Download TOPtoTOP Annual Report 2023

TOPtoTOP Track Record

EXPLORE — INSPIRE — ACT:  Our mission is to save our planet!

TOPtoTOP is the first expedition to traverse the seven seas and reach the highest peaks on each of the seven continents, connecting with all climates zones and relying only on the power of nature and the human spirit.  “Along the way, we have discovered good solutions for our climate and inspired more than 165,000 students in more than 100 countries through presentations and actions.  Our message is one of hope, designed to inspire students and communities to act for a better future by sharing experiences of nature’s beauty and resiliency, and presenting innovations for a healthy planet”.  Dario Schwörer

For more than two decades, Dario & Sabine Schwörer, their family and volunteers have circumnavigated our blue planet visiting every climate zone, witnessing examples of climate change and its effect on communities, conducting field-based research, and sharing examples of innovative solutions. They have learned along the way to protect, preserve and conserve our planet. 

At the core of their expedition, they meet with students at schools and community groups, organize clean-up campaigns, and present examples from around the world of counteracting global climate change by living in an environmentally sustainable manner.

At the moment, the focus of their activism and engagement with communities is in the far North, introducing guiding skills and outdoor sports to indigenous peoples in the Arctic.  This enables them to create an alternative source of income to survive in their fast-changing environment caused by climate change.  In addition, they partner with science institutions to understand the fast-changing processes in the arctic natural environment to raise awareness, look for solutions and create measures to adapt.

In this report, we elaborate on our expedition, its goals, the annual highlights for 2023, as well as our strategy, route, the outlook for 2024 and how you can support us in our amazing challenge to save the planet.

Our Progress — how we meet our goals

In line with our belief that ‘inspiring youth to act’ is the most efficient way to facilitate long-lasting change, we, as is customary, visited schools and universities with our program.

In the Arctic winter months we continued our outdoor programs for local kids.  Sailing and mountaineering connects young people with nature and has many benefits:  increasing resilience, learning endurance, being healthy, becoming a part of nature, thinking strategically, taking responsibility, and increasing self-confidence.  To become a good sailor and mountaineer, we integrate other sports into our training: chess for strategic thinking; diving and swimming for strength; climbing for balance; surfing and skiing for coordination; ski-mountaineering and biking for endurance.  But the most important thing for us is that young people get back in touch with nature, become a part of it and protect it.

Meanwhile, we prepared for the ‘TOPtoTOP Arctic Research Expedition 2024’ with professor Dr. Loïc Pellissier from the ETH in Zürich as a part of a global research expedition under the project name ‘WildinSync – TOPtoTOP Expedition’.

Another project we continued is the ‘TOPtoTOP Arctic Base’, a base for TOPtoTOP’s campaign ‘SAVE the ARCTIC’.  It is a Norwegian – Swiss joint venture, with the objective to build THE best ZERO-Energy House in the Arctic that becomes an open house to everyone who needs a place to create sustainable solutions.  Our vision is to create also a scientific hub for Arctic Research out of Lyngen.

2023 was a very difficult year for us on a personal level:  In spring we lost our founding member Peter Storm and in autumn our father and member Reto Schwörer.  Thanks to our father we had a base for our expedition material in Vilters.  Since he died, we have been searching for another location to store our expedition equipment.

In January we were invited as guest speakers at the CCS Aarau, Switzerland.  Days later, at the Swiss Ski Mountaineering Championships in Les Diablerets, Alegra (11) came first in the U16, Salina (18) second in the U18, Noé (13) third in the U16 and Andri (16) third in the U18 (Vertical). Andri and Noé came second in the Individual team event.  Later in the year, Noé ran the best time in his category at the Norwegian Championships (Vertical).

Later in the month we were invited as guest speakers at the prestigious international ‘Arctic Frontiers Conference 2023’ held in Tromsø.  We also contributed in its environmental education program for students.

Throughout the year we had great helpers for the TOPtoTOP Arctic Base in Lyngen.  It’s cozy now; you can shower, cook and it’s warm.  Special thanks to Joelle, Silvana & Paul and Larissa & Caspar.

We left the fjords of Northern Norway in the middle of May towards Lofoten, where we were welcomed by our friend and TOPtoTOP-member Peder.  Thanks to Skarvik SA and NOGVA SA in Svolvær, we were able to carry out the necessary maintenance on SY Pachamama, including the check of the safety equipment.

