Tag: Alps
Chilling in the Swiss Alps
Amy takes a dip in Arosa, Switzerland’s ice-cold Untersee lake. Courtesy Carmen Prantl of EisbadiArosa.
My mother has offered lots of advice over the years. Some of it I’ve heeded: “Look both ways before you cross the street.” “Always buckle your seatbelt.” Some of it I haven’t: “Don’t talk to strangers.” (As a journalist, that’s part of my job…and generally speaking, the stranger the better).
But one topic evaded her maternal warning system. “Never set foot in a frozen lake in a bikini.” Or rather, “Never set foot in a frozen lake, full stop.”
So if you’re reading this, Mum, look away now. The rest of you can read the full story in Wine Dine + Travel Magazine.
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Carmen Prantl, a volunteer with the EisbadiArosa ice-bathing organization, coaches Amy through her frozen dip in Switzerland’s Untersee lake. Courtesy Tschuggen Hotel Group.
A 007-style Adventure in the Swiss Alps
“Okay, get ready. Run!” Heart pounding, I heed the command, leaning forward as I break into a jog, feeling the hot breath of a stranger on my neck. Seconds later, as my orange-and-white paraglider catches the breeze, I’m like a cartoon character treading thin air.
The rolling foothills of the Alps quickly recede beneath me, and the palm-sweating terror I felt just moments ago is replaced with goggle-eyed awe. As the silent pilot strapped in behind me maneuvers us towards an updraft, following a pair of circling hawks, the only sound I hear is the wind rushing in my ears.
At 7,500 feet above the chilly blue-green waters of Lake Thun, the quaint Alpine chalets below resemble Monopoly houses on a field of velvet, and my feet dangle above–ABOVE!–snowcapped peaks. Glancing down, I feel as if I’m orbiting the earth in a swing.
Just as I’m beginning to feel at home in my airborne perch, strapped atop the lap of a blue-eyed enigma who holds my life in his hands, he motions to the right. There, fifty yards away, another paraglider has swooped alongside–and he is SHOOTING at us. (more…)
Glitzy Gstaad: Swish Swiss ski resort not just for celebrities.
The view atop Gstaad’s Glacier 3000
Gstaad: It’s hard to imagine Satan in bowling shoes. But whoever named the stony pinnacle atop Glacier 3000 the “Quille du Diable” (The Devil’s Tenpin) must have managed it. Maybe he was affected by the thin air here in the Swiss Alps, 3,000 meters high in the sky–or perhaps he had imbibed too much gluhwein.
Quille du Diable
Drinking in the views atop this icy moonscape, I find it puts me more in mind of heaven than hell. Fog fills the valleys below, while snow-capped mountains serrate the blue sky in every direction.
The openness of the landscape—from the glacial expanse where I stand now to the wide vales that stretch out like fingers at its base—set Gstaad and the surrounding Saanenland apart from other popular resorts in the Alps. (more…)