Markus and Brian's Excellent European Adventure

Broken and Bleeding

Hello peoples,

Have you ever noticed that when you look up at a building you think to yourself, "That's not that tall" and then when you're at the top looking down that misconception quickly corrects itself? Well, I found out today that the same law applies to 50 foot high waterfalls from which you have to jump. Oh wait, you also have to hit an area of water about two meters in diameter because landing elsewhere may mean certain death, or for some lucky few, just paralysis. Then again, this is what Canyoning is all about.

Basically, Canyoning consists of following a small stream through a crevice going down the side of a mountain. Because of the way the water has worn away at the rock, there's usually 3 ways to get from one ledge to another. Simply jump into a pool on the next ledge, usually found at the base of a waterfall, slide down rock if the rushing water has made something like a natural water-slide, or rappel your way down. I ended up doing all three several times. On most of these occasions I couldn't help but think, "Woah! I'm not jumping down there in these conditions. Only a crazy person would do that! I mean, if I slip or misjudge my jump even slightly in the wrong direction I could break my leg, or split open my head or..." These frequent thought were usually followed by a small click (the sound of me shutting off the rational portion of my mind) and then the sound of rushing air followed by a huge splash. Luckily, I came away from the whole experience with only a few scratches and bruises and I have to say that I loved ever minute of it.

The experience was utterly amazing. The rush can't be described, it has to be experienced personally, but I have to warn anyone that if they ever feel like partaking in this kind of thing, you can't in any way be afraid of heights. There were many times when we walked along the top edges of massive boulders which dropped off at a steep angle for about 100 feet on either side. The reason you might never have heard of this "Canyoning" is that it's not legal in the US (I'm not sure about Canada) because no insurance company with any sound business plan would ever back this kind of activity. Here in Switzerland, they simply make you sign a form saying, "If I die it's my own damn fault." and that's the end of that. I heard of someone that had broken their leg just two days before my go at Canyoning, which made me a little nervous, but after I saw that they had a helmet with the name 007 on it, I couldn't turn back. Now I've been Indiana Jones and James Bond. I'm loving this trip!

Anyways, I got some pictures taken of my jumping and such, but they have not yet been developed. We shall post them when it is next possible, so please try to be patient with us. Otherwise, I'm trying to re-adjust to living conditions outside of Germany and it's a little difficult. I got almost no sleep last night with the amount of noise people made all night and the shower in the morning must have been fed by some of the nearby glaciers, but otherwise everything is great. The view around here is amazing. There's mountains in every direction, the lakes are a deep turquoise and the sunsets are some of the most breathtaking I have ever seen. Interlaken has been a feast for my senses and I find myself devouring it with nothing but utter joy.

Hope everything is going well for all back home,

Markus

P.S. I want to thank Christine, Sepp, Tina, Joseph, Jacob, Sushi, Grossmama, Grosspapa, Tante Lina, Tante Lousie, Romi, Ervin, Ingo and everyone else who made our stay in Germany a fabulous one. Thank you all!

Posted by Markus at June 17, 2003 06:53 PM