12, Feb, 2017
Woah woah woah. So this weekend I went to Interlaken (first weekend trip!). This is a lake town in Switzerland nestled in mountains. Walking around you’ll find little canals to walk over, the occasional smell of cow poo as the empty cattle trucks drive by (the sacrifice for amazing cheese), and a 360 degree view. You’ll also see huge colorful parachutes floating from one peak in the ridge down to the center of town. These are paragliders, and for a gross price of 170 Swiss francs (160 for me because I shamelessly asked for a student discount) you can be one too! Upon our 10am arrival, my friend and I saw these guys floating around, looked up what they were doing up there, courtesy of McDonalds’ wifi, and very very quickly decided yes to that activity. We picked to go as sunset, but to kill time for the full day we had before we sought out a cave walking opportunity. The St. Beatus caves we wanted to see happened closed for construction when we go there, but the view was free and open. Check out what we got to see:
And then we scurried over to run off a mountain:
By the end of the day we reunited with a group of 8 other girls we were crashing in an apartment with. Had some wine and some laughs, and went out to socialize. Exhausted, my paragliding partner and I headed home early, knowing half the group of girls had stayed home we still awake at the apartment. This is where we learned the impracticality of very old locks. The group that was still out and about had the key, and upon our arrival we discovered that this type of door requires the key to open the door, regardless if you are inside or outside (major fire hazard!!). We ended up getting locked out of the apartment for 2 hours at midnight, falling asleep with our heads on the door and a few sleep deprivation tears dribbling down my face.
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But all was well!
Today I snowboarded the Swiss Alps. We spent most our day at the Jungfrau ski region in the Klein Scheidegg, one of the middle mountains within the range by Interlaken. To be honest, I don’t even know where we were half of the time or how to label the areas we rode (the mountains aren’t as divided as ski resorts back home like Mt. Hood and Bachelor). In the company of 2 other girls from my program, we started off the day by sliding down the beginner route as a warm up. With a waxy board and sharp edges, I cut my way through the already well-skied snow and, as compact as it was, it still felt like butter. Floating down the mountain and taking guesses as to where to go, we made our way down the mountain face on a winding blue. After 15 minutes and no ski lifts in sight we kept pushing on our warmup run, a little bored but mesmerized by the views. Ready to change it up, we scooted off trail seeking powder (okay, more accurately we flew through a side gate to reach the thigh high fluff, where I found myself dipping the nose of my board down a little too far and double cartwheeling into a backflip, landing with my face to the sky, snow-angeling in a powder cloud). We made it through that little mess and continued downhill, starting to get a little skeptical about our choice of warm-up route. Once cars and the beginning of a town were introduced to the scene, and we found ourselves at a snow-less road (oops), I unclipped and asked a restaurant owner where to go. We were still en route to more mountain fun! After a total 30-45 minute adventure, we made it to Grund train station next to Grindelwald and found a ride back up to the peak. Our mode of transportation was this mini ski-train that belonged under a Christmas tree, much cuter than a ski lift! That’s the longest, most scenic run I’ve ever taken in my life, and that was just number 1 for the day. From that point on we took an approach of picking out lifts and riding our way to them, taking whatever routes came our way while making sure not to slide down to the villages so we could maximize our time up top on the real hills. I took my time today, playing easy, even breaking for a solo hotdog-and-beer at one point. Slow and steady, it was a pressure-free day spent soaking in the company of 2 new humans, my music, and these other-worldly snowy surroundings.
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By the end of the weekend, I messed up my bus schedule for the last leg of my 4 hour journey home to St-George. My host mom saved the day and picked me up from the train 15 minutes away. So motherly and kind, she made me tea and set out a 10:30pm spread so I could shower and eat and crash early.
Weekend trip 1 has come and gone, and now I’m left with some sore hip flexors and some tips and tricks for next time.
This is the mountain, and Interlaken too:
Bridge Over Distance 
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