How Mountain Tinder Works: The Red Notebook Method and the Secret of Filters

Cathy and Patrick love to tell how they met : thanks to a message left in a red notebook on a Swiss summit. Fed up with dating apps , the woman decided to use the "Tinder of the mountains."

"It was a beautiful way to meet," says Cathy Rotzetter, 58, during a recent hike through the hills of the canton of Fribourg, Switzerland.

She decided to take the plunge last October (2024). After reaching the summit of the Wandflue , at 2,133 meters, she wrote her contact information in a red notebook she found at the top.

Now, nine months later, she sits on the grass, hugging Patrick, and the top of the Wandflue completes an idyllic setting.

" I wrote down in my notebook that I like to walk slowly , but that I like a drink after exertion," he says with a laugh.

Patrick, the same age as Cathy, recalls that he also climbed the mountain in October, but a week later . While at the summit, he was struck by Cathy's message.

The idea for "Tinder of the mountains" came from a lonely moment on the summit of Dent de Broc , another mountain in this same area of Switzerland, which, from a height of 1,829 meters, overlooks the beautiful Lake Gruyère. A bet between friends. did the rest.

Thibaud Monney is a 29-year-old passionate mountaineer, and as he gazed at the spectacular scenery from the top of the Dent de Broc, he realized he wanted to share his experiences with someone.

Without hesitation, he wrote down what he was thinking in a leather-bound notebook, one of those traditionally found on the summits of the canton of Fribourg, so that mountaineers could leave their mark there .

"I went up for sunset and I was alone, next time there will be two of us," wrote Thibaud.

And he says that along with that message, he left his phone number. Someone contacted him.

Thibaud's colleagues, a master carpenter for the disabled, jokingly told him that he could leave several notebooks on the mountaintops.

"And that worked out well," he said on a recent hike to the summit of La Vudalla (1,670 m), which offers a sublime view of Gruyère, the region where the famous cheese is made.

"Several couples were formed thanks to those notebooks," he said, flipping through one of these notebooks, which he placed next to the visitors' book, both protected from the elements in a metal locker attached to a large wooden cross.

Thibaud placed notebooks on the seven summits of the canton of Fribourg , but the idea was so successful that the love notebooks can now be found in mountains throughout Switzerland and sometimes much further afield, even in Argentina.

Now Thibaud feels proud when he hears about couples who found each other thanks to this initiative.

"There are often messages of gratitude for creating this . When someone finds love or friendship thanks to the notebooks, it's clear I made someone happy," she says.

The notebook left at the top of La Vudalla confirms that their system is fashionable and fills up quickly.

"Passionate about mountains, skiing, and climbing," reads one of the messages soberly, along with another from someone looking for a soulmate who "loves sports, heavy metal, and tattooed women."

Unlike increasingly complex algorithms for online dating, the red notebook filter "is very simple."

"If you contact someone who left a message, that person has also reached a summit and deeply loves nature and the mountains. There's already something in common," Thibaud explains.

Cathy Rotzetter agrees. "A shared love of nature is a good filter," she notes.

The choice of summits is also a way to make an initial selection based on age and physical abilities.

Although La Vudalla is one of the most accessible, only the most seasoned and physically fit mountaineers will be able to reach the red notebook of Vanil de l'Ecri, at 2,376 meters.

Thibaud abandoned dating platforms and apps and, over time, found a partner. But he admits it was without the help of notebooks, although that's not entirely true.

" She saw me on TV talking about the "Tinder of the mountains ," she "contacted me," and "now I'm happy."