Hay harvesting with ropeway and helicopter in the steep Swiss Alps

Sepp Herger lives with his wife Andrea on their own mountain pasture in the Swiss canton of Uri - at an altitude of 1500 meters, during the summer. The two herd 80 cows up there, have their own goat farm, are cheese farmers and, last but not least, wild haymakers. The difficult-to-access wild hay meadows are full of herbs and flowers, the hay is rich in nutrients, and regular mowing ensures that the areas remain free of forest and thus safe from avalanches. The canton even pays its farmers money for this - but wild haymaking remains not only physically arduous, but above all extremely dangerous.

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The day in summer starts early for Sepp and his wife. After the cows have been milked outdoors directly on the alpine pasture, it's off to their own cheese dairy for Andrea, and for Sepp to the steep wild hay meadows. Not only does he mow most of the hay in the meadows by hand, he also has to tie it into 80-kilogram bales - six tons this summer alone. Some of it can be sent down the mountain on a rope. While on even steeper and higher meadows only a helicopter can do the job. An adventure in the tradition of Swiss mountain farmers - and with a breathtaking backdrop.

This is an excerpt of "Tradition am Steilhang – die Schweiz und ihre Wildheuer" (360° - GEO Reportage)
Watch the full documentary here (in German):    • Tradition am Steilhang - Die Schweiz ...