We went through a program called Bus2Alps which is a Florence based tour guide company for students that goes to about 10 different destinations in Europe. We left by bus at around 11:30 Thursday night and headed to Interlaken, Switzerland. The bus ride sucked but was worth it because we went directly to the hostel when we got there. We got there at about 7:30 am and headed to the Outdoor Interlaken adventure company where we picked our activities. There, they offered skiing, canyon jumping, paragliding, night sledding, and a bunch of other crazy activities. I was able to rent everything I needed to go skiing, including clothes which was very convenient. I also got much nicer skis and boots than I would ever get in the states.
In the office I met sisters from New Jersey who were also going skiing and wanted to get a guide. The three of us split a private guided tour of the mountain since it was so massive and we had no clue how to get there. We met up with our guide and then took a bus and two different trains to get to the top of the alps. Its an hour and fifteen minutes of travel time just to get to the top!
We skied the Jungfrau region of Switzerland, and within that there are many different sections to ski. Our guide was able to take us to 4 of those different mini regions. At the top of the alps there is no way to picture or capture how massive these mountains are.
It was so beautiful and I am so glad that I got the oppurtunity to ski. The girls I was with were right about the same skiing level which was also really lucky. One of the sisters actually ended up falling and getting a concussion which turned into a big fiasco and hospital trip. She ended up being fine and went night sledding the next day.
The trip was also really fun because they cater to college students. Our trip advisors are American college grads who are taking the year off to live abroad and work for these travel companies. They would try out all the different activities with us and then take us to the fun bars at night.
It was shocking how clean Switzerland is, and how impossible it is to understand or even attempt to speak German. I have to say that I have mixed feelings about the Swiss and their attitudes towards Americans. Some were super nice and some were assholes. My ski guide was super nice and taught us that the Swiss speak German in school and in professional settings, but in each region they speak their own dialect of Swiss, and everyone also knows how to speak French and English. I really felt dumb when everyone I meet speaks 5 languages and I keep saying "grazie" instead of "danke" to the Swiss.
We got to meet a bunch of really coll Americans doing the Bus2Alps program from Florence, Rome, and Barcelona. Were definitely going to do another trip through them!
Here is a map of the area I skiied http://www.alpineskimaps.com/swit/jungfrau/mapwin.htm
me, Dawn, and Danielle taking the first train to the top of Jungfrau
Where the Wengen races are held
top of the alps
in the famous tipi lodge at the top of Jungfrau
With our ski guide
At the bar downstairs from our hostel
The town of Interlaken
Gorgeous, Lauren! I am so jealous that you got to ski the Alps! Not that I'm a good skiier at all, but it looks beautiful!
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