Picture this: you're strapped into a saddle seat 2,110 metres above sea level, suspended by cables and pulleys in front of the Grand Chamossaire peak. A mechanism pulls you backward until your body hangs at a 90-degree angle over the void. Then it releases, and you swing forward into thin Alpine air, feeling every bit like a bird cut loose.
This is Balanc'Air, Villars' new giant swing, and it's changing how one of Europe's oldest ski resorts thinks about visitors. Instead of waiting for snow, the resort is building summer experiences that keep tourists coming year-round. The swing can hold up to three people at once, though honestly, most riders probably spend the whole ride gripping for dear life.
First-time visitor Alexandra Henchoz, a 37-year-old from the area, described the moment before her ride with refreshing honesty: "I had a bit of a pit in my stomach." But once the swing got moving, fear gave way to wonder. "You feel like a bird flying," she said afterward. Marc Truffer, 70, had a similar arc from terror to awe, calling the view "magnificent" after the initial shock of being flung over a mountain valley.
Why Mountain Resorts Are Ditching Winter-Only Tourism
The swing isn't just a thrill ride. It represents something much larger: Alpine destinations waking up to the reality that winter tourism alone won't survive the next few decades. Rising temperatures and unpredictable snowfall have made climate a silent business partner at every ski resort in Europe.
Villars welcomed over 700,000 visitors during winter before the swing opened. Summer brought in roughly 100,000. The gap is what resort managers call a problem, and what investors would call opportunity. Martin Deburaux, head of the Villars-Gryon-Diablerets ski area, was direct about the strategy: "We are really trying to diversify our offering."
The math is straightforward. If your business depends entirely on snow and snow becomes unreliable, you build activities that work in summer too. Hiking trails, mountain biking routes, and other outdoor pursuits already attract warm-weather visitors. The swing adds velocity to that shift.
From Ski Infrastructure to Year-Round Adventure
What's clever about Balanc'Air is that Villars didn't need to invent entirely new infrastructure. The swing uses existing mountain access and leverage existing visitor patterns. Cable cars and lift systems that move skiers down slopes in winter now deliver thrill-seekers to the swing platform. The mountain itself becomes a asset across every season, not a seasonal dormitory.
The design itself speaks to the Alps. The metal structure was inspired by an Alpine ibex, the wild goat that clings to impossible cliff faces. Riders sit in saddle-style seats, secured with comprehensive safety systems, before the cable mechanism pulls them into launch position. It's equal parts engineering and theater.
Villars is careful to balance growth with protection. The swing was placed in an area already popular with visitors rather than opened in untouched terrain. Parts of the resort remain reserved for quieter mountain experiences. That balance matters because once you lose the character that makes mountains special, no amount of swings and ziplines brings it back.
What Summer Travelers Get Access To
The swing costs 8 Swiss francs per rider if you book in advance. Half the daily slots are reservable, half first-come. Anyone holding a valid Villars lift ticket gets access included. Beyond the swing itself, visitors can hike to nearby Bretaye Pass to see Saype's massive temporary frescoes, huge landscape art that stays visible for about a month each summer.
Like other Alpine destinations reimagining themselves beyond ski season, Villars is betting that travelers crave adventure and views over the specific medium of snow. A swing, a trail, a massive painting on a mountainside, the experience of height and exposure and beauty. The snow was always just the vehicle.
The resort's pivot reflects something bigger happening across Alpine Europe. Destinations can't control climate, but they can control what they build, how they welcome visitors, and what stories they tell about what mountains offer. Balanc'Air is just one answer to that question. But it's an answer 70-year-olds are apparently willing to try.
