Today, most of us went canyoning. Basically, one goes down a canyon via several ways, including rappelling, jumping, and sliding down natural water slides and waterfalls. You would never see this in America because not only would there be a million liability suits, but you could never find a canyon good enough to do it. However, in Switzerland, where there are many Alpine valleys due to glacier runoff, there are ample opportunities.
We woke up for an early breakfast and caught the train to the town of Boltigen, located a couple of valleys over. There, we got fitted into wet suits and were sent on our way. However, due to the heavy rain a few days earlier, a lot of gravel had eroded from the nearby mountains and had accumulated in the river. That meant we had to go around some of the jumps, since no one wanted to land on pointy gravel. We spent about an hour and a half in the (cold) water, and everyone managed to have a good time, it seemed. And no injuries!
Tomorrow, most of us will be going mountaineering, while a few of us will hit up the chocolate and cheese tour. After that, we will be hitting the serious hiking. The weather's been beautiful the past few days, and we all hope that it will continue.
P.S. Chaz should be posting an entry about what he did yesterday soon. So hang on for that.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
Monday: Italy
First things first, we're going to backtrack a bit to Saturday night, as I forgot to mention something in yesterday's post. Some time earlier, we (or Mr. White, at least) made contact with an Italian troop that was staying in Kandersteg at the same time as us. And so, one we figured out who they were, we managed to invite them to our campfire. Admittedly, it was rather hard, as none of us spoke Italian and none of them really knew any English. However, we had a few people who knew a little French, and one of their leaders was fluent in the language. So it ended up as Americans talking to Italians in French, in a German-speaking region. And despite the language barrier, we still managed to enjoy ourselves around the fire. Bet you never see that happening at Philmont.
As for today, several of us (including me) took a train trip to the town of Stresa, which was just inside the Italian border. The first thing everyone noticed was the fact that it was all of a sudden much warmer in Italy. In fact, one could even find palm trees, when not a hundred miles ago we woke up to temperatures of about 5° (you should be used to Celsius by now). It was located right on a lake, and off the shore there were three small islands. We ended up spending most of the day touring the islands, one of which was consisted entirely of a palace with some magnificent gardens.
The other group (as far as I was told) spent the day doing several activities, including geocaching, visiting Oeschinensee, and hiking up to one of the nearby huts. Maybe I can round up someone to do a more detailed blog post at some point.
After we got back, there was the International Barbecue. It consisted of grilled hamburgers and bratwurst, and there were several tables setup with specialty foods from all over Europe. There were also several games, lots of interaction, and lots of neckerchief trading. So basically, it was a packed day.
Tomorrow, we'll be heading up to canyoning, which is yet another thing that you would never see in the USA.
As for today, several of us (including me) took a train trip to the town of Stresa, which was just inside the Italian border. The first thing everyone noticed was the fact that it was all of a sudden much warmer in Italy. In fact, one could even find palm trees, when not a hundred miles ago we woke up to temperatures of about 5° (you should be used to Celsius by now). It was located right on a lake, and off the shore there were three small islands. We ended up spending most of the day touring the islands, one of which was consisted entirely of a palace with some magnificent gardens.
The other group (as far as I was told) spent the day doing several activities, including geocaching, visiting Oeschinensee, and hiking up to one of the nearby huts. Maybe I can round up someone to do a more detailed blog post at some point.
After we got back, there was the International Barbecue. It consisted of grilled hamburgers and bratwurst, and there were several tables setup with specialty foods from all over Europe. There were also several games, lots of interaction, and lots of neckerchief trading. So basically, it was a packed day.
Tomorrow, we'll be heading up to canyoning, which is yet another thing that you would never see in the USA.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
A Note About Pictures
Due to various and numerous issues, we may not be able to post pictures for a while, if not until we get back to the United States. Sorry for the inconvenience, but we'll try to get something up at some point.
Sunday: Thun, Sun
Today, we were supposed to be rafting and tubing, but due to the high water from all the recent rain, it got cancelled. So instead, most of us took the train to the city of Thun, located on the Aare River and next to the Thunersee (or Lake Thun, I guess).
Part of the reason we decided to go there was because of the international barrel organ festival there, and throughout the city, there were barrel organs playing music everywhere. We heard classical music, and we heard ABBA. In addition, several of us went to the castle at Thun, built around 1200, back before Switzerland was its own country, while a few others went on the giant Ferris Wheel in the middle of town. And while we didn't go tubing or rafting, Jimmy did jump off one of the bridges and managed a quick swim. We ended up spending about four hours there before heading back.