We continued to Alesund to our friends Aina & Helge, where filmmaker Livia joined us to do the last filming of the documentary ‘All hands on deck’ that will be in the cinemas next year.  Helge put us in touch with Kare from Olsen Batterieer SA, who supplied us with new batteries for Pachamama.

From Alesund we left Norwegian waters towards the Shetland Islands, where we had a warm welcome by our friend and journalist Jonathan in Lerwick. There we had a great article in the Shetland News, before setting off towards Scotland and Ireland to participate in and contribute to the Topper World Championships 2024 in Cork and to continue the e-DNA sampling at the East coast of Greenland.

But after a successful World Championship, we changed plans, because our father’s condition in Switzerland deteriorated. We could leave Pachamama with our friend Odd in Kaupanger and decided to repeat “Swiss TOPtoTOP” to be closer to him: A bike/hike tour to the TOP summit of each canton to discover the most inspiring examples to help protect our climate.  Twenty years ago, we climbed non-stop to the highest TOP in each canton to collect the best innovations for our climate on Swiss TOPtoTOP 1.0 (see map below).  On October 9, 2023, we repeated the Swiss TOPtoTOP 2.0 in order to explore the progress of positive innovations over the last two decades.  Once again, the TOPs in each of the 26 cantons will serve us as way points on the route through Switzerland.

By the end of 2023, we had collected many examples for the school presentations and had already climbed a total of 16 TOPs. This project will come to an end in spring 2024.  Until then, everyone is welcome to join us.  You can see the current location in the GPS track on the website.  As a base we could stay in Engelberg, where, in between, we helped out in youth and sport camps and our children could attend the public school.

Meanwhile other members tried to reach Greenland on a partner sailboat to continue the e-DNA sampling, but conditions didn’t allow them  to obtain samples from Southern Greenland.

In November, our solar-water project and our second family in Tanzania helped us to overcome the grief of our deceased father and grandfather.  With our friend and Massai Kalanga, we undertook an assessment about a follow-up project to the solar well project and water catchment system on the roofs of school buildings that was realized by TOPtoTOP over ten years ago.  We were delighted to hear that our pilot project went viral throughout East Africa and that solar panels and water catchment systems can now be seen everywhere.

During the assessment, we visited schools with our environmental education program and found that the number of students on the one hand – and the drought on the other – has increased dramatically in recent years.  The idea now is to plant trees to protect hedges to create a microclimate conducive to gardening.  Kalanga also has the idea of pressing building bricks from soil so that less wood is needed for their dwellings as well as converting school kitchens to biogas.  Larissa is in the process of drawing up a master plan so that we can hopefully raise the necessary funds.  While there, we also got to know Arbreen, an organization with which we went tree planting.  They want to fully involve the local communities in carbon offsetting.  So, we are excited to see how the collaboration can continue.

None of this would have been possible without the generous help and support of Gunvor & Odd in Kaupanger.  They looked after Pachamama all these months.  Thank you so much.

Accomplishments 2023

• distance sailed:  2,000 nautical miles (of a total of 130,000 nm)
• distance climbed:  100,000 altimetres (of a total of 900,000 a.m.)
• distance cycled:  500 kilometres (of a total of 24,500 km)
• number of attendees at presentations:  5,000 (of a total of 165,000)
• number of DNA – and microplastics samples collected: 10
• plastic collected in clean-ups:  5,000 kg (of a total of 80,000 kg)
• campaign ‘Swiss TOPtoTOP 2.0’
• campaign ‘Save the Arctic’
• campaign LPS,‘Leave the Plastic in the Shop’
• campaign OHO, ‘One Hour Outdoors’
• campaign ‘Massai follow-up project’

highlights 2023

• Speaker at Arctic Frontiers Conference 2023 in Tromsø
• Maasai follow-up project
• Swiss TOPtoTOP 2.0
• Topper World Championships in Ireland
• Establishing the ‘TOPtoTOP Arctic Base’
• Community actions and Clean-Ups to fight plastic waste
• Great media coverage!  Everywhere we travelled, the media were interested in an interview.  In all destinations, TV, radio and print media reported very positively about the TOPtoTOP actions.
• Collaboration with the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, the Norwegian Research Center, the University of Tromsø and the ETH Zürich in Switzerland to get a better understanding about the Arctic Seas.
• With our concept to get everybody on board, we have been received with open arms especially in Norway, Great Britain, Ireland, Tanzania and Switzerland establishing new partnerships with local individuals, organizations and initiatives.

