VILLARS-SUR-OLLON, Switzerland - As the chairlift nears the Grand Chamossaire peak at the Villars ski resort in the Swiss Alps, screams of terror and delight suddenly pierce the air. Perched on the mountaintop, at an altitude of 2,110 metres, a towering V-shaped structure glistens in the summer sunshine, holding a giant swing that catapults visitors out over a gaping void with a breathtaking Alpine panorama stretching before them.
“I had a bit of a pit in my stomach” before getting strapped in, acknowledged Alexandra Henchoz, 37, who tested the new swing with her husband and 10-year-old daughter.
“But once it is happening, it is just incredible. You feel like a bird flying.”
The Grand Chamossaire swing, which opened earlier this month, is the latest effort by Alpine ski resorts to attract off-season visitors and make use of ski lift infrastructure as snow becomes less reliable due to climate change.
“We are really trying to diversify our offering,” Martin Deburaux, head of the Villars-Gryons-Diableret ski area, told AFP.
