Tobboganing Down a Mountain (Switzerland)

A unique, crazy experience… and this time, you might want to keep the kids at home!! Sledding down a mountain in the alps… not the same experience as when you were tobogganing in your neighbourhood’s nearby park when you were young.

Imagine this… as you are flying down a mountain, possibly even with a friend on your sled.  You look to your right, you see the rocky side of the mountain, and to your left a sheer cliff drop with no barriers offering any protection whatsoever.  You’ve gotta pay attention, if you’re sledding in Switzerland !

The sled goes down the hill at a surprisingly fast speed, so be sure to bring wind proof gloves. The sled’s fast speed is due to the fact that the only contact it has with the snow is two metal poles no wider than one to two centimeters in diameter.  So, you, or the person sitting at the back of the sled, uses their heels by putting pressure on the snow to slow and/or steer the sled… to prevent it from flying off the edge.

At one point, we even had to steer ourselves under a bridge. There was a definite scary moment where we risked slamming into the flat facade that was part of the tunnel. Yikes!

If you think this is stuff for kids, you should ask my unfortunate friend who broke his leg that day while sledding. 

One of the best parts of the ride, other than the thrill of the speed and the potential dangers of mis-steering, was seeing chocolate coloured cabins with piping chimneys across the valleys below.  The views definitely help to make the experience.

So check out these links for more information on various sledding runs across Switzerland:

http://www.centralswitzerland.ch/sledding-002-010204-en.htm

http://www.outdoor-interlaken.ch/en/winter/nightsledding/