Lucky me, I have two amazing friends in Switzerland who took outstanding care of a poor flatlander like me. They took me up to the Jungfraujoch (aka Top of Europe!!). This magnificent place is a saddle between two of the highest mountains in the Berner Oberland the Jungfrau (Virgin) and the Mönch (Monk). Like everywhere in Switzerland the train gets you there. It goes through the mountain for roughly 50 minutes with two stops where you can look out windows that were placed in the famous Nordwand of the Eiger and on Monk´s southside overlooking pure ice and snow. The train ends in 3500 m (11482 ft) above sea level beneath a scientific lab, a tourist restaurants and observation points. You can actually go out and feel the frosty wind and icy temperatures. ...
You don´t really feel the height until you start walking around too fast and taking steps. It is bizarre, your heart starts beating fast, you are out of breath in no time, your circulation gets a little messed up and you feel a little drunk. So you really have to go very slow and enjoy the scenery. It is amazing. The Aletsch-glacier starts right here, everything is white, white, white.... Impressively there were ski-tours starting where I had trouble to catch my breath while walking. It is pretty dangerous to ski on glaciers because of the crevasses but it looks really fun with all the plain white snow, slow descent and nobody around.
Once back down on at the Kleine Scheidegg (2000 m) I was forced to ski too!! Well, I have to admit it is fun and I grew out of kiddy-hill in no-time. ;-) Since, I have never been on skies like these before it was hard to get used to at first but it was so much fun and I wish I could have gone down with the others instead of sharing the rather flat plateau with kids that where not even half my height and did a better job then I did. Well, easy with these short skies they had. My friends had a blast especially when I fell and couldn´t get up. ....
The Kleine Scheidegg is what I always imagined a ski-place in the alps must look like. Little trainstation, no cars and huge mountains. There were sweet restaurants in old houses with great homemade food (nothing like real swiss cheese in this world) and lots of relaxed fun people skiing up and down the mountain.
Despite all the fun it is visible that there is lots less snow then there is usually. The slopes are prepped every night with huge snow cannons. And being lower then 1500 m there almost no chance anymore for a decent snow cover. Climate change is a serious and visible issue in the alps. A lot jobs depend on the snow in the winter season. The perma-frosted ground in the higher alps is starting to melt, releasing debris and strong thunderstorms cause a lot of wind but mostly water erosion almost every year now.
What is amazing though is that in supermarkets you will find a lot regional food. Switzerland protects its agriculture by restricting imports. The food is very expensive but well worth it. It is of very high quality and supports regional farmers and therefor the countryside as well. Of course it might be easier and cheaper to import and use the positive effects of trade but the loss of diversity, originality, quality and therefor parts of their identity will follow for these people here, so why not spending more on food and saving on cars (e.g.)? Trains really take you everywhere here and swiss-like .... always on time!
THANKS to A&S and good luck on Swiss Jr. !!!
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen