Sledding in the Swiss Alps!

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Sledding in the Alps: Grindelwald Switzerland

So from the beginning of the program, we all had heard about the awesome Swiss Alps trip for February. We had to sign up and decide if we were going to ski, sled, or go hiking in January, so I only had a little bit of time to contemplate whether or not I could brave the Alps on skis, and I decided to go with sledding instead. I’d never been sledding so I thought going in the Alps would definitely be a crazy experience!

We just got beat... by an Alp!!

Lunch on the Alp
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The time flew by before the day for the trip, and at 5 am on Friday morning we boarded the bus to head for the four hour bus ride to Grindelwald, Switzerland. Before all of us fell back asleep on the bus, it was cool to just listen to my iPod and watch the sunrise over the vineyards and other farms surrounding Freiburg. It was the first time I had seen the sunrise in Germany, but it would be the first time of many early early bus rides leaving Freiburg.

A couple hours later we all started to wake up and put on our ski/waterproof gear as the Alps passed us by outside the bus windows. Soon we had to start driving up one, and I won’t lie it was a bit frightening in our double decker Freiburg logoed bus. It was even scarier than driving up to see the Haut Koeninsburg castle because of the snow. Luckily, Europeans know how to maintain their roads when it snows, unlike the South Carolinians, and especially the Washingtonians.

Chris, Sledding Buddies!
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Once we arrived, the ski and snowboard group set off for the lift and we followed one of our leaders (who really didn’t know where she was going) on a thirty minute hike up part of the mountain to find where we could catch the bus for sledding. We ended up having to take two different buses to get to the top of the mountain. The first one wobbled and slipped so it was a hundred times more frightening than going up the bottom of the mountain in our Freiburg bus. The second bus had chains on its tires so handled the steep inclines on one way streets much better, but I still didn’t dare looking over the edge.

flying down the mountain!
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Finally, we reached the “top” of the mountain (really the peak was 400 more meters up, about a 4 hour hike) where we decided to take a lunch break and seize the opportunity to eat “on top of an Alp.” After some nourishment, we rented sleds and went for a practice run. It took us all a while to get the hang of steering with our feet and learning how on earth to stop (usually just digging your heels into the ground as hard as you can, hoping to slow your momentum).

Once we were comfortable enough, we decided to set off on the trail called Speed Run. I guess none of us thought too much about the name until we set off on it. We had broken into groups and I was left with my friends Chris and Matt, and I didn’t want to be the wimpy girl so I went first. Honestly, I thought I was going to fly off the side of the mountain, I was going so fast!! At one point, I realized the only way to stop was to steer into the snow bank on one of the turns. That turned out to be a rather interesting crash.

the snow soaked through our ski clothes
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We finally caught up with the other girls and we wound our way down the rest of the trail, until we hit the street. Then we realized that at that point, we were supposed to sled the rest of the way down on the street. This made things interesting, especially when the bus with the chained tires was making its way up, and the only way you knew it was coming around the next corner was when it honked its horn that played a melody. Then the only option was to dive off our sleds and hide in the trees to avoid getting run over. It was also a little rough going down the street because it hadn’t snowed very much lately, and the roads had turned to slush from the bus going back and forth. Hitting a patch of concrete between snow and ice was also interesting, because it was always a dead stop for the sled but a demonstration of Newton’s Law for the person riding. Fun times. J The slush was also fun/disgusting when we needed to stop, so dug in our heels and got showered with it. I can’t tell you how much I had up my pants legs that soaked all the way through my ski gear. I’ll include a picture that demonstrates the power of Alpine snow while sledding on these streets.

the sledding group
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Once we were half way down, we had the option to take the bus down the rest of the way. We decided since there wasn’t much snow left on the road for the rest of the way down it would be much better to ride the bus down. Soaking wet and cold, we made it to bottom where the town was and walked around and then enjoyed some Swiss Cocoa in a café. Getting back to the bus was another adventure; walking down the mountain we had walked up to reach the bus was a little bit trickier with the ice. Nevertheless, we made it to the bus, changed in to dry clothes, and were so exhausted that we slept the entire ride back, as well. Next time, I’ll be brave enough to try the skiing!