Perilous Adventure


	2006 August - Lucerne – Switzerland


	I had planned 9 mountain visits in Lucerne & Lugano with details obtained from the Internet and on the 2nd day in Lucerne I visited Mt Burgenstock.This gave me an appetite for more on the same day so I proceeded by boat across the lake and after enquiring with my broken german, I arrived at my pre-planned Mt Stanserhorn base station.


	It was 2pm and the attendant informed me that the cable cars stop at 7pm From my notes, the downhill walk from an Intermediate station should take about 2 hrs even at my age, so I said that’s fine. The cable car stopped at this Intermediate station of my request and the attendant asked me to confirm that I wanted to get off here.

I was flabbergasted but acted as if I knew what I was doing!!

This shot was taken after I had walked down that sloping platform you see in the picture






	After 2 to 3 hrs of relatively good mountain paths the track started breaking up. To cut a long story short, the path became blocked and broken though I could see it continued roughly a few metres further down. It seemed insurmountable for a hiker though not for a mountain climber but it would have been easy for a goat! And I was just a foolish aged, tourist, but I kept relatively calm.


		From the start, I didn't meet a single soul during my descent - if one doesn't count the cows but I didn’t give it a second thought. I passed apprehensively near those cows and under a yellow tape across the path which actually keeps them from straying. After relatively good mountain paths and breath-taking views, taking some wonderful pictures on the way, I was thinking that the walk was taking rather longer than anticipated but I still had some energy left so I wasn’t really bothered except that the weather stopped being sunny and I felt a few drops of rain which luckily stopped after a while. (I had absolutely nothing for protection!)

DO OR DIE EFFORT

I became very apprehensive as I couldn't retrace my steps since the cable car would have long stopped by then. The weather also deteriorated. Thoughts flew in my head - shout for 'Help' or better maybe 'Hilfe' - how could I survive a night here - any way to get down? etc etc. Finally I decided to take a calculated risk.

Using my extendable walking stick, I put it firmly 10 inches downward in front, put my right foot sideways near it balancing carefully, then my left one, thus doing a tiny bit of a very narrow, perilous slope where one slip meant serious injury or even death.

After 15mts of this - SUCCESS. Exhausted but calm, my rough path continued for a further hour until I saw a clearing with a single wooden house and two trucks.

It took me another hour to reach this clearing but I was disheartened because on the way down, I saw one truck leaving. Having reached this house, I couldn’t even knock due to a wooden fence around it so I started shouting towards it and walking around.

SAFE AND SOUND

This was when I saw a head peeping from behingd the steering wheel of the other truck and I made a sign for him to stop. Being only a wood-cutter I suppose, he didn’t speak any other language except his own, so my broken German came in good stead.
He kept looking at his watch and listening to me. Finally, he took me down to his hut at the mountain base, then changed his outer clothing and took me in his car to the railway-station

The next day, complaining at the tourist office, I was informed that they don’t recommend Mt Stanserhorn to tourists!

Anyway ENDE GUT ALLES GUT.


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