Adelboden, Switzerland 2005 - Travelogue

Thursday, 18th August

Thursday saw another sunny morning and a short walk through Adelboden to the mornings activity which was not for the faint hearted or those with no head for heights! The activity in question was the Adventure Park Rehärti, a high ropes course set across the river gorge above the village. The course consisted of a set of three zip wires (aerial runways), a high rope bridge crossing, and a 21m abseil from the bridge to the gorge below.

It was Martin and Hans, our climbing instructors of the previous evening, that were running this activity as well. This time the group was split into three so that we could rotate around the three activities. After the initial safety instruction and practice using the equipment it was off to the start of the respective activities whilst those with no head for heights relaxed by the river and watched the activities high above them (their excuse was that there had to be someone to take photos!).

The three zip wires, which each traversed the river gorge, started relatively gently before progressing onto the longest span before finally a short steep one back to the ground. There was much screaming from all participants, and not only from the girls! I'm not sure whether this was from pleasure, panic, or just the exhilaration of it all. Altogether we had six rides across the gorge, but some were still wanting more.

The rope bridges started off high in the trees before crossing under the road bridge to the other side. From the bridges you got a different view of the other activities as people abseiled down just beside you, or whizzed past across the gorge on the zip wires. On one section of the bridge the instructor, Martin, even showed how to do it without holding on. None of us dared to try and copy him though!

The abseil from the bridge meant climbing over the parapet onto a small metal platform jutting out over the gorge. Having stepped of this platform literally onto the edge of the bridge you had to carefully lower yourself so that you were hanging in free space beneath the bridge before abseiling to the gorge floor some 21m below.

To finish off the morning one of the leaders (Me!!) decided to have a go at the pendulum jump from the bridge. Whilst I got kitted up on the bridge, all the rest gathered on the gorge floor to watch. I climbed once more onto the small metal platform on the side of the bridge. As I stood waiting to jump I fleetingly thought "Why did I want to do this?" I jumped backwards off the platform and plunged downwards to the gorge below. It was a totally exhilarating experience, but the relief when the rope tightened and I pendulumed beneath the bridge was immense as I managed to find my voice once more. After swinging beneath the bridge for what seemed an age, I was lowered back down to terra firma.

After the activity and exhilaration of the mornings activities, it was back to Adelboden for an afternoons relax in (or by) the pool.

The kitchen staff got the night off tonight as it was Swiss evening with all of the Jeka groups once more. This was an evening of traditional Swiss food and entertainment in the Silleren mountain restaurant, where we had been on the Sunday for the scootering. Because of the narrowness of the alpine roads, all coaches set off in convoy to the cable car station at Bergläger where we boarded the cable cars to the summit. At the summit we were greeted by an alpine horn player dressed in traditional costume.

We were on the top floor of the restaurant with a superb view of the mountain out of the window, where a glorious Swiss-style buffet, all you can eat, was enjoyed by all. Because of the inclement weather the rest of the evenings entertainment was inside rather than outside. This was a pity because the sound of the alpine horn usually echoes around the alpine valleys. The entertainment consisted of traditional Swiss singing and music, including some played on the alpine horn together with an opportunity for all the groups to put on their own performance. Our groups rendition of "Show Me The Way To Adelboden" went down a storm, with everybody joining in the chorus, Tony Christie would have been proud. My (somewhat partisan) view was that it was the best performance of all the groups.

With all the entertainment over it was back onto the cable cars once more. It was now completely dark which made the trip back down more eerie in the silent air.