Our Strategies — how we act

Our belief ‘to go together is to go far’ is a success:  the family members and volunteers have gone far again this year and accomplished inspiring many to act too.

Our strategy to reach out more and to get the media involved worked very well.  This approach also helped us to get in contact with the school authorities to organize events and actions.

We learned that our message is so much more powerful when our children started to talk to their peers of the same age.

Activities from TOPtoTOP members in other countries make us proud. Our ongoing success story is the backbone that creates the unique global family of activists.  Our global network is based on understanding and solidarity in order to solve the global challenge we face with climate change.

Outlook 2024 – WildinSync – TOPtoTOP Expedition

In 2024, we are planning to start a multi-year collaboration with ETH Zurich. Here are the current planning goals:

Anthropogenic factors are having a strong and negative impact on nature, but ecosystems are changing too fast for humans to record these changes so their pristine or preceding status is never known or forgotten. With climate change transforming ecosystems at an accelerating pace, it is crucial to gather accurate and up-to-date data using the latest eDNA technology to develop effective solutions for recording the state and preserving biodiversity. Our expedition will serve as an interactive learning, educational and science platform, reaching out to local communities and schools around the globe. By utilizing the boat as a mobile laboratory, we aim to collaborate with local communities to evaluate solutions favouring biodiversity and teach in school and universities about solutions for biodiversity measurement and environmental conservation, and the role of scientific exploration in shaping a sustainable future.

By encountering local communities, stakeholders and governments, we will get a first-hand experience with the variety of solutions implemented locally to favour biodiversity and aim to share successful local solutions globally.  TOPtoTOP has experience in community-based outreach, learning from local communities actions, visiting local schools and local actors to raise environmental awareness and encourage innovation through the TOPtoTOP Solution Award. Using our equipment and on board laboratory, we will train local partners for in field data collection labs to better protect our planet’s biodiversity. As climate change progresses, it will be essential for nature to have the broadest possible biodiversity to adapt optimally to climatic changes. The ability of fast biodiversity measurements should be deployed the closest to the territories where they are needed. This requires an exchange in capacity and know-how. 

Using our expedition, we will gather biodiversity data by crossing many countries and oceans and visiting emblematic places, such as the places furthest away from the coasts. The project scientific aims to deploy eDNA technology to capture the fingerprint of the current composition of preserved ecosystems as a baseline to detect future changes and plan conservation actions. Ecosystems are being degraded at a much faster rate than our capacity to study, inventory and protect them using traditional scientific approaches. Alike the ice records being the memory of the past, eDNA provides an integrative measure of the current state of reference ecosystems, which can be used as a basis for future awareness communication, conservation and rewilding.

Ongoing list of highlights on the WildinSync – TOPtoTOP Expedition

In 2024, Pachamama will operate in the Arctic Sea.  We continue to sample up to the highest summits in the Arctic.  We will collect data for climate and plastic pollution research in Svalbard, Jan Mayen, Greenland, Iceland and Norway.  Furthermore, we will combine our environmental education program and clean-ups with our research activities.

• For the twentieth anniversary of ‘Swiss TOPtoTOP’ we will finalize ‘Swiss TOPtoTOP 2.0’ and get a picture of what positive projects have been added.
• We will continue to establish an Arctic science hub in Lyngseidet
• We will invite families and their kids to join our outdoor camps and events.  Our goal is to connect as many people as possible with nature through outdoor activities.  This will combine with the ultimate goal:  to preserve this paradise for the next generation.
• We transfer our sustainable tourism – mountaineering and guiding skills – to give new perspectives and hope to young people living in the Arctic and to protect their environment, and also to enable them to get an alternative source of income to survive in their fast-changing Arctic environment caused by climate change.
• We aim to give remote places a voice and connect schools from different parts of the planet.

Note: Due to the turmoil of war, it is unfortunately not possible to enter the North Pacific via the Northeast Passage, so we take an alternative route.

