Walking on air

We tested it and it worked. We had enough gas to have dinner and a shower last night.

Come late September, Dora is up for sale. If you or anyone you know is looking for a reasonably priced motorhome then please check out the following link; https://www.2wanderers.com/dora-for-sale/ or if you have any questions email us at; info@2wanderers.com Thanks

 

You guessed it, another via ferrata!

So we get ready to go to Interlaken. We fill in Dora’s gas bottle and buy a Swiss data card, which has been quite painful. We found a reasonably priced pre-paid internet card online by Lycramobile operator, a subsidiary of the giant Swisscom. Vouchers to top up credit are sold everywhere including kiosks and petrol stations but data cards only in a few places, such as post offices. The one at Interlaken happens to close at 12.00 and not re-open until 15.00. Nice life. So we eventually find a kiosk which sells a card but it doesn’t sell vouchers   We cannot hang around this town until 15.00, we have a Via Ferrata to do. Internet access will have to wait until tomorrow.

We don’t have any Via Ferrata books for Switzerland, we didn’t realise we were going to like the sport so much. So, the ones we are planning to do we’ve found online. I am most interested in finding out what the Via Ferratas are like in this country. For a  start, they use a different grading system and we’ve not been able to find the equivalent to the Italian grades we know. The route we have chosen for this afternoon has been graded as K3, Moderately difficult. What that means in Swiss terms we will find out on route.

The route starts at Murren a town within the Valais area.

Interestingly, Murren can only be reached by funicular or by train from Lauterbrunnen. There are no roads to drive your car. However, it is a very visited town, as it is the base of many trekking routes, paragliding, base jumping, as well as being a ski resort. The fact that it cannot be reached by private vehicle doesn’t stop people from going up there, no matter how much it costs to use the Swiss transportation.

The scenery is nonetheless beautiful. Those clouds of our first day in this country have now disappeared. The weather will be nice and clear for at least the next four days. This is very handy, as we have planned so much to do outdoors.

It is now 14.30, the Via Ferrata will take three hours to complete. The train takes too long, the funicular is the best way to get to Murren from here. However, we might again be in a situation where we’ve left it too late. If the funicular closes at 17.00, like most Italian funiculars, we won’t be able to complete the route on time to catch the last one. We will never learn!

So we park Dora near the funicular and run to find out about timetables.

There is already a large queue at the ticket office. Not surprising, there is no other means of getting information here; the displayed boards are useless, they lack timetable information, and there is not automatic ticket machine that could prevent long queues. So I wait patiently for my turn and ask Gary to go back to Dora and prepare all the equipment in case we need to leave immediately.

What do we do for lunch? Gary asks.

Just prepare a sandwich, we will eat it on the way.

15 minutes later, I have the tickets; €11 each and the funicular runs until midnight. Excellent, no problem then, I think we will manage to finish the route by then.

I get back to Dora, Gary has everything ready. Let’s go, the next cable car departs in 5 minutes. Everything has worked out nicely.

The route is just off the sports centre. Only five minutes walk from here the cable section starts. Today’s route does not involve any climbing, it is all downhill, bit of a shame.

The protection feels strong. The ladders are securely screwed onto the rock and cemented over. The Swiss have thought thoroughly about health and safety on their Via Ferratas.

Even though I am gradually getting used to the exposure, I can avoid feeling dizzy when I realise where I am standing.

And the route is getting more and more exposed.

Although the ladders and cables are strong, walking sideways is always tricky.

And you can’t get away with not looking at what’s underneath you to minimise the sense of vertigo. You still have to look down to see where you put your foot next.

These ladders have not been thought for short people. I have to stretch my legs and arms to their limit to be able to reach the stemples.

Every now and then I stop to delight myself with the dramatic landscape. This you won’t see from a car, from a sitting on a cafe or a funicular. It is like you have to undertake extreme activities to get extreme views, almost like a reward for your effort.

This is now when the route is getting stupidly exposed; we have to traverse a 90 degrees vertical rock wall with a 600 metres fall underneath us. No matter how secure the cable and stemples are, there is nothing you can do to stop you sweating. I hope you understand we could only take one photo of this section, the rest of the time was spent on concentration.

Taking photos here is quite difficult. The camera sits in my back pocket, with the wrist strap hanging out. So you have to find good foot placement, and holding on with one hand seek out the camera, get the wrist strap on, turn it on. You can probably work out the concentration, the effort. Funnily enough, when on the really exposed bit I got a bit distracted and hence the lack of photos! GDR

However, we soon realise that there seems to be people nuttier than us.

We suddenly come across an artificially built ledge with three people standing on it, dressed in all in one suits, a ‘onesie’ They are practising base jumping, which simply consists on putting on a wind suit and a paraglider on your back, find a ledge, jump and release your paraglide when getting closer to the ground. This is a very popular sport around here.

