(EMAILWIRE.COM, April 28, 2009 ) Switzerland - Picture this: you’re enjoying a hike through some of Switzerland’s most beautiful alpine regions – the sun is shining, the scenery is stunning, the other hikers are naked - er - now, residents of Switzerland's Appenzell Inner Rhodes canton have become so sick of walking nudists that they have voted to ban nude hiking…

Quite why anyone would want to go hiking nude through Switzerland’s Alps is a mystery to me – and also to locals in the heart of the Alps who have voted to introduce new legislation banning the influx of (mostly German) nudists.

Locals voted overwhelmingly at their annual assembly to ban the trend and the new rules will impose an £120 fine on anyone found to be hiking nude in the region.

It all began last autumn when naked hikers began turning up to the picturesque Appenzell Inner Rhodes in eastern Switzerland, which is the smallest canton in the country by population and the second smallest by area.

Public nudity in Germany has roots dating back to the 18th Century through a movement that has come to be known as ‘Free Body Culture.’

But, it was too free for the Swiss locals of the tiny town, who started objecting immediately when they found walkers wearing nothing but hiking boots and socks tramping about on their mountains.

The Swiss Government said, “The reactions of the population have shown that such appearances over a large area are perceived as thoroughly disturbing and irritating.”

But, whilst some Swiss may see nude hiking as ‘shameless behaviour,’ the Germans who favour it said that it is a ‘special experience of nature and is free and healthy.'

It has been suggested that the Appenzell region was particularly popular with nude hikers as many of its trails are remote and off the beaten track, meaning that they are less likely to encounter other walkers.

However, this proved not to be the case and the nudists did indeed encounter groups of Swiss walkers who were offended by their ‘let it all hang out’ attitude.

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