Lugano's Hausberg

Alpine cities and towns typically have a Hausberg, a "home mountain," i.e., a peak that local residents can (in principle) hike to from their doorstep. In spite of its relatively modest elevation and Lugano's ample supply of higher peaks, Monte San Salvatore, "Mount St Savior," is considered Lugano's Hausberg because of its distinctive shape.

From March to November, the summit area of San Salvatore can be reached by way of a cable railway, or funicolare, that is significantly steeper than a Swiss cow's face. During the winter, you can only get to the top with your own paws. This means that you can take in the views of Lake Lugano without wearing a pair of Bose noise-canceling headphones to block out people yammering on their cellphones.

We hiked to the top of San Salvatore on a Saturday in the middle of January, taking advantage of this year's eerily mild winter. Thanks to a perfectly timed combination of two trains and a bus, we reached the southerly trailhead in the tiny hamlet of Ciona without having to start hiking from our doorstep.

As we made our way through town, we met one of the Seven Dwarfs.

The southerly trail winds gradually through forestland and steers clear of the cliffy east face of the mountain. After a 1200' climb, dirt gives way to cement and stairs lead to the developed summit area with the cable railway station, a restaurant, and various viewing platforms. There are lots of orange Swiss benches so that little dogs can regroup while reading in-flight magazines.

Fur disclosure: Mom brought Delta's Sky Magazine along to take a photo, so she could enter the "Show Us Your Sky" photo contest.

We spent more than an hour at the top, enjoying the quiet and taking in the views.

Dad pointed out how amazing it was that nobody was around. Eventually, five Swiss German hikers joined us at the top. It is relatively rare to meet Italian-speaking Swiss folks in the mountains of Italian-speaking Switzerland. It is more common in Swiss-Italian culture to spend five hours eating lunch rather than five hours hiking.

On the way down to Ciona, we paid homage to the San Salvatore funicolare station.

We timed the downhill hike to catch the 3 o'clock bus from Ciona. I really wanted to burrow inside the hollow tree near the bus stop.

Fun Fact #1: Monte San Salvatore is struck by lightning more often than any other mountain in the Central Alps.

Fun Fact #2: Monte San Salvatore is known as Lugano's Sugarloaf due to its resemblance to Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.