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I am going to be in Switzerland for a school trip this February.

I am hoping to get a few jumps in. I have never been, and was hoping to get some advice, and was hoping to possibly meet up some jumpers there.

Things I have learned: (from searching/asking some jumpers that have been there)

1. Getting to some exit points in the Valley in winter are a little sketchy. Or potentially is.

2. The Valley is accessible by train.

3. I heard that there is space available for packing in the summer (behind a pub?).

4. These cliffs are not to be taken lightly. Good exits and solid tracks are important.

5. The area is to be respected, it is fragile in terms of 'tolerance'.

6. Helicopter 'insurance' is a good idea.

7. I am going to bring some Canadian Whisky for the Farmers.

8. Call Air Glacier.

9. Don't land in the tall grass.



(Questions:)

What about packing in the winter? What do people do? Buy tarps?

I am staying in Zurich for the first few days (read weekend) and then Berne (probably) for the next few.

Are there any locals that would be up going for a beer at any point during that week?

I am occupied for the mon-thursday of that week, but I should have evenings and both weekends free.

We do not have our flights booked yet, so I'm not sure of the exact duration of the trip, but will post when I know.

Please PM me.

I am open to any advice and help.


My experience: 43 slider down jumps. (Started this summer). 600+ Skydives (with ~20 solo tracks this summer).

Thank you.

Andrew

Edited: to change wording and spelling.

-Check out "the list."
-Do many more jumps between now and then.
-Purchase, and practice tracking in a tracking suit. Worth every penny.
-Remember, look DOWN, not where you are tracking.
also
-When you take a 1 second delay from an exit point, you travel 16 feet.
-When you take an "Extra" second after a 9 second delay you will travel
167 feet.
~J
...my 2 sense.

Not a little sketchy, but very I would say. Clampons come in handy.


Horner Pub. Ask around in town.


Yes, so please don't litter and don't jump the Waterfall.


Not an issue in February


Packing on tarps behind the pub is possible, but cold. People often pack inside the accomodation area of the pub.


That will mean lots of travel.


Possibly. Horner is the best place to meet other jumpers.


I recommend you to stay at the Horner in the weekend. This way you get more out of your time there. Remember that it will be dark at around 4-5pm in the winter. For train times to and from the valley check here http://www.sbb.ch/en. To reach the valley you travel to the train station of Lauterbrunnen.

Some more advice:

Take warm and water-resisting clothes, hiking boots, clampons, gloves etc.!

If I think of anything more I'll post it. This should do it for now.

Be Safe.

J.

Jurgen Ornburger, February, 2002
Impact (Hiking)
Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland
Jurgen is a German BASE jumper who slipped on the ice while approaching the launch point on Moussy.
He fell over the edge with a packed BASE rig in a stash bag on his back.

Good to know, I remember hearing about this, didn't remember where it was though.

Some crampons might be in order.

You are pretty good instructed.
But I would say helicopter insurance is not only a good idea, it should be a must. It costs around 25 USD. A helicopter rescue costs between 4’000 and 10’000 USD. If you have the insurance you won’t have to pay a penny. And we see a lot of helicopter rescues in LB.
Regarding the tracks: It is not only a good track that is important; it has to be a good subterminal track which is a lot harder. On most of the jumps you should be tracking min. 2 seconds after your exit because impact is at 6 to 7 seconds if you don’t track.
LB is dangerous because if you don’t track very well, you will have a delay of only 6 seconds. The danger on this is that you will be close to the wall and the chances for off headings with or without line twists are high on slider up jumps with these delays. And chances to get killed or seriously injured if you have a 180 with line twists are very high.
So learn how to do subterminal tracks on a high antenna first if possible.

You won’t have to worry to land in the high grass, in February it will be covered by snow. But this makes it a little bit harder to judge the height because your reference is not as good as when there is no snow.

It is a very good idea with the Canadian whiskey for the farmers. If you come in February then I can show you maybe a crane to jump in Zurich and then it would also be a good idea to bring some whiskey to the locals (me for example…).
In the Horner Pub in LB is a box where you can donate some money for the farmers. The owner of the pups distributes the money end of the year to the owners of the landing fields. It is always a good idea to put in some money in this box.

On a side note, it is called Berne, not Burn…

 


Are there locals at this bar frequently, even in the winter?

I heard that it may be possible to just show up and meet up with other jumpers. I would prefer to have something set up ahead of time, but if I don't for whatever reason, is this a possibility?

I am sure my mentor would be pleased to hear that.


This seems like a no-brainer.


This is my main concern with going. We have a wall close to us here that is about 8-10 seconds as well. I believe that it is a little more forgiving. I was hoping to get off it this summer, but it didn't work out and is now closed for the season.

