Co-ed Naked Hiking — Switzerland's new national sport?

Who knew?

Not me, that's for sure — at least until I read John Tagliabue's March 16, 2009 New York Times article about the current kerfuffle concerning clothesless hiking in the Swiss Alps.

The Swiss like their secrecy, particularly in banking. At other times, they are more open. Take hiking.

In recent years, it has become fashionable for a growing number of Swiss and some foreigners to wander in the Alps clad in little more than hiking shoes and sun screen. Last summer, the number of nude hikers increased to such an extent that the hills often seemed alive with the sound of everything but the swish of trousers.

For centuries the farmers here lived off their famed Appenzeller cheese and a bitter liqueur that most, except fervent admirers, say tastes like cough medicine gone bad. Not until 1990 did Appenzell grant women the right to vote, decades after other regions of Switzerland.