Long-term Outlook

We aim to inspire another 100,000 students over the coming years on our route circumnavigating the Arctic, Antarctica and the Equator from POLE to POLE in a figure of 8, making optimal use of the winds and currents.  On this endeavor, we will sail and climb to the highest TOPs in the Arctic and Antarctica culminating with the final TOP, Mount Vinson in Antarctica.

In order to successfully overcome the climate challenge, we are focusing on two key factors:  Biodiversity and global peace.  In order to be able to adapt creatively to rapid climate change, we need a high level of biodiversity, ie, a lot of DNA.  Furthermore, wars cause huge amounts of additional CO2 and prevent urgently needed cooperation.

Our ultimate goal is to save the planet with the inspiring examples we collect, as well as with our environmental actions and educational events.  We aim to build a global network of activists to solve global challenges, based on understanding, friendship and solidarity.

Support us

It is time to save our planet!  Our goal is to establish a lasting movement that inspires youth to act.  Please consider an annual donation and scan below QR code or go to ttps://toptotop.org/donate/.

Join us on Instagram (TOPtoTOPexpedition), Facebook (TOPtoTOPGlobalClimateExpedition), website (TOPtoTOP.org) and subscribe on our YouTube Channel (TOPtoTOPExpedition).

Become a member

The annual TOPtoTOP-membership is 50 USD/Euro/CHF per household/institution.  A lifelong membership is 250 USD, please register at https://toptotop.org/donate/toptotop-membership/ .

Thank you for your support!

THANK YOU

Without the generosity and hospitality of the people we meet on our journey, and without your support, our efforts would have been unthinkable.  A big THANK YOU especially to our main sponsor VICTORINOX as well as to the patronage of UNEP and our science partners NORCE, HVL, UIT, and ETHZ;and our carbon offsetting partner myclimate.  Our thanks also go to all the benefactors and all those who support our project with their TOP products and services, especially: React, PredictWind, Hostpoint, Optrel, Magic Mountain Lodge, Hotel Waldegg, Topper International, Torqeedo, Olsen Batterieer, Nogva, and Skarvik.

Special thanks to our members on the expedition: Sabine, Dario, Salina, Andri, Noé, Alegra, Mia, Vital, Hanne, Peder, Jael, Peter, Paul Johan & Inge, Eskil & Anna, Henrika & Patrick, Aina & Helge, Gunvor & Odd, Joelle, Silvana & Paul, Alex, Jeremy, Larissa & Caspar, Christian and Family Hasler.

A special thanks to all in the background:  Alex & Ursula Zehnder, Marco & Karin Koch, Peter Locher, Manolito Birrer, Dag Olav Mollan Eneberg, Meret Jucker, Dominik Schaub, Simon Unternährer, Hanna Law, Bruder Martin, Frederic Marty, Peder Pederson, Marianne Nielson, Alessio Gomiero, Loïc Pellissier, Rosi & Ernst Ammann, Reto Schwörer.

We also wish to thank the following people for their friendship and assistance:

Family Elsener, Sylvia & Juerg Zahnd, Bruder Martin Hieronymi, Dominik & Sylke Schaub, Marco & Ines Kappenberger, Family Odd Tufte & Gunvor Steine, Ric & Emma van Wachem, Clark & Barbara Blynn, Elisabeth & Rolf Hefti, Hanne Lykkja & Harald Renum, Michael Thorne, Family Torgunn & Yngvar Rist Aagaard, Family Henrika Lönngren & Patrik Jonsson, Family Daniela & Marcel Hasler, Ingunn Riverts Vatne & Mathieu Blein, Susanne & Chérif Khater, Ursula & Alex Zehnder, Nathalie Thierstein & Stefan Leimer, Fred Marty, Family Marius & Karine Løken, Sten-Robin Morfjord, Peder and Kaja Pedersen, Roland Müller, Salve Dahle, Family Christian Wehrli, Familiy Irmela Mantel, Turid Samuelson & Haldor-Inge Samuelsen, Pål Kragerud, Pål Brynsrud, Christian Wehrli, Peter Gnehm, Pater Andri, Eugen & Susi Funz, Dominik & Elisabeth Brun, Familie Birrer Hotel Waldegg, Schule Engelberg, Stiftsschule Engelberg, Kloster Disentis …