Unfortunately we don't really have antennas around here that are that high. Well there is one that's 800' but the bust factor is very high(got burned a while back). But I may have to make a trip somewhere to get this (I agree, much needed) practice in.



I may have to take you up on that. If I am not able to get the sub-terminal tracking practice in (which in all likelyhold I will not be able to). I may consider just doing some slider down stuff while I am there. (Stuff I know, well, stuff I know better than slider up)

I have heard that there are a couple dams around too. Could you PM the locations to me?



Will do.


I was just changing that when you posted your reply. Thanks

There are many dams, but even if you'd knew the locations I would be surprised if you'd even find half of 'em. Some are very remote and virtually unreachable in February (due to the snow).

One thing is for sure:
If you go there you better go with somebody who knows them (like MikkiZH, who WILL bring you there for plenty of whisky ), who owns a car (prefferably a 4x4 with chains in the back, like MikkiZH ) and enough time on his hands (like MikkiZH ) cause they are all far from both Zurich and Bern.

J.

Hey Michi, that is not exactly true. I'll post the real deal about this in a seperate thread to make this clear to ALL jumpers for once and for all, ok?

Air Glaciers recently explained to me what we can expect for this fee.

J.

You are right, I have just receifed an sms today of a friend who pulled
low and had to get rescued out of the trees. He got a big bill from Air Glacier and I will try to find out what this is about it.
So I am very interested to know how the deal is with Air Glacier.

Not the best place to do your first slider-up jumps. Lots of slider down experience will not help as much as you may think; some exits need good sub-terminal tracking skills and, if you've never done any terminal jumps before, don't expect to track anywhere near as efficiently as you do on a skydive.

I agree, and that is why I have been tentative, and that is part of the reason that I am asking for advice. I obviously have some soul searching to do and some decisions to make (like what level of risk do I want to take).

Thanks for your input. There will always be a next year, right?

It also may be that I am over thinking this, and that these jumps would be not ideal, but completely reasonable for my confidence level and experience.

 

I heard/read somewhere that you should bring some liqiour from your home country.

As I am from Canada...

By the way, there are some fine Canadian Whiskeys as well.

Since I was from the U.S., I brought a bottle of Jack and left it with a thank you note on the step of one of the farmer's barns. I was kind of hoping that Jack might be a rare commodity there, but with airplanes, ships, trade agreements and what-not, everything seems to be everywhere.

The farmer was very accomodating and as long as we landed in the correct fields, he seemed to happy let us use his land.

It's not about what you bring or how much, but that you bring something. And even that is not mandatory.

It's a gesture towards their good will. That way we keep a good relationship with the farmers as a community which can only be beneficial for the future. And to bring something specifically from where you live (does not always need to be booze, but they do seem to like it ) makes the gesture more special.

Same for the donation box (located in the Horner Bar, on the wall on your left when you go for a piss... can't miss it!). There is no set standard for how much you should put in there. The money that we put in there is simply a gesture of appreciation or donation towards the farmers willingness to let us land in their fields and thus it's up to your own judgement how much you want to put in there.

Remember that NOT to land in the fields with the high-grass is of even an greater importance and the money is just additional!

J.

Thanks to all that responded to my Qs - Jack it is since I only live about 45mins from the only place in the world where it is distilled.

 
I will be in Zurich from Sunday February 18th to Wednesday February 21st.

Also in Bern Thursday Feb 22nd to Sunday Feb 25th.

Any locals up for going for a Beer any of those times?

Also I am thinking about heading out to LB for that last weekend (24-25). Would it be worth it just to go and watch? Is anyone planning on being there that weekend?

I don't think I'll be doing my first slider up jumps in LB, as I am likely going to Norway in July.

Let me know, PM, or on here.

Thanks

Andrew

I'll be in the valley that weekend and will probably be able to show you around, pretty sure there will be other jumpers there too, the horner's deffo the place to hook up.

http://www.hornerpub.ch

PM if you want more info

PS: these are the mutts nuts
http://www.salewa.com/equipment_crampons.php?chid=293&m=4&lang=uk&sid=ca4eae235d05a9b1c25cd5cd0bb12fcb&prid=52&ac=det

Christal sports (Intersport) in Lauterbrunnen has (or had) them in stock.

Watch out for Sven, he'll have you in a fetish party before you can say "what's a gimp mask?"

hey how is the weather there in the first part of may?

about the same as late april .

Sometimes blue, sometimes raining, sometimes windy and sometimes not

would late may be better ?

Depends what you like.

Who are you?

A group from Czech will be here too