Switzerland has 4 official languages: (Swiss-)German, French, Italian, and Romantsch. The first two we have experienced. On Thursday, the 4th of the winner's trip, we visited the regions of the other two: the canton Ticino, where Rich and Mark learned to know Alpe Carì and "Salumiere" Fausto Piccoli. On the way back through the Gotthard massive, we took a little detour to the special culture and a

No, we're not referring to Bastille-Day, the French National Day. We have a Triple-B-Day of our own. 1. B: It's Rich Cooper's birthday! In our video, that summarizes Wednesday's action, you will see that he got a very special birthday kiss. 2. B: The weather still was not cooperating. Everywhere we could see the saturated soils from the - partly heavy - rains of the previous weeks. Our first stop

For Rich and Mark it was a moment of utter surprise: Just beside the crackling fire under the copper cauldron lied baby Emy, born on January 30, 2021, peacefully sucking on his pacifier. The curd was heated over the fire, and her parents and a helper were busy with their daily task to produce Alpage L'Étivaz AOP in this small room that serves as a dairy and kitchen as well. It's transhumance in it

There was relatively light traffic on the A1 Highway from Zurich Airport to Switzerland's capital Berne. But it was the first glimpse of the Swiss "Mittelland" (low land) for our guests, the winners of the Adopt-an-Alp program 2019, Covid-delayed for a year: Rich Cooper, owner of the "State St. Fruit Store" in Northampton and "Cooper's Corner" in Florence, western Massachusetts. And Mark Sutherla

Weather can change very quickly in the Alps. Notably, towards late afternoon, heavy thunderstorms can appear out of nowhere. Just look at the example of July 9 in the Gantrisch region. Farmer Christoph Stucki sent the pictures and video from a storm with hailstones up to 3 inches thick. The cows were unprotected on the meadows and got abrasions on their bodies, one even had a black eye.

The animals are the stars on Alp Rainhütten, they are part of the Hollenstein family who treat the cows and goats with the greatest respect. And the animals return the love. Just watch how Martina Gisel is kissed by cows. Theresia Hollenstein is hugged by a goat. And two cows smooch with each other. Heavy thunderstorms have visited large parts of Switzerland, and Rainhütten got a lot of rain, too.

It's always a special moment when you cut into the first wheel of the Alp season. After roughly two months those wheels are still very young. However, a taste will reveal their potential. Over the weekend, the ceremonial first cut happened on Alp Bleiki.

Sepp and Andrea Herger-Gysin are a young, but nevertheless completely dedicated couple in regard of farming and transhumance. Their love for the animals is noticeable, Sepp is also a goat breeder. "I think our animals have a great live", says Andrea, "we really spoil them. But that's ok." Musenalp is a basin in altitude, surrounded on three sites from impressive mountains. That means that a lot of

Spring has been extremely wet in most parts of Switzerland, but some areas also got heavy rains at the beginning of summer. This was namely the case in the central Swiss Alps. On Alp Arnischwand the terrain is completely soaked, meadows easily are trampled into mud. "At least we didn't have any hail yet", says Ida Müller. And, luckily, the forecast predicts better weather.

"Our summer has started perfectly", writes Donald Nessi, farmer and manager of "Azienda Agricola Piz Forca", the operator on Alpe Carì in the Leventina valley. Enthusiasticly, he sent a bundle of photos, all in nostalgic black and white. But you still can see the different breeds, since many farmers bring their cows to Carì during the summer.