In November, our family met up for a long weekend in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland.
Mom, Joe, Luc, Cassy, Alex, Britton. It was awesome having almost everyone together...we missed Chance!
The town of Lauterbrunnen, in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland, can be summed up in 8 photos (in no particular order):
1. Lauterbrunnen is an awesome valley surrounded by huge walls
2. The Swiss stack their firewood even neater than the Italians
3. Cable cars make for super easy access to the high mountains
4. Magnificent waterfalls are the norm
5. Cowbells (and cows) are everywhere; traditionally, the bigger the bell, the richer the farmer
6. The Swiss invented milk chocolate (side note: you can buy mayo in a tube)
7. BASE jumping access doesn't get much better than this
8. There probably isn't a better afternoon via ferrata than this one:
That's the 8-photo summary.
Let's take another look at that via ferrata.
When I first saw this suspension bridge, I knew I had to cross it. I approached the first time without gear and as soon as I put a foot on the bridge, the other end (200 feet away) swayed like crazy. I backed off and Alex and I returned later in the day with rented gear.
The ferrata also had a "bridge" that consisted of a single wire for our feet.
Many Italian via ferratas are old supply routes for WWI soldiers that have been maintained by the Italian Alpine Club. This ferrata, though, was built purely for tourists. They purposely built a scary-as-hell route with easy lift access that could be done in a couple of hours.
The autumn leaves were spectacular.
The family in front of Staubbach Falls
Joe got his first taste of Switzerland when we crossed this pass just after leaving northern Italy.
Two perspectives of Staubbauch Falls from our apartment
Britton, Alex, Mom, and Cassy take the scenic ride to the summit of Schilthorn
The Eiger (3970 m), Mönch (4107 m), and Jungfrau (4158 m). If I'm still in Europe next summer, I hope to climb an easy route on the Eiger.
The town of Mürren, only accessible by cable car
