After another circum tour of Titlis (TOP of Obwalden) with Andri, we had a big event at “Solar Swiss Systems”.

On January 25, TOPtoTOP was invited to be the keynote speaker at the opening of the most modern production factory for roof solar panels in the western world. More than 300 people from business, politics and companies visited the factory. Dario had the honor of officially opening the factory together with CEO Patrick Hofer-Noser and politicians before sharing his expedition experiences and visions with the participants in the Bernapark.

On Monday, January 29, Jeremy then climbed the highest peak in the canton of Fribourg, the Vanil Noir 2389 m with skis, rope and crampons.

The following day, January 30, they reached the Sommet des Diablerets 3216 m after an ascent of over 2000 meters. It was sad to see how the glacier has diminished in recent years since we were there with Swiss TOPtoTOP 1.0 20 years ago. They also had to close the valley slope of the ski area because it was too warm beforehand and deep crevasses formed in the snow as a result.

Yesterday we had a good meeting with Loic Pelissier and Meret Jucker from ETH Zurich to plan the upcoming circumnavigation to collect eDNA samples. The goal is to get more data globally and train local people for field labs to ultimately better protect biodiversity on our planet. As climate change progresses, it will be essential for nature to have the broadest possible biodiversity in order to be able to adapt optimally to climatic changes. This also gives TOPtoTOP the opportunity to build bridges between the schools we visit and the scientists on board. This under our central motto EXPLORE – INSPIRE – ACT.

If the weather improves and the accumulations of deep snow remain within limits, we will be on the Bösfulen, TOP of the canton of Schwyz tomorrow.