White Water Rafting in Interlaken

Yesterday a few of us hopped on a train and went to Interlaken to do some good old white water rafting. We had decided to go since it has been raining a lot for the last few days, so it didn't matter if we got wet. Ed was supposed to come over for a cuppa before we left, but something went wrong and he didn't show up. So Travis, Richard and I headed out to the train station and made our way to Interlaken. When we got off the train Ed got off a few cars down, turns out he had taken a different starting connection, but had ended up on the same train. The rest of the guys had driven, so we had some lunch and waited for the bus to drive us to the rafting base. When we got there the rain was coming down pretty steady, and they told us the river was really high and fast, which is perfect for good rafting. So we split up into two groups. One boat had Ed and I in the front, and Travis, Anthony, Mike (Anthony's brother), and Rob in the back along with an Australian, a New Zealander and our 'driver' Clayton. The other boat had Liisa, George and Richard.

Boat #1

Boat #2

After getting suited up and driven up to the starting spot, they started going through the safety lesson. It seemed that Alpin Raft catered to English speakers and Korean speakers. One boat was all Korean, and the three others were English. We were doing the Lütschine run, which is supposed to be the hardest one there, a level three. Our boat went in last and within a couple minutes before any major rapids, two of the Koreans were in the water. We paddled up to rescue them, but it turned out more like running them over. Eventually they were both back in their boat, a bit shaken, one of them minus a boot, but other than that okay. Then the real rapids started. There was lots of paddling, lots of sudden drops and getting splashed in the face hard with 5 degree water, and lots of frozen fingers. Being in the front was awesome, we didn't get to anticipate anything, and had to keep the rhythm of the boat and listen to Clayton's commands. The rapids lasted quite a while, but we didn't lose anybody and it was so much fun.

Before the Rapids

Halfway down, we had to stop in an eddy and take the boats out, because the next section was protected for the wildlife. While driving by, we could see it was good we didn't go. It was a level five, and looked almost like a waterfall with huge boulders along the way. The next section was supposed to be one huge drop and then easy riding all the way down to the lake. The drop consisted of a giant boulder, which sucked all the water down into a hole. We had to power into it so we wouldn't get stuck in the hole and lose all our speed. Rob decided to get out and meet us at the next available eddy. Ready for anything, we gave it our all. We hit the rock perfectly. We dropped into the hole, and everyone was expecting that to be it, which was enough of a rush. However, because all of the water was sucked down, it made a huge 'jump' coming out of the hole. The raft tipped way up, and then crashed us down and we got the brunt of it on our faces and chests. As quickly as it started, it was over and the river seemed to mellow out, even though it was by no means calm.

Big Dip

Going In

Getting Wet

The rest of the trip we relaxed, tried to hit some good rocks, and chatted. We came out at the bottom into the Brienzersee, right next to where we had been swimming during the Greenfield festival. The water was a lot colder this time though. After a short swim we headed back to the base and stripped down, dried off and had some beer and sandwiches. Then we headed back to the station and made our way back to Baden. All in all, white water rafting is a great experience and comes recommended by me.

Update: According to BBC, the place where we were rafting is flooding like crazy.