"Mountain Tinder" from Switzerland When true love is waiting in the summit book
Patrick and Cathy (both 58) found each other thanks to "Mountain Tinder". If they hadn't both climbed the Wandflue, nothing would have come of their love.
Image: GABRIEL MONNET / AFP
"Mountain Tinder" was created by ...
Image: GABRIEL MONNET / AFP
... Thibaud Monney (29) invented it. He is a passionate hiker. Monney was standing on the Dent de Broc when he spontaneously decided to sign one of the leather-bound books found on the peaks of the Swiss Prealps in order to find love.
Image: GABRIEL MONNET / AFP
Patrick and Cathy (both 58) found each other thanks to "Mountain Tinder". If they hadn't both climbed the Wandflue, nothing would have come of their love.
Image: GABRIEL MONNET / AFP
"Mountain Tinder" was created by ...
Image: GABRIEL MONNET / AFP
... Thibaud Monney (29) invented it. He is a passionate hiker. Monney was standing on the Dent de Broc when he spontaneously decided to sign one of the leather-bound books found on the peaks of the Swiss Prealps in order to find love.
Image: GABRIEL MONNET / AFP
Forget swiping, swiping and matching: Cathy and Patrick fell in love via a red book on a Swiss summit - thanks to a new dating method, "mountain Tinder".
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- Cathy and Patrick found each other through a summit book on the Wandflue.
- The so-called "mountain Tinder" was invented by Thibaud Monney from Fribourg.
- Since then, several couples have found each other through the red books.
To find true love, they first had to climb a summit: Cathy and Patrick wouldn't be holding each other today if they hadn't both climbed the Wandflue. Cathy made the start: last October, the 58-year-old climbed the 2133-metre-high peak in the Swiss Alps. Once there, she signed a red book and left her contact details.
"I wrote that I enjoy a leisurely hike and like to have a drink afterwards," she says with a laugh. A week later, Patrick climbed to the summit and discovered Cathy's message. Nine months later, they are sitting arm in arm in a pasture in the canton of Fribourg, the Wandflue summit in the background.
The fact that the two found each other like this is no coincidence, but the very purpose of the red book on the summit. Alluding to the dating app Tinder, it is called "Mountain Tinder" and is intended to appeal to all those who, like Cathy, have had enough of digital dating.
The idea: instead of using an algorithm, people should find each other through their love of the mountains.
Several couples have found each other via Mountain Tinder
Anyone who has climbed the summit probably has something in common, says Thibaud Monney. The 29-year-old invented the "mountain Tinder".
The idea came to him in a lonely moment on the summit. Monney was standing at an altitude of 1829 meters on the Dent de Broc with a view of the picturesque Lake Gruyère when he spontaneously decided to sign one of the leather-bound books that can be found on the peaks of the Swiss Alps.
"I'm up here for the sunset and I'm alone. Next time there will be two of us," he wrote. His friends finally persuaded the passionate hiker to leave special books for such messages on the summits. Monney himself only left seven in the canton of Fribourg.
Looking for a partner who "likes sport, metal and tattooed women"
Other hikers adopted the idea and left books on other summits. They contain messages such as: "I love the mountains, skiing and climbing". Someone else is looking for a partner who "likes sport, metal and tattooed women".
Several couples have already found each other through the books, says Monney. Many people have thanked him through the books. "If someone finds love or a friendship thanks to the books, then I'm sure I've made someone happy," he says.
Although he himself was called after his first message from Dent de Broc, he only found love later. His current girlfriend saw a TV report in which he talked about "mountain Tinder" and contacted him. "Now I'm happy," says Monney.
