Work in grounds, doing what?

About one month ago a very strong wind blew here in Kandersteg, this was the worst wind in 10 years. It came from the south and is locally called « foehn ». The next day about 340 trees were down on the ground or half standing on our campsite. This meant a lot of work for the staff team and the work parties who came to help us during spring. But what could we do?

First, the chainsaws started cutting the branches from all the tree trunks, then the trunks were cut into logs of one metre length. These were piled on the sides of the paths to leave the campsites clear. Luckily for us one week we had the Chainsaw Dutch Work Party who helped us and sped up this work.

The branches then needed to be put into the chipper. All the wood chips could be used to fill in any unsightly holes on the campsite and to create a soft ground around the challenge activities.

We then split the one meter logs and they were stored it in the wood compound areas. This wood can be used during campfires or to warm up the chalet with the woodburner.

Once the staff realised how much work needed to be done on the campsite they all came and helped during their free time. Thanks to our current team consisting of the Grounds Assistant, Sam (UK), the Maintenance Assistance, Michael (DE), with Jorge (ES) and Jesse (CA) as helpers. 

Natalia (CH)

STS Spring 2012

Water for Everybody!

Kandersteg produces 100% of the needed drinking water out of the Oeschinensee. This water isn’t only good for the fishes and the tourists to have a cold swim in it, its quality is also so high, that it can be used for drinking water.

Thirsty? Oeschinensee provides Kandersteg with delicious fresh water on tap!

At the upper hydro-electric power plant, water is collected both to generate electricity, and to become drinking water.

The UV light treatment process

Two simple steps are between lake water and the refreshing liquid we get out of our taps.

The first step is a natural filter the clean the water from glacial mineral, little stones and other big dirt. Water leaves Oeschinensee through the ground - the porous bedrock filters the water before it flows out of the ground upstream of the turbines.

In the second step the water gets treated with UV light to kill all the germs. And that is it already! No chlorine or other chemicals need to be added. The water is constantly monitored for cleanliness and is consistently many times cleaner then the recommended limit. 

The average use of Kandersteg is at about 1000l/hour. But per hour Kandersteg can also produce about 2500l of fresh water. So there is no danger that you ever run out of water in Kandersteg!

The overflow comes out of water fountains all around the village.

So come and enjoy one of the best and freshest waters of Switzerland.

Michael Geyer (DE)

Maintenance Assistant

Electricity in Kandersteg

For the most of us water comes out of the tap and electricity comes out of a socket. But who knows where both are actually coming from?? We do!!

On our last Staff Night Out the Pinkies had the possibility to see all this.

Jack (UK), Pedro (PT) and Melanie (UK) finding out all where their electricity comes from

Kandersteg produces 85% of it’s electricity needs with it’s own hydro-electric power plants powered by the rivers coming down from Oeschinensee and from the Ueschinen valley.

In fact in summer Kandersteg produces more electricity then it uses and sells the excess to the rest of Switzerland. In winter, water levels are lower and some electricity has to be brought in.

Inside the control room at LWK

Together with our guides from the Water and electricity supplier – the LWK, we saw all three power plants with the different turbines.

The oldest turbines are from the 1940’s and the newest one is from 2010.

Producing its own electricity with water has a long tradition in Kandersteg. The first power plants were built in the early 1900’s to electrify the hotels in town.

Inside the original power plant at Oeschiwald

From those early days Kandersteg grew and so did the power plants.

It is quite impressive how this little village in the Swiss Alps tries to be independent and environmental friendly at the same time.

Producing electricity with water doesn’t cause any CO2 or anything dangerous for the environment.

The only thing which gets produced besides electricity is heat from the turbines. But this heat gets used to heat the LWK’s headquarters, Kandersteg Village School and the local swimming pool. Everything is taken care of… Swiss efficiency!!

One of the modern turbines at LWK. The turbine is blue and connects to the generator (red) which produces electricity. The silver box heats water to heat the building using excess heat from the generator

If you want to hear about our drinking water, then wait for our next blog!

