Facing Fears in Interlaken

Facing Your Fears at 450 Feet
By Shannon Leigh Antony, Freelance Writer

December 2007

“JUST ENJOY IT!”, he bellowed over the wind, 450 feet above glassy ice water. My gigantic plastic smile and enormous unblinking eyes were frozen fervently as our rickety old cable car dangled dangerously from the center of a clear blue sky. In the depths of Switzerland’s great mountainous Alps and surrounded by 200 glistening peaks of the colossal Simmental Valley, I hadn’t even a sliver of hope for escape.

“JUMP!” This open mouthed lunatic smiling next to me – our activity leader – was Jack Nicholson from The Shining incarnate; I was convinced he had just freshly escaped from a nearby mental ward. Yet I was the one bound like a prisoner, with massive straps of bungee cord around my legs, about to plummet to my death.

“One, two, THREE!”

I didn’t jump. Instead, I looked at the other guy next to me. Sweat gathered in plump little beads on his forehead. His breathing was labored, with a mixture of fear and excitement, and his eyes continued to widen and narrow as if concentrating on a hypnotic laser beam sucking him into the depths of nothingness. I wanted to push him first. But I couldn’t, and with a crazy laugh I realized: We are ALL lunatics. But I knew that if I did jump – if I overcame my own fear and triumphed over this personal challenge, I would walk away a stronger individual. It was the best, most exciting obstacle I had yet to face.

This is the world’s highest bungee jump from a cable car, 450 feet above Stockhorn Lake, just outside the adventure-loving town of Interlaken, Switzerland. And it’s not the only thing attracting fervent thrill-seekers to Interlaken like mad bees to sweet honey. During the summer, Interlaken is swarming with eager thrill-hunters, all out to live life to the fullest, high on death defying-adventure and the clean, pristine air of the mountains. The atmosphere is energized and emotional. And there’s no sense of that sticky, oppressive feeling you get among massive, pushing crowds when touring all the must-see attractions of Europe. Here, open space invites you to explore and roam, waterfalls of brightly colored flowers cascade from the balconies of quaint old-fashioned Swiss houses, and in every instant you are reminded of the grandeur of nature and your own unique, solitary place within it. Even so, at every turn you find yourself bonding breathlessly and excitedly with perfect strangers. The fact that everyone is in Interlaken for the same thrill-seeking reason builds a bonding camaraderie

that unites everyone, no matter who you are. Among a spectacular background of the enormous white-capped peaks of the Swiss Alps, each has a story of passionate adventure to tell. Both the experienced and the virgin extreme-sport enthusiasts alike gather here to challenge themselves… either for the first time, or to continue to push themselves over the edge, always driving themselves a step further. Either way, no one walks away disappointed.

Bungee jumping, a revered adventure sport for all those daring adrenaline junkies out there, is just one of many activities that one can participate in while staying in Interlaken, Switzerland. And you don’t even need to be an adrenaline junkie to love it; just a desire to have fun, challenge your inner-self and grow from the experience will suffice.

The Funny Farm, an adrenaline-seeking backpacker’s haven, is just one of the various places that cater to all the adventure sport enthusiast’s needs. Among the activities offered through the activity center are Bungee Jumping, Canyoning, Canyon Jumping, River Rafting, Ice Climbing / Glacier Trekking, and Tandem Paragliding, Skydiving and Hanggliding. No experience necessary!

No matter who you are, how old you are, where you come from or where you choose to stay, the real pull to awe-inspiring Interlaken is the huge variety of all the different adventure sports meant to shake you from your boots and leave you coming out a hero.

I was still frozen in the cable car, staring into Stockhorn Lake in the depths of the Swiss abyss. Two valiant souls had already plunged forward, and the other 14 people, starting to be less impressed by my daring “I’m brave, I’ll go third” boast, began to scrunch forward, crunching me forward. And I knew it was now or never. I secretly thanked myself for the three tequila shot nerve preparation I partook in earlier.

Again I heard: “One, two, THREEEEE!”

Instantly I remembered my eternal promise to myself: “Live my life without a hint of fear… Jump into fear, jump into Life…” And with that, from the swinging gondola suspended in the middle of the heavens, I dove headfirst… into silence.

I forgot to scream. No fear. No panic. No cries for Mom back home. Just an intense rush of pure adrenaline, and the enthralling feeling of falling… falling into earth, falling into freedom, falling into life.

My fall towards Stockhorn Lake shattered the fear I had traveled there to conquer. As I was lowered upside-down towards the tiny wooden boat resting in the shimmering water beneath me, I realized that I had just survived the world’s highest bungee jump from a cable car. Breathless, thrilled and proud, I happily thanked the Universe for this one experience that would stay with me forever. And I swear to this day that I’d do it every day if I could… if only I could afford that much tequila.

Interlaken Tourism

www.interlaken.ch

Funny Farm Hostel

Mattenhof Resort AG
Hauptstrasse 36
CH-3800 Interlaken
Switzerland

www.funny-farm.ch
email: info@funny-farm.ch