What Next??
Now we had a problem. This detour to Switzerland was accidental, so far it has been a happy accident. But it does not erase the fact that we don’t actually have further plans on what we would do tomorrow. We did not even have a hotel reservation for tomorrow. We were lost in this beautiful beautiful country full of places to be and activities to partake.
Then I was reminded of the flocks of the colourful chutes gracing the skies, back when we were strolling around Interlaken by the golden hour. We watched them circle above the peaks before landing on the big open field in the middle of town. So I told Bel maybe we should try out paragliding. Her, being the more seasoned adventurer, naturally said that she has done it before back when she was in Nepal. Knowing that I would enjoy adrenaline high activity, she suggested maybe I should try out skydiving instead. She recalled her own experience of skydiving in New Zealand; how the fantastic ground view was even more groundbreaking from above.
I’ve always wanted to try skydiving. My first taste of free fall was jetty jumping back in my secondary school outdoor camp. We took turns to jump off a jetty 4 metres above sea level. When it was my turn, I remember the growing weight in my ankles as I near the edge. Thanks to youthful bravado and the piercing stares of my classmates, I mustered enough neurons to spring off the jetty. The initial leap was uneventful, but as I began to plunge I felt my heart reverberating in thrill, finishing with the taste of sea in my mouth. I imagine sky diving would be similar, except now it will be jumping off an aircraft onto the ground from multitudes higher. Moreover, the prospect of unblocked aerial view is making my eyes water. And thus it was settled, I was going skydiving.
Since the price point for skydiving was sky high, and that she had done it before, so Bel opted for paragliding instead. We only had 1 working European sim card which was installed on my phone, so I contacted the respective vendors to book our activities for the next day.
The booking for my skydiving went smoothly. However, I faced a problem booking when booking Bel’s paragliding slot. They required an advanced booking fee, but I could not complete the transaction because the payment portal needed a One-Time-Password(OTP) from my Singapore bank. The problem was that my bank only sends it to my Singapore sim card, which does not currently have any operating signal in Switzerland.
Determined to still make paragliding happen for my wife, I commenced negotiation with Marc, the coordinator from AlpinAir. I asked him if we could skip the booking fee, to pay in full when he picks Bel up for the paragliding session in the morning. He was hesitant, which was understandable because for each tandem paragliding guest he takes in he has to take a sizeable risk. He would have to arrange and pay for a lead glider, equipment, and transportation to ferry everything to the jump site. If we were to skip the booking fee and not turn up, he would incur significant losses. In a bid to earn his trust, I shared with him our address, when we are staying until, and even offered to come by in the morning to pay in advance. Thankfully he agreed to just having Bel pay the full amount after the activity and thus we arranged for the pickup time and location.
Ok then we make the payment tomorrow.
Marc, Alpinair 2021
Another Day of Adventure begins
We were elated to wake up to another beautiful blue sunny skies prime for the outdoors, especially with our skyward plans. At about 830, a lady in purple beanie knocked on our door to pick me up for my skydiving session. Bel’s paragliding session is a while later, so while I will be skydiving, Bel will go for her session. Afterwards, we will be hitting the funicular up to Interlaken’s high vantage point, Harder Kulm for some cheese fondue.
On the way, I was asking with the purple beanie lady if this is a good season for skydiving. I thought that the incoming winter would invite poor weather and or inhospitable temperatures, which will be unsuitable for skydiving. However, she says that off season, especially late autumn that it was, is one of the best time to skydive since it’ll be when the auburn hue of autumn mixes with the silvery snow, creating a myriad of colours to feast upon. Moreover, there are less tourist traffic, resulting in minimal waiting time. Just like how there was only 1 other jumper today.
She first dropped us at their HQ, where I was introduced to Lorenzo, my lead jumper. He had a towering stature, but was contrastingly kind and gentle when he was helping me get into my jumpsuit. Once suited up, I kept all my belongings in the HQ locker and headed back out into the van to get to our helicopter site. Then began my first ever skydiving experience…
As our helicopter began ascending, the dashing peaks of Swiss Alps gradually transform majestic slopes crowned with snow; and Interlaken turning into bumps on the expanse.
After a short scenic flight, Lorenzo slid the helicopter door open and instructed me to perch by the helicopter skid. I heeded. But before I could doubt or re-evaluate my predicaments, Lorenzo promptly slid his helmet visor down and pushed us off.
Initially, I was panicking. Firstly, that suspended sensation of not knowing where was the ground to my feet, was absolutely ungrounding to my composure. Secondly, the fall was literally taking my breath away. The barrage of wind on my face as I accelerate ever downwards was making it hard to breathe.
When I regained my breath and poise, I lose them again to the jaw-dropping sight underneath. It was overwhelming to say the least. There was a majestic horizon of Bernese Alps where I was just at Jungfraujoch the previous day. There was the intersection of sapphire blue lakes and emerald valley, Interlaken. Then there was the fact that I was whizzing down at terminal velocity.
Peak Disaster
While I was mid air, a disaster was brewing. It was not just me who dived, Bel was also diving, albeit emotionally. When I got back to my locker, I found several missed calls and messages from both Bel and Marc. Turns out, Marc could not find our accommodation. He tried calling me as I was the only liaison for the booking, but my phone was stowed away in the locker. After waiting for too long, Bel did not want to waste the perfect weather hence stormed off elsewhere.
I felt terrible. Not only my negligence have ruined the day for Bel, I have betrayed Marc’s trust, and probably messed up his business for the day. It must be a sucky feeling to be looking forward to an exciting activity just to wait for it to never come. It would also be traumatising to trust a stranger, just to be let down. I wanted to save the day.
It was a chaotic moment for me. I was all the way at the skydiving HQ. I did not know where Bel was. I did not know if Marc would still be open to rearrange the slot. But well, I could only try if I wanted to save the day. So I called Bel, apologised, and offered to rearrange the paragliding slot. Initially she was still upset, not wanting to spend any more of the day waiting. Thankfully she at least agreed to meet me first to make the best of the rest of the day. Next, I called Marc, apologised, and asked if I could get Bel to join the next slot. He was already forming up the upcoming group of paragliders, which was scheduled to go at 11:00, he cannot afford to do any personal pick up.
It was already about 10:20. Fortunately, upon hearing my predicament, purple-beanie lady offered to drive me back to my accommodation. Also very fortunately, I had the car keys on hand so I was able to grab the car to get Bel from where she said she was.
Now it was about 10:45. The location where Bel roughly was led me to drive into a park, which was a no-vehicle zone. I did not see Bel anywhere around, so I had to reverse to a nearby carpark and bolt back into the park to look for her. Luckily it did not take long until I see a figure further in the park, which must have be her. I ran towards the figure, upon visual confirmation, picked up my speed and landed onto her in a hug. She was still mildly displeased, but upon hearing my reparation plan was willing to give it another shot.
By then it was 11:00, when Marc rang me again. I told him I was on the way, which kindly requested that I arrive within 5 minutes because he was preparing to leave. Without further ado, I said ok and plotted the route to the pickup on my car’s GPS; which said it will take us 15 minutes to get there! I rallied all the focus I could, to watch for every opportunity I could to cut the route to squeeze every minute I can save, to get Bel to her pick-up point in time.
It was 11:08 then. By whatever providence that day, we managed to catch Marc’s paragliding van in the nick of time. I greeted Marc, thanked him for his trust and patience, and he gladly welcomed Bel into the van to join the next paragliding group. The next minute the van was gone.
Felt like I skydived thrice today.
It was a great relief and satisfaction that the day went well 🙂
Check out when we finally hunt for our cheese fondue!
Dashing Heights 