Drought forces first Swiss rope parks to close over safety risks

Persistent drought has forced the first aerial rope parks in Switzerland to close because weakened trees no longer guarantee visitor safety, Swiss public broadcaster SRF reported.

Adventure Coaching and Rope Solutions, which operates the Wasserfallen and Rheinfelden rope parks, halted both facilities on Saturday. “There is a risk that the trees could lose branches, even relatively thick ones that are still green,” owner Reto Schweizer told SRF.

The drought has particularly affected northwestern Switzerland, the Basel region and the Jura. At the parks, brown leaves, cracked trunks and dying beech trees show the damage. In Rheinfelden, branches have already broken off old trees, including oaks that are generally considered tolerant of heat.

“The safety is no longer guaranteed,” Schweizer said. He added that he had never experienced such severe drought in 17 years of operating the parks.

The closure comes during the parks’ busiest period, from mid-August to September. The Wasserfallen forest rope park attracts about 10,000 visitors a year, while 50 employees have been placed on full short-time work.

“I had to tell the employees that, from tomorrow, we would no longer be working until further notice,” Schweizer said. The duration of the closure remains unclear.

SRF Meteo data support the assessment. The NDMI, a measure of vegetation moisture, has fallen sharply in Basel-Landschaft this summer, indicating severe drought stress in the forests.

The Swiss Rope Parks Association is concerned about the wider impact. Its head, Pit Bangerter, said the forests were already showing autumn conditions unusually early. Extreme dryness can cause trees to become thinner, meaning rope-park installations may no longer fit around their trunks.

Conditions vary widely by region, Bangerter said, but the closures near Rheinfelden and Reigoldswil were notable. “To my knowledge, parks have never had to close because of drought,” he said.