mountains & medicine.: Let's go SLEDGING!

At first, I was a little stumped as to where to go for my birthday, December 23rd. After a few slower-paced days spent exploring Lausanne's museums, I was itching to play outside, but I wasn't exactly sure where. My parent's weren't quite up for skiing, and while Switzerland does have some of the best hiking and bicycling trails you can find, they are definitely better explored during the summer months.

After some thought, I decided to take my parents to my all-time favorite place in Switzerland: Lauterbrunnen Valley. Even though I had explored Lauterbrunnen with Ben and Ashley, just a month or so ago, I just couldn't let my parents visit Switzerland without taking them to one of the most majestic places on earth.

lauterbrunnen valley, snow-covered edition.

After we arrived in Lauterbrunnen Valley and took in the beautiful views, we headed to the tourism information office for a winter activity recommendation. Although I had hoping for a nice hike or snowshoe trail recommendation, I was soon captivated by another idea: sledging.

What is sledging?

Sledging is kind of like sledding for big kids. Each person rents a small wooden sled with runners, called a sledge, and then takes the sledge to the top of a sledging run, which is similar to ski runs except much less steep. Although it sounds a little silly, it's actually a pretty big activity in Switzerland. Nearly all ski shops also rent sledges, and ski maps highlight sledging runs the same way they show easy, intermediate, or difficult ski runs.

from lauterbrunnen, we took an adorable mountain train
to wengen, and then another high-altitude train to
wengenalp, the top of our sledging trail.

welcome to wengen!

such beautiful mountain views!

while waiting for the second train to take us to wengenalp,
we took some photos with our awesome sledging gear!

mommy, me, sledges.

dad, mom, more sledges.

near the top of the run! so excited!

read to start SLEDGING!

daddy and me

definitely one of the best birthdays ever :)

despite never really figuring out how to turn, it was still
so much fun!

dad, taking a rest.

In addition to the pure exhilaration of riding down a mountain on a wooden sledge, I also loved sledging because of the views. The last time I was in the Lauterbrunnen Valley area, Ben, Ashley, and myself explored the valley's right side, hiking along the ridge through Gimmelwald and Murren.

This time, we sledged from Wengenalp, a town high in the mountains on the left side of the valley. In addition to offering a new point of view, Wengenalp was also at much higher altitude and offered positively breathtaking views of the snow-covered mountains and valleys. The adrenaline rush of flying downhill on a sledge was only matched by the scenery: frozen waterfalls and snowcapped peaks.