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Host: Society “Schweizerisches Trachten- und Alphirtenfest Unspunnen”Target not accessible

Marmi weighs around 7 kilos. Meanwhile, the Unspunnen stone is equivalent to around twelve Marmis, or 83.5 kilograms to be precise. Our marmot is training with his family for the next Unspunnen festival in 2029.

Marmi does strength training, push-ups and marmot lifts. His goal is to be able to lift up his whole family and throw them as far as he can. That’s just figuratively speaking because there is, of course, no Unspunnen stone to practice with.

Since 1808, the Unspunnen stone has been used by competitors in the stone putting discipline at the Unspunnen festival in Interlaken. The record so far is 4.11 metres. Stone putting is an ancient sport, a simple way of measuring strength in the Greece of antiquity and the Middle Ages.

The next festival takes place in 2029. Again with a copy of the real stone, which belongs to the Interlaken gymnastics club and has an interesting history: it was stolen twice by Jura separatists and, after a brief period on display as an exhibit, again went missing. The original 19th century stone was used for the last time in 1981. Since the first time the stone was abducted, the Unspunnen festival putters have used a copy made of Grimsel granite.

Stone putting is now found at many festivals. The national gymnasts generally use a lighter stone for their festivals, usually weighing 40 kilograms. For women, the stones weigh 6, 10 or 12.5 kilos. The Unspunnen stone in combination with the “Unspunnen-Schwinget” and other Swiss wrestling festivals is considered the ultimate challenge in stone putting.

Marmi now feels he’s ready. He squats down, lifts the huge stone up in the air in front of the entrance to his marmot’s burrow, using both hands in typical Unspunnen style, and throws it a distance of one metre. Not bad at all for an animal that’s just 50 centimetres tall.