By the numbers: Avalanche scare puts Switzerland on edge

Around 13,000 tourists were stranded at the ski resort of Zermatt due to avalanche warnings Keystone

Behind almost every story about Switzerland is a number of some kind. Here’s a round-up of the most interesting statistics to appear in the week that was.

Monday

2

That’s by how many degrees the average temperature in Zurich-area train carriages will drop as part of a Swiss Federal Railways experiment to lower the heat and save energy. 

5

The maximum avalanche warning level of 5 was issued for large parts of southern Switzerland, and later in the week access to the resort town of Zermatt was cut off for several days as a result of avalanche threats.

Tuesday

5,000

The European Court of Human Rights ordered Switzerland to pay €5,000 (CHF5,860) to an anti-racism group for infringing on the group’s freedom of expression. Swiss courts had forced the group to remove online comments citing a politician’s speech as “verbal racism”, a ruling that Europe’s highest human rights court did not agree with. 

18

That’s the number of years that have passed since the last US President travelled to the World Economic Forum in Davos. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced his plans to become the first US head of state since Bill Clinton in 2000 to attend the annual gathering of global movers and shakers in the Alpine town.

Wednesday

10.1%

The corporate tax rate in the Swiss canton of Nidwalden is 10.1%. The canton came second in a global ranking of attractive destinations for companies. But BAK, the outfit behind the index, warned that pending US corporate tax reforms could change the equation for many previously lucrative destinations, including Switzerland

Thursday

14,000

The value of one bitcoin surged to $14,000 on the day that Chinese cryptocurrency mining company Bitmain Technologies announced it was setting up shop in Switzerland. The Alpine nation has become a sort of hub for cryptocurrency operations, including mining of the currencies which one small town hopes will turn around its luck.