In what was a great relief to everyone, it stopped raining during breakfast, and it stayed nice and sunny all day. Many of us took the time to dry off our stuff, and it quite possibly managed to hit 20 degrees today (that's 68 for you Americans)! The temperature's supposed to be in the high teens or low twenties, with a chance of a little rain each day. But it doesn't seem like it we will have the constant rain that we dealt with yesterday and the day before.
So onto Monday, this time with a hope of sun.
Part of the reason we decided to go there was because of the international barrel organ festival there, and throughout the city, there were barrel organs playing music everywhere. We heard classical music, and we heard ABBA. In addition, several of us went to the castle at Thun, built around 1200, back before Switzerland was its own country, while a few others went on the giant Ferris Wheel in the middle of town. And while we didn't go tubing or rafting, Jimmy did jump off one of the bridges and managed a quick swim. We ended up spending about four hours there before heading back.
In what was a great relief to everyone, it stopped raining during breakfast, and it stayed nice and sunny all day. Many of us took the time to dry off our stuff, and it quite possibly managed to hit 20 degrees today (that's 68 for you Americans)! The temperature's supposed to be in the high teens or low twenties, with a chance of a little rain each day. But it doesn't seem like it we will have the constant rain that we dealt with yesterday and the day before.
So onto Monday, this time with a hope of sun.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Saturday: Crate Stacking
Today, we went crate stacking. The point of crate stacking is to stack as many milk crates as possible. The catch is that you are standing on the tower of crates while you are doing this. To make things even complicated, some of these crates are somewhat cracked, due to the fact that they have been falling from heights of about 20 feet. Really, you need to see it to understand it, which is why you can view photos of it on the sidebar.
We went in two groups -- one in the morning, and one in the afternoon. I went in the morning group, so I have a better idea of what happened then. It was drizzling for basically the entire time we were there, which made conditions somewhat slippery, but other than that, we managed to fare quite well. Mr. Youmans and Chaz managed to stack all 24 crates, a feat that our guide for the activity had only seen once before over the summer. I personally managed 18, which I felt to be quite a feat in itself. After about 10 crates or so, the whole tower starts to wobble, and you really have to keep your balance. The afternoon session also fared well, though no one managed to make it all the way to the top.
Lunch consisted of a ham and cheese sandwich, and then some of the adults who went to the morning crate stacking took a hike up to one of the nearby huts (I'm not even going to try to spell it). Meanwhile, some of us (me included) hung out in the Chalet, where we played a game called Irish Snap that an exchange student from Australia taught us.
As for weather, it rained in the morning and afternoon, but around 5:00 or so, it dried up for the first time. However, the common theme has been the cold. According to the forecast posted by the scout centre, the expected low for last night was 4 degrees (about 39 degrees Farenheit for all you people in the States), and the high today was to reach 12 degrees (54 Farenheit). It's supposed to be a little warmer tomorrow, but it's not going to be much of a relief for those of us going tubing and rafting tomorrow.
We're soaked, but we're still enjoying ourselves.
We went in two groups -- one in the morning, and one in the afternoon. I went in the morning group, so I have a better idea of what happened then. It was drizzling for basically the entire time we were there, which made conditions somewhat slippery, but other than that, we managed to fare quite well. Mr. Youmans and Chaz managed to stack all 24 crates, a feat that our guide for the activity had only seen once before over the summer. I personally managed 18, which I felt to be quite a feat in itself. After about 10 crates or so, the whole tower starts to wobble, and you really have to keep your balance. The afternoon session also fared well, though no one managed to make it all the way to the top.
Lunch consisted of a ham and cheese sandwich, and then some of the adults who went to the morning crate stacking took a hike up to one of the nearby huts (I'm not even going to try to spell it). Meanwhile, some of us (me included) hung out in the Chalet, where we played a game called Irish Snap that an exchange student from Australia taught us.
As for weather, it rained in the morning and afternoon, but around 5:00 or so, it dried up for the first time. However, the common theme has been the cold. According to the forecast posted by the scout centre, the expected low for last night was 4 degrees (about 39 degrees Farenheit for all you people in the States), and the high today was to reach 12 degrees (54 Farenheit). It's supposed to be a little warmer tomorrow, but it's not going to be much of a relief for those of us going tubing and rafting tomorrow.
We're soaked, but we're still enjoying ourselves.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Arrival
We have arrived in Kandersteg! I am reporting from one of the computers the scout centre provides, which has a very different keyboard than I am used to. For example, the 'y' and 'z' keys are switched, and all the symbols are in the wrong place. But enough about computer hardware -- let's talk about the trip.
