The Christmas season is usually the merriest time of year for many countries across the globe. Switzerland is no exception. Just before the 25th of December hits， youll be able to 1）feast your eyes upon the famous character of Saint Nicholas注.

More popularly known as “Santa Claus，” Saint Nicholas is considered to be the Father of Christmas. According to stories in Western culture， he brings gifts down the chimneys of childrens homes on Christmas Eve. He is portrayed in pictures and films as a happy， whitebearded， old man wearing a red coat， white collar and 2）cuffs， red trousers， and black leather boots， oh and a black leather 3）belt too！ This image of Santa Claus gained popularity in the 19th century in Canada and the US due to Clement Clarke Moores poem and 4）caricatures drawn by Thomas Nast.

Now this image can be a little bit 5）twisted depending on the creativity of those who will join the ClauWau 6）celebration in Switzerland. If this is your first time hearing about ClauWau， it is worth noting that this is otherwise known as the World Santa Claus 7）Championships held 8）annually on the 30th of November and the 1st of December in Samnaun， a ski 9）resort in Switzerland. Basically， there are teams 10）composed of four people 11）disguised as Santa Claus. The teams come from different countries across the world. Needless to say， the general theme of their costumes is red and white but they can add a little extra if they want to be more 12）artistic and an attention-getter.

During the competition， the teams 13）fight their way through many tiring activities expected of a real Santa Claus， like beating an 14）obstacle course where every competing team should crawl beneath a giant-sized Santa hat to pick gifts along a 15）terrain filled with pine trees and 16）hay 17）bales， and of course， chimney climbing. The fastest teams to 18）accomplish this will qualify for the final obstacle course relay， and the winners of this final stage will be 19）proclaimed Santa Claus World Champion， bringing home 1，500 Swiss francs as a grand prize.

Truly， no other place has such spectacular sightings of Santa Claus， along with over 20，000 visitors willing to watch their 20）strides.

在世界各地的許多國家，圣誕季通常是一年之中最歡樂的時(shí)節(jié)，瑞士也不例外。就在12月25日降臨之前，你還可以一睹著名人物圣·尼古拉斯的風(fēng)采呢。

圣·尼古拉斯是人們眼中的“圣誕之父”，他更為人所知的另一個(gè)名字就是“圣誕老人”。根據(jù)西方文化的傳說，他會在平安夜沿著各家各戶的煙囪爬下來，給孩子們帶來禮物。圣誕老人在圖畫和電影中的形象通常是一個(gè)笑容可掬的白胡子老頭，穿著有白色領(lǐng)子和袖口的紅色外套、紅色的長褲和黑色的皮靴。哦，還戴著一條黑色的皮帶！19世紀(jì)，克萊門特·克拉克·摩爾的詩歌和托馬斯·納斯特的漫畫使這個(gè)圣誕老人的形象在加拿大和美國流行起來。

現(xiàn)在這個(gè)圣誕老人形象可以有一點(diǎn)顛覆，這就得看看即將參加瑞士的圣誕慶?；顒?dòng)——“克勞瓦”（ClauWau）的人能發(fā)揮出怎樣的創(chuàng)造力了。如果你是第一次聽說“克勞瓦”，那么值得注意的是，這個(gè)活動(dòng)就是每年11月30日到12月1日在瑞士滑雪勝地薩姆瑙恩舉行的“世界圣誕老人錦標(biāo)賽”。參賽隊(duì)伍來自世界各國，由四個(gè)偽裝成圣誕老人的人組成一隊(duì)進(jìn)行比賽。不用說，紅色和白色是他們服裝的主題。不過，如果他們想更具藝術(shù)性或者更吸引眼球的話，也可以額外增加一些修飾。

比賽時(shí)，各隊(duì)要竭盡所能，完成許多人們期待真正的圣誕老人要完成的活動(dòng)，這些活動(dòng)非?？简?yàn)體力，比如在穿越障礙賽道的環(huán)節(jié)，每個(gè)競爭隊(duì)伍都要頂著一頂巨型圣誕帽爬行，并沿著有許多松樹和干草的地帶拾取禮物。除此之外，比賽項(xiàng)目當(dāng)然還有爬煙囪了。最快完成的隊(duì)伍將有資格參加最后的障礙接力賽。最后階段的獲勝者將被宣布成為“世界圣誕老人冠軍”，捧得1500瑞士法郎的大獎(jiǎng)。

確實(shí)，世界上再也沒有其他地方能讓人如此大飽眼福，欣賞圣誕老人的英姿了，而且還有兩萬多名游客和你一起看著他們飛奔呢。

注：圣·尼古拉斯（270—343）是圣誕老人的原型，生前為米拉城（今土耳其境內(nèi)）的主教，他還是一位慈善家，因慷慨而被人們愛戴。圣·尼古拉斯喜歡以匿名的方式贈送給當(dāng)?shù)馗F人各種禮物。去世后，他被當(dāng)?shù)厝俗鸱Q為圣人，其生前事跡被逐漸演繹成今天的圣誕老人傳說。