Michael Geyer (DE)

Maintenance Assistant



A Story Of Frogs

It’s spring time at Kandersteg! After a very sunny and warm March, April is (until now) cloudy and alternates between rain and snow with a little bit of sunshine.  Even if it is quite annoying you can consider it as typical “April weather” for this region. This constantly changing weather in April is triggered by a big temperature gradient between Northern Europe and Southern Europe in spring. The air temperature tries to balance itself bringing constant weather changes in Central Europe.

Pinkie checking out the frog eggs



The frogs around the Centre don’t seem impressed by the changing weather and are happily reproducing themselves.

One lunch time we had the chance to observe them at close range around the Centre. Their behavior raised plenty of questions and lead to an interesting discussion about what they are exactly doing, where they come from and where they’ve spent the winter.

I did some research and I would like to introduce you to the secret life of the frogs.

Frogs are hibernating animals, they “sleep away” the winter and when spring arrives the animal “wakes up” again. A high concentration of glucose in the frog’s vital organs prevents them from freezing. When they wake up from their winter dormancy they migrate to their breeding sites. The female frogs lays between a hundred to a thousand eggs while the male attaches itself to the female’s back to fertilize the eggs. This position is called “Amplexus”. The male frog sits on top of the female’s back and grasps behind her front legs around her middle section. This can actually last for several days.



The "Amplexus" position



Did you know that frogs are a good sign for an intact environment? Having lots of frogs in an area tells you that the environment is healthy and complete. If for some reason frogs are suddenly missing, then this is telling us about problems in our environment. The frogs are also beneficial to humans because they eat so many insect pests. So it is an important matter to protect them.

Many frogs don’t survive the migration because there are many roads to cross. How can you help?

Make people aware that there is a place where a lot of frogs are crossing the street. In some streets there are constructions built to prevent frogs crossing these roads. In the evening people go and collect the frogs in baskets and then carry them across the busy roads.

So in conclusion the KISC frogs say “quak, quak”.

Irene Vontobel (CH)

Eco Assistant

 

 

 

 

The Awesomeness of Bikes at KISC

Arguably the most amazing aspect to life at KISC is the fact that you’re living and working with people from all over the world.  The “permanent mini-jamboree” may be a cliché, but it is a very real part of the KISC experience.

We’re a bunch of internationals living in a high and enclosed valley in the Bernese Oberland, but we’re certainly not cut off from the outside world.  There’s trains connecting us to the north and south, two cable cars and one gondola in the village allowing for quick access to the higher alps, and besides all that there’s plenty of activities going on in the village all year round.

This is all good, because from the point of view of someone coming from outside Europe, you don’t want to be (or even to feel) closed in.  This is where bikes are especially important. They’re a relatively quick, cheap, and easy form of personal transport, and they’re also a very environmentally friendly way of getting around.  Not only do you not need to use any fossil fuels for the trip, but the extra physical activity is healthy and highly enjoyable too.  It’s great that KISC offers the staff free bikes to use whenever they like, because it frees us up to go and enjoy the outdoors whenever we can. They're particularly useful for getting to and from our local ski slopes though the winter

Sure, sometimes there’s snow and ice on the roads, but though this requires some extra care it’s not too much of a hassle to navigate over safely.  There’s also other cars and buses moving about the village, but the drivers of these vehicles are all proceeding with caution too so they’re no great danger.  There’s really no significant reason not to use bikes to ride around Kandersteg.

Sometimes being environmentally friendly means putting in a little extra effort for the good of the planet.  In this case it’s the opposite; riding a bike to the slopes is a far more attractive option than other forms of transport – the environmental friendliness of this means of getting around is a bonus.  The most appealing feature is the independence it provides, you can go whenever and wherever you like.

Unless you’re a European who brings their own car to KISC, bikes are pretty much the only option for personal transport.  Bike riding can become a habit, a habit you can take back home.  Because if bikes can be a good option for getting around town in the middle of winter in the Swiss Alps, then why don’t we use them more in our more comfortable lives in our home countries?