Photo Essay

La Chaux-de-Fonds

Time Told in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Swtizerland

Time shapes La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, literally. Situated in the Jura Mountains bordering France, the efficient, gridded layout of the city reflects the organized nature of its most prevalent industry: watchmaking. Widespread industrial design throughout a compact city that receives roughly 290 inches of annual snowfall should make for a plethora of unridden spots. 

It’s January 2021. A storm is currently blanketing the streets of La Chaux-de-Fonds. We are en route and we haven’t got a second to spare. The crew consists of Kas Lemmens, Dom Wagner, Sebi Springeth, Alex Pfeffer, photographer Matt Georges, Fabi Fuchs and me. We’d heard about a few riders sampling what this city has to offer. Now that we’re here ourselves, I can’t believe the wonder we’ve been overlooking in a place just a six hours by car from my home in Innsbruck, Austria. Then again, who would’ve thought this quaint municipality in the mountains of western Switzerland would prove to be a hidden gem for street snowboarding? 

With a population of only 38,000 people La Chaux-de-Fonds doesn’t exactly scream metropolis. But the city’s streets are teeming with handrails, ledges and the like, and without the watch industry, La Chaux-de-Fond’s economy would’ve likely stopped ticking altogether…

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