Glacier 3000!

We said to ourselves this morning, "Selves, if you're going to see something in Switzerland, it might as well be mountains!" Agreeing with our own sage advice, we hopped on the train to Les Diablerets, a small resort 60km southeast of Lausanne that sits at the base of a 10,525-foot glacier! Thanking our lucky stars that we purchased our demi tariffe cards yesterday (which entitle us to 1/2 price or discount fares on all trains, buses, and boats for one year!), we started our journey -- Lausanne, Aigle, Les Diablerets -- which involved a fun tram trip out of Aigle that was very picturesque!

Unfortunately, when we arrived in Les Diablerets (named after a folklore tale involving devils playing games in the glacier peaks), we realized we had missed the bus that we needed to take us to the infamous Glacier 3000! But, as you can see, we passed the time waiting for the next one in sunny Swiss fashion:


Suitably full of cheese and beer, we felt ready for the 3000 experience! Here are the details, as per the brochure: "Within just 15 minutes, the panoramic cable car takes you from Col du Pillon up to the eternal snow at 3,000 metres above sea level. A spectacular view onto the most beautiful alpine peaks (Eigen, Monch, Jungfrau, Matterhorn) can be enjoyed from the restaurant, Botta, designed by the famous Swiss architect Mario Botta." OooOOoooh, right? Obviously, nothing was going to put us off the journey -- not the fact that the 100km/hr (plus!) winds had closed that portion of the ski hill and the cable cars were at their absolute limit for safety and stability (the ticket woman told us, very seriously, not to be afraid), not the 55 CHF per person price, not the fact that we were in city clothes on the glacier... Up we went! It was a pretty scary trip -- all that swinging in the air from a great height made the glass of wine at the top even more necessary than previously expected! Also, there was a bit of a tense moment when the restaurant was closed/evacuated: with only a few patrons inside, the sun starting to set, and the wind picking up, the powers-that-be had decided to close Glacier 3000 and we got the last car down with all the restaurant staff! The 3000 provided thrills and chills, as promised!!!


We made it down in one piece, but we vow to return: there is an amazing toboggan run -- there are 540-degree turns! 1,000m of track! 3 jumps! 2 bridges! -- that was closed today... but Les Diablerets hasn't got us beat! And it's only a couple hours away...

We decided to take a new route home: bus to Gstaad and then train from there -- 1st class train tickets at half price=bargain. It's too bad you can't see the beautiful scenery (light was low and the train pretty shaky, but around here you can't help but catch a lovely mountain scene in a photo, even in such conditions.

Conclusion: Switzerland is more fun with Ian.

Laura "la Diablerette"