More Switzerland

The high cliffs above the valley are some of the favorite base jumping sites in the area. Numerous jumpers came down into the meadow while we were hiking out to the waterfall area. The first couple of guys scared us. They dive off of the cliff and free fall for the first 4-6 seconds. Then when they open their chutes a loud pop occurs. If you are unaware of the jumper and directly below them, the sound is scary.



Here is one of the jumpers collecting his chute for packing. They go up a gondola to the top of the mountain, take a tram to a trailhead, then hike out to the takeoff point. The point where most took off that landed by us jumped from 1700 feet. Further out the ridge there were takeoff points of 1900 and 2000 feet. The guys we talked with said they could hike back into town, catch the tram, and get out to the take off point 4 times in a day. One guy had a flyer suit on and flew around the valley some before landing.


One of the gondolas that take hikers, baasejumpers, crosscountry skiers to the top of the ridge.


Here is an authentic set of Swiss cow bells. They were hanging in a barn that we passed on our walk. The largest bell on the right was about the size of a 2 or 3 gallon bucket. They got progressively smaller as you went form right to left. But even the 10th one in the row was the size of a football helmet.



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