Everyone arrived soundly at National Airport, but the flight to New York got delayed by 45 minutes. Eventually, we managed to take off, but upon arriving at JFK, we were told that the President was taking off, so all air traffic was frozen until that happened. That meant we were stuck on the tarmac for over an hour, and we ended up pulling into the gate at 9:30.
After running to the other side of the airport, we managed to just make the 10:00 flight to Zurich. But then that flight got delayed for an hour due to missing "paperwork". However, thanks to a very gracious tailwind, we landed on time in Switzerland, despite all the delays. A two-hour train ride later, we had made it to Kandersteg.
Unfortunately, it has been raining all day here. Including the bit where we had to walk the mile from the train station to the scout centre, and when we were setting up tents. Thankfully, the forecast is expected to improve over the next few days, so hopefully we can keep things (relatively) dry.
On to crate stacking!
Everyone arrived soundly at National Airport, but the flight to New York got delayed by 45 minutes. Eventually, we managed to take off, but upon arriving at JFK, we were told that the President was taking off, so all air traffic was frozen until that happened. That meant we were stuck on the tarmac for over an hour, and we ended up pulling into the gate at 9:30.
After running to the other side of the airport, we managed to just make the 10:00 flight to Zurich. But then that flight got delayed for an hour due to missing "paperwork". However, thanks to a very gracious tailwind, we landed on time in Switzerland, despite all the delays. A two-hour train ride later, we had made it to Kandersteg.
Unfortunately, it has been raining all day here. Including the bit where we had to walk the mile from the train station to the scout centre, and when we were setting up tents. Thankfully, the forecast is expected to improve over the next few days, so hopefully we can keep things (relatively) dry.
On to crate stacking!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Where We're Going
Before we leave, I figured that I'd post a couple of maps of where we're going. So without further ado, here's the scout centre in relation to Switzerland:
And here's the huts that we will be staying at during our hikes:
And here's the huts that we will be staying at during our hikes:
Departure Information
Yes folks, it's almost time to leave the USA for two weeks. We will be meeting at National Airport at 3:30 PM for the 6:10 flight to New York City, where we will connect to a 10:00 flight to Zurich. We'll land at 12:40 PM (Swiss time) tomorrow at Zurich, and from there we'll be taking the train to Kandersteg.
So the next time you'll be hearing from us, we'll probably be completely sleep-deprived and jet-lagged, but we'll be in Switzerland, so it's all worth it, right?
So the next time you'll be hearing from us, we'll probably be completely sleep-deprived and jet-lagged, but we'll be in Switzerland, so it's all worth it, right?
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Pictures!!
Hello everyone,
I've now set up a photobucket account for pictures that I'll be updating and uploading while on the trip. If anyone else wishes to share pictures with folks back home, just bring your USB cable and I'll go ahead and upload them onto the account for you.
On the photobucket page, you can look through all of the pictures the old fashioned way, or you can use the nifty slideshow I set up on the top left.
Now onto the link to the page: http://s632.photobucket.com/albums/uu43/Kandersteg2009/
And the link to the slideshow: http://s632.photobucket.com/albums/uu43/Kandersteg2009/?action=view¤t=d0183fff.pbw
--Sam
I've now set up a photobucket account for pictures that I'll be updating and uploading while on the trip. If anyone else wishes to share pictures with folks back home, just bring your USB cable and I'll go ahead and upload them onto the account for you.
On the photobucket page, you can look through all of the pictures the old fashioned way, or you can use the nifty slideshow I set up on the top left.
Now onto the link to the page: http://s632.photobucket.com/albums/uu43/Kandersteg2009/
And the link to the slideshow: http://s632.photobucket.com/albums/uu43/Kandersteg2009/?action=view¤t=d0183fff.pbw
--Sam
Monday, July 13, 2009
Welcome
Hello everyone!
I am Harry, the official blogger for Troop 1018's trip to the Kandersteg International Scout Centre in Switzerland. It's currently four days until we depart, but I figured an introductory post would be useful. As some of you may know, we went there three years ago (Go here for that blog) and had a really awesome time, so we decided to come back! I (and Sam, my co-blogger for things that I do not partake in) will be reporting approximately daily with what our troop will be doing. So check back here to follow us on our journey.
I am Harry, the official blogger for Troop 1018's trip to the Kandersteg International Scout Centre in Switzerland. It's currently four days until we depart, but I figured an introductory post would be useful. As some of you may know, we went there three years ago (Go here for that blog) and had a really awesome time, so we decided to come back! I (and Sam, my co-blogger for things that I do not partake in) will be reporting approximately daily with what our troop will be doing. So check back here to follow us on our journey.
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