Les Diablerets | schwingeninswitzerland

French, Germans and Swiss are paragliding enthusiasts. In this adventure vacation paradise, paragliding is huge. Many weekends (in summer and winter) we see paragliders soaring over valleys… from the (relative) safety of a mountain.

When we were skiing in Chamonix, we saw paragliders jump off the mountain! They soared over the valley next to Mont Blanc. We watched them from the cable car all the way down into town. Someone even landed down there wearing skis! It was impressive (sorry I couldn’t get a picture).

Paragliding involves a manual launch, in other words, you run off the mountain! Paragliders have “flown” off almost all the US and Europe’s major peaks. A couple of paragliders have even launched off Mt. Everest!

The paraglider, also known as the pilot, sits in a harness, manipulating the fabric wing made of rip-stop nylon to soar upwards on currents of air. They maneuver Kevlar suspension lines and to control the pressure of the air entering the vents to catch air currents to gain height and change direction. They can stay aloft for hours (the record is 11) and travel long distances (the record is 186.4 miles/300 km).

We saw an introductory, tandem launch. Beginners must learn to launching, turning and landing to fly by themselves. Paragliders risk their lives by running off a precipice. As such, pre-flight is of paramount importance. They research the site, the weather forecast, and carry out pre-flight checks to their gear is in perfect condition and ready to deploy. The maxim “it is better to be on the ground, wishing you were in the air rather than in the air, wishing you were on the ground” reminds paragliders to abort takeoff if their flight is compromised.

Other popular paragliding spots include:

A month ago, Geneva (and Europe) was in the middle of a giant cold snap. Pictures of a frozen car in Versoix, Switzerland made headlines around the world (and was featured on this blog). Waves and spray from Lac Leman (Lake Geneva) covered the lakeside with ice. While it isn’t exactly warm here, it is much warmer. The owner of the storied car made headlines when he finally retrieved it this week.

The front page of the paper 20 Minutes with the headline “The frozen car leaves without coughing.”

He had to wait for the ice to melt because chipping it off damages the paint. We still see little bits of snow here and there, but it is melting fast. Boats are going back into the lake. I even saw a girl sunning herself in a bikini top. She had to have been freezing, but no one was complaining.

The title of 20 Minutes article is “My notoriety is to have poorly parked my car.”

Problems with the weather and natural disasters continue. Sion and Zermatt experienced avalanches. Luckily, no one was injured or killed.

Also from 20 Minutes

Also in the Alps, a helicopter crashed near Les Diablerets. The two people on board survived, but were injured. This is the second crash there in as many months. As much fun as the mountains have been, there are daily reminders of their dangers.

In other news, Micheline Calmy-Rey, the former Swiss President, received a pie in the face after attending the opening of the International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights.. Actually, it was a Black Forest Cake. She is not pressing charges.

Also from the paper 20 Minutes

a photo of the article in 20 Minutes

A 66 year-old Swiss retiree gave birth to twins. She was artificially inseminated at a clinic in the Ukraine.
In Switzerland, just like just about every other country, women make less than men for doing the same work. Today is Equal Pay Day, the day women break even with men… for the work they did last year. The average woman worked all last year through to today to make the average salary that a man made from January 1, 2011 through December 31, 2011.