Saugumpe

In the car on the way to Wildhaus...

"Hehehe."

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, I just saw an ad with an illustration of a pig on skis."

"Yeah, that's the event we're going to tonight after snowboarding."

"What's with the pig?"

"It's an amateur ski jump competition, so I think the winner gets a pig."

Risk my life for a pig prize? Pass!


Saugumpe, in Swiss-German, literally means Pig jump. Every year, for the last 17 years, around late January/early February the Unterwasser Action Club sponsors this night ski event in which men and women skiers and snowboarders glide down a steep ramp and try to jump the farthest. According to the event website (and Google's translation function), the champions win vouchers for a local sporting goods shop, not a pig. All participants, however, do get a piece of special Saugumpe pork.

Prior to the jumping, spectators can enjoy live Guggenmusik bands (whose members are dressed up in silly costumes - more on that in a future post), Bratwurst, Bier, and Glühwein. These goodies can be enjoyed outside, warming up by a fire, or inside an overcrowded tent.

This year was the first year they allowed young children to participate (on a much shorter slope). So cute! In one of the photos below you can see one of the junior competitors on the slope - he looks like a little ball.