When Ben told me we'd be sledding in Bergun, I pictured the kind of sledding I've experienced before...dragging a saucer up to the top of a hill, turning around and plopping down on the sled, still able to see the bottom of the hill I had just climbed. I'm sure he mentioned how long the sled run was that we would be using. He might have even told me that we'd be taking a chair lift or a train to the top of the mountain that we'd be sledding down, but again, for some reason I just pictured the kind of sledding I knew. Boy was I in for a treat.
The Darlux is a sled run in Bergun. Ben said that on an average day, he remembered going down this run 3 times...that's how long it takes to get up the mountain and down (not to mention how tiring it can be). We did it 6 times on the first day! Our poor knees paid for it the next day but it was so worth it. Here is a panoramic view of the top of the Darlux:
http://www.360cities.net/image/panorama-in-darlux-bergn-switzerland#153.75,12.44,70.0
I have to admit, I was pretty nervous going down the first time. The sleds seem so old and incapable of safely delivering us to the bottom of the mountain. And how many times have I ever taken a chair lift to the top of a sled run? Never. The whole way up Ben was pointing out the run below us. I kept thinking, "gosh, that looks narrow" or "isn't that turn sort of sharp?" But after I got the hang of it, I could not believe that America has not picked up on this kind of sledding (or maybe it does exist, just not where I have been). The Swiss are so serious about sledding, they wear cow bells to let you know they are coming so you can get the heck out of the way. They lean back on their sleds as if they are louge racing. Hilarious. Here are some shots from our day on the Darlux:
Hiking out to the chair lift
The little building in the bottom of the photo is the base of the chair lift
We sled beneath bridges like this (but closer to the ground) a few times on the way down.
Couldn't have asked for better weather!
Still a little apprehensive at this point
Good thing my German tour guide was there
Here he comes!
So fast
One-handed!
Swiss cow
Our faithful steeds
Darlux = SO MUCH FUN. The next day it started to dump snow in Bergun. We still thought we'd try to sled the Preda, the run where you take a train to the top of the mountain and sled down. Unfortunately (or fantastically, depending on how you look at it) there was SO much snow that the Preda turned into more of a hike than a sled run, but it was still beautiful and I could get a good picture of what it was like for them in the past.
Next installment: Latsch aka Heidi's village....literally
No comments:
Post a Comment