Nude Hiking in Alps Is a No-No

(CN) - Switzerland's Federal Supreme Court ruled that the Canton of Appenzell can fine a man for hiking nude in the Alps. The man appealed his fine of 100 francs, but the supreme court dismissed it, the BBC reported.

Switzerland does not ban public nudity but it prohibits public indecency.

"It is not overly high-handed to qualify naked hiking as a breach of decency customs," the court said in a statement, according to the BBC.

The man, whom the BBC report did not name, hiked in the raw past a picnicking family with small children, and a Christian drug rehab facility. Appenzell is a conservative canton in eastern Switzerland - women have been allowed to vote only since 1990.

Naked hiking in the Alps is "an increasingly popular pastime in Switzerland," according to BBC correspondent Imogen Foulkes.

There was no word on whether the naked hiker was wearing a wristwatch.

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