Do you mind if we stop and watch you?

Of course not, the guys say.

Next to the ledge, there is a walkie-talkie attached to a metal post. All clear for taking off, all clear for taking off. So there seems to be more ledges like this along the cliff and people use this system to ensure that others don’t jump at the same time.

The two guys who are following us on the Via Ferrata also stop to watch them.

Once the air is clear the first one jumps. jesus christ! I have to grab the nearest tree to stop me going after him. I cannot possibly imagine what these guys might feel when jumping off a cliff from hundred metres height, what that much adrenaline does to their body, what sort of level of satisfaction that gives them. It is such a weird thing to do to yourself. They would probably say they cannot explain and that I just have to try. I guess, there is no much difference from when I get questions from people such as why do you climb mountains? why do you give yourself such a hard time? why do you find it so appealing?

Once the first guy lands, the second one jumps.

How long until you open up your paraglide? I ask to the third guy. He looks less experienced than the others, simply by the way he behaves, he doesn’t stop moving, he seems a bit nervous.

Always the same question, he replies. But I never got an answer. From here, it seems they open it up just a few metres before landing, but it  is probably not the case.

We don’t have any photos of this amazing experience but this fantastic video that Gary has put together. I leave you to enjoy it.

 

 

Bird alert, that might be a peregrine!

Our Via Ferrata seems nothing compared to that extreme experience.

We leave the stemples behind and get on to ladders. These ones are in a bit better conditions than the Italian ones and a bit less exposed.

Well, only just.

Stemples and ladders are the easiest elements of Via Ferrata. There is no technical climbing involved and tend to be fairly secured. As long as you get the hands of clipping and unclipping your lanyard and look where is the next step to place your foot, you will be fine.

 

 

I hate when protection disappears around the corner. I always have the horrible feeling I am going to come across the edge of the cliff.

But of course it is not like that. This is just simply a vertiginous traverse around the corner before we get back to a safe ledge.

It seems like the hardest part of the route is over. The path turns into a normal footpath but still with cabling protection system, which most of the times, it is not needed. I guess it has to be there, as it is a Via Ferrata route.

Although, just when we thought it was all over…

We reach an impressive waterfall,

and to get to the other side, you have to cross a three cable bridge.

Quite long, quite wobbly.

I kindly let Gary go first. Come on darling go first so I can record you.

Shortly after that this Nepalese bridge, longer and really wobbly.

 

15 minutes later, another three cable bridge. It is a much more unstable bridge than the one before, so it is more awkward to handle. Gary finds it easier to lay his arms on the top of the cable, as he is taller than me.

 

 

These two types of bridge are new for us, we didn’t come across them in Italy. They have been a good fun and also nice variety along the route. We are now in a position to judge the seriousness and technical difficulty in the Swiss Via Ferratas. Overall, this route is not technically difficult. Anyone who knows how to use the equipment can do it. You just need to be immune to vertigo. I think we can handle a higher grade.

And we are back to the woody path. Half an hour later, the Via Ferrata is over. We have completed it in 80% of the suggested time.

The two guys who were following us turn up 15 minutes later. One of them, American is an experienced rock climber who occasionally does Via Ferratas. He has enjoyed this one but he agrees with us, it is not technically difficult, only very exposed which in a way, it adds difficulty to the route, specially if you can’t handle it. He recommends us one he has done north of Valais. We must remember look at it online, it must be interesting if he found it it was so.

Via ferrata is all in the mind, you always have plenty of contact with protection, so nothing should go wrong, but with 600m of air below you, it feels very different from that! GDR

We are now at the village below Murren. We have a choice; we can either get the funicular back to Lauterbrunnen or walk, which is only one hour down. We go for the latter, as we feel we have not done enough exercise today.

The walk down is nice, we are glad we returned this way. We have the pleasure of going through Swiss farms with inquisitive goats, which approach us thinking we have some food for them.

and on this route we are able to enjoy more super-tall,

powerful waterfalls.

That is the Nepalese bridge we crossed an hour ago, pretty dizzying.

The ledger from where the base jumping guys must be up there somewhere, it is difficult to tell.

This is a nice little valley indeed, so quintessentially Swiss; dark brown timber huts, colourful flower baskets hanging from the roofs, healthy cows walking and resting on the grass…

Another photo of the last waterfall before we leave the valley.

And back to Dora. Our next destination is Grindelwald, which is not far from here. There is our next Via Ferrata, a K2-K3. It should be easier than todays but it promises to be absolutely stunning, the route is set around the Eiger, a classic, iconic mountain in Switzerland.

Here is the route we took. The Via Ferrata was 1.5km long and the total route 4.1km

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.6 kms

3 hrs

SM