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Lucernity

Mountain High

By Carl Fisher

September 6^th, 2016

Golden ticket

No there were no great vats of chocolate to be found (at least not here). Rather, my golden ticket got be a round trip ticket frm downtown Lucern to Mount Pilatus and back again on four modes of transport. Boat, railway, gondola, bus. The gondola had the best views, but I think I preferred the boat ride. It was tranquil.

Getting High(er)

When I finally arrived at the mountain base, it was time to hit the rails. By that I mean the world’s steepest cogwheel railway. I had envisaged such a trip with several feet of snow outside, but I didn’t mind being in shorts rather than a snow suit. I’ll just have to come back another time to experience the fluffy stuff.

lost in a fog

I finally made it to the top! And what did I encounter? 10 foot visibility (okay, maybe a bit more than that). I was not impressed. There are few other reasons to go up than to take in the view. I was somewhat comforted by the fact that I was not alone. There was a whole passel of folks who were also trying to deal (and internalize for the most part) with the disappointment. At that point there was no getting your money back so I made the best of it by stumbling along the trails and looking out into the vast whiteness.

impassable

Unfortunately, I could only manage to go so far along the path. Snow eventually blocked the way (along with some cables). You’d think they could get out the shovels and clear it, but I guess they preferred to let nature do the work for them. Warmer temps were bound to come. Unfortunately, I did not have the luxury of grabbing a room at the hotel and waiting for the warmer temps to arrive.

SLackers

I had seen them in parks plenty of times and it didn’t really look that hard. At least when you are a few feet off the ground, making a false step is no biggie. But the slack liners that I encountered at Pilatus were taking it to a much higher level (quite literally). They must have had a great deal of faith in their harnesses and the lines that they had secured. It was certainly a pretty exhilarating place to practice a hobby.

I can see clearly

It would have been a huge disappointment if I had not been able to see the valley down below for at least a few minutes. Well, the clouds did dissipate, but only for about 10 minutes. And it was glorious! I hadn’t squandered my coin after all.