicopters, there are growing calls for anyone who has to be rescued from Mount Fuji to foot the bill of each recovery operation. 'The three routes to the top of Mount Fuji that are in Shizuoka prefecture opened today, but we have had reports of hikers recovered earlier this month,' said Aya Ichikawa, an official of the tourism division of Fuji city, which is tasked with monitoring hiking on the Shizuoka side of the mountain. 'This is a problem because it is outside the climbing season, but there is no punishment for those who do not follow the rules. All we want is for people to follow the rules to make sure they are safe,' she told This Week in Asia. The 67-year-old American who was rescued on the Fujinomiya trail on July 4 has not been named, although it was revealed he had pitched a tent near the seventh station on the mountain. He was feeling unwell and asked other hikers for help, with one calling the emergency services, according to a report by Shizuoka Broadcasting.