The View from the Top

Swiss Cheese, Swiss Army Knives, Swiss Chocolate, and Swiss Watches. When I think of Switzerland these national symbols and many more come to mind. Another thing that comes to mind are the extreme sports that are common to everyday life in Switzerland such as white water rafting, canyoning, and skydiving.

While in the city of Lauterbrunnen (a city located just outside of Interlaken) this past weekend we came with the intentions of eating Swiss chocolate, buying a Swiss army knife and participating in as many extreme sports as possible. Eating Swiss chocolate was accomplished within the first five minutes of stepping off the train, buying a Swiss army knife was a last minute decision, and going white water rafting was completed, but the almost freezing, rainy weather prevented us from going canyoning or skydiving.

On Saturday morning we woke up a little sore from white water rafting the day before, but extremely excited to go canyoning for the day. We had purchased a group package deal that allowed us to do both rafting and canyoning for under two hundred francs, so we showed up to the place and waited anxiously for the van driver to pick us up and transport us to the canyon. However, when the van pulled up and we all began to pile outside we were stopped short in our tracks by the news that we would not be able to go canyoning because of the rising waters and terrible weather. We hung our heads low, but knew that safety was more important than this once in a lifetime opportunity.
After arriving back at the backpacker’s lodge after an unsuccessful morning we looked out our window and spotted a waterfall. Immediately we looked at each other and knew what we could do instead of canyoning. It wouldn’t be as extreme jumping down waterfalls and climbing through the Swiss Alps, but we knew it would be just as beautiful and a nice alternative to climb up behind the waterfall and see Switzerland from a higher altitude. So we laced up our gym shoes, layered ourselves in warm clothes and began our hike to the waterfall. After about a half hour walk we had made it to a tunnel about two hundred feet up that lay directly behind the waterfall.

From our view we were able to see the beautiful Swiss Alps, which are just one of Switzerland’s three main geographical regions. The other two are Jura and Plateau. (http://www.swissworld.org/en/geography/). These Alps are also most of the reason that we were not able to go canyoning. The reason is because the geography of Switzerland means that the climate changes a lot from one region to another and can cause heavy rainfall that leads to rivers flooding and rising waters. Among the Alps, our spot in the opposing side of the Alps gave us a great view of the living areas that lay scattered among the sides and base of the mountains. Switzerland’s topography means that the central plateau is densely populated and that industry, farming, transport and leisure activities must compete for space with residential areas. This was apparent from where we stood because within the small town of Lauterbrunnen we were able to see a number of train tracks, a wide variety of farming and industry, and plenty of space for leisure activities as well as residential living.

From our view from the top it was clear to me why we had chosen Switzerland as our weekend hot spot. We weren’t here because of the touristy aspects that consisted of swiss cheese and white water rafting (although they were a plus) but because of the amazing mountain environment that supports the economy, as well as its people. (http://www.myswissalps.com/switzerland/switzerland-nature.asp?lang=EN) . All in all, even though we weren’t able to go canyoning, hiking up to the waterfall to see the amazing view made me forget that there had been any disappointments earlier that morning.