Canyoning

"A course for everyone! Min age 14" This is what our brochure on canyoning advertised about the Grimsel course we had chosen. You think to yourself, "hey, course for everyone, I can do that." And then they drop you off in the middle of the road on the side of a cliff and tell you to rappel down a seventeen story (160 feet?) drop. "Course for everyone? Yeah, everyone with a death wish," I thought.
I looked at the way down, convincing myself that it wasn't that high, that people do this every day, and that it was totally safe. Most of these proved true (it really WAS that high). The guides were very professional, double checking our harnesses and the ropes, then explaining to us what we were to do. Just put all your weight on the rope and walk down backwards. You can hold on to the rope attached to the harness if you want to. I held on the entire time. Once finally submitting all my weight to the harness, and all my trust to the Outdoor-Interlaken guides, I took a few steps back feeling very comfortable, and posed for a picture. The rappel down went surprisingly smooth and steady. I just kept holding the rope, moving my feet, and repeating the words "okay, okay, okay, okay," like a broken record until I was safely down. There was one point where the incline changed, surprising my feet, and causing me to look down thinking "I must be done!" I wasn't...I was half-way. "Okay, okay, okay, okay." Soon enough, voices cheering me on were audible. I made Roy go before me so I'd have him down there to encourage me. It would have been okay if I'd have gone first, though, as everyone in our group was incredibly encouraging and uplifting for each other the entire time. The entire LSU law group signed up for canyoning, and we were divided into two groups of 12-15 people. Meanwhile, I'm continuing my chant reassuring myself that I was "okay" and soon enough I was met with two feet of the coldest water I had ever felt. I was somewhat still shocked at what I had done, and just happy to be on the ground, that my mind hadn't put together the movements to get myself up, and Roy came to help me up from my supine position in two feet of water. I hugged him and made some comment about how "that better be the worst thing we have to do." And it pretty much was. I guess they just scare you in the beginning to see what they're working with the rest of the trip.
We tracked along the gliding (at a few points rushing) water to our next adventure points in the course. The first was a natural water slide where you slide off of a boulder into a deep pool of churning water. The first immersion into the water (and I guess the ones that followed) was completely shocking, and took your breath away for a second, your body not able to believe the icy coldness it has been plunged into. This is water that not long ago was a glacier resting on the mountain tops of the Alps. It hadn't warmed up that much on its trip down.
The rest of the canyoning voyage brought us through more slides, a few high jumps, and a zip line that you held on to until our guide yelled "LET GO", plunging you into the bottom pool. As nervous as I was about that part, it probably was the most fun. We ended the adventure with a group picture, feeling closer to our friends than we ever were before, bonded by raw emotions and support that came out through the trip. We went to a nearby field and changed, trembling, out of our wetsuits (with our swimsuits underneath) to dry clothes we were wearing on the way up. I don't think my clothes ever stank so much, but at that point, not many people cared. Hot chocolate, beer, and Swiss cheese on bread awaited us at the home base shack upon our return. Everyone devoured the offerings while sitting down to watch a slide show of the pictures taken along the course. I believe this is good marketing, as after seeing your pictures, you're more than willing to pay 38 CHF (Swiss Fancs- about 35 US dollars) for a cd full of the pictures. We all rode home cold, full, and with a boost of self-confidence. It had been a good day...and I probably will never do anything that extreme in my life again.