John Harlin III - Hiking, Biking, Climbing and Kayaking Around Switzerland's Borders in Three Months

BERN, Switzerland, June 22, 2010 - All around Switzerland, a distance of 1,900 kilometres, in three months
using muscle power alone: US-based mountaineer and journalist John Harlin
begins his tour of Switzerland's borders at St Gingolph in canton Valais on
June 23. He will be posting reports, pictures and videos daily on
swissinfo.ch.

John Harlin III has set himself no small challenge: he intends to
follow the entire length of Switzerland's borders - almost 1,900 kilometres -
on foot, by bike and kayaking in around three months.

"Besides my desire to explore so much of Switzerland's beauty and
culture, I have long craved a long expedition-style adventure with a clear
goal that has meaning. To me, the ability to circle an entire country as
rugged as Switzerland in three months' time gives a beautiful focus to a
great physical adventure," says Harlin, summing up the motivation behind this
endeavour.

Harlin will begin his tour on June 23 in St Gingolph on the
southern shore of Lake Geneva, right on the Swiss-French border, travelling
counter-clockwise around the country. During his three-month trip, Harlin
will receive logistical support from Switzerland Tourism. His reports,
pictures and videos will appear exclusively on the English-language pages of
swissinfo.ch several times a day from June 23.

Harlin's route and current location can be tracked online at any
time courtesy of the Swiss Google Maps site. Also available will be a variety
of background reports, dossiers on specific topics and collections of links
about Switzerland. Harlin's Twitter updates will also be translated into
German, French, Italian and Japanese.

Harlin believes the biggest challenge on this three-month journey
will be tackling a number of peaks over 4,000 metres high as well as
difficult climbs such as the Aiguilles Rouges du Mont Dolent, the
Matterhorn's Furggen-Grat and the Piz Badile. He will have to ascend and
descend thousands of metres through inhospitable territory with no marked
paths. While he's out there, Harlin plans to meet fellow alpinists,
scientists, historians and others (maybe even you) to hear stories and paint
a meticulous and nuanced picture of the country based on the geographical,
political and cultural threads that hold it together.

John Harlin III was born in 1956 and grew up in Germany and
Leysin. After his father died on the north face of the Eiger, his family
returned to the US, where he graduated in Environmental Biology from the
University of California. In addition to his climbing activities, he now
works as a journalist and publishes the American Alpine Journal.

Link :

www.swissinfo.ch/harlin

swissinfo.ch is an enterprise of SRG SSR idee suisse (the Swiss
Broadcasting Corporation). Its role is to inform Swiss living abroad about
events in their homeland and to raise awareness of Switzerland in other
countries. swissinfo achieves this through its nine-language internet news
and information platform: www.swissinfo.ch/eng/index.html

    Contact:

    John Harlin
    +41(0)79-682-43-45

    Monika Gysin
    Head Marketing-Communication
    monika.gysin@swissinfo.ch
    +41-31-350-95-48
    +41-76-412-64-05

    Christophe Giovannini
    Editor in Chief
    Christophe.giovannini@swissinfo.ch
    +41-31-350-91-15
    +41-79-460-26-39

Contact: John Harlin, +41(0)79-682-43-45; Monika Gysin, Head Marketing-Communication, monika.gysin at swissinfo.ch, +41-31-350-95-48, +41-76-412-64-05; Christophe Giovannini, Editor in Chief, Christophe.giovannini at swissinfo.ch, +41-31-350-91-15, +41-79-460-26-39