Karabiner, Kässpätzle and Klamm

For today we signed up for the climbing park. Just because we wanted to try it out. Both of us have been there before, but it was a long time ago.

Petra tells:

We thought we should test our limits. Well, actually it was me who wanted to cross the limits, because from the last time I knew that the limit is not very high.

First there is a diligent introduction by the staff - everyone gets a helmet and a harness with different carabiners, which are explained in detail. Then there are different courses to choose from. Green is easy, then yellow, blue... and black for the professionals.

The courses are beautifully built in the forest, incorporating the trees without harming them. It's a fun outdoor activity.

It only requires physical strength in the more difficult categories, and it's more about balance and skill in the easy sections. And courage! What seems trivial to some requires a lot of courage and overcoming for others. I knew that and I was so sure that I could go very far with my mind and willpower.

I want to approach the whole thing calmly and cautiously, so starting with green - beginner, 2-3 meters high. I'm excited at first, if I'm doing everything right with the carabiners, Mario is behind me and at first I keep asking him if everything is okay, because my life depends on it at a height of 2 meters. Over the course of the 13 stations, I gain confidence, at least when it comes to the carabiners. The height is not a problem on the solid platforms on the tree, it's the terrible wobbling on individual elements. At places where you have to walk and can't hold on, I almost soil myself, even though my brain knows that I'm secured by 2 carabiners and have a good sense of balance. Even though it's a cool and cloudy day today, I'm completely sweaty after the course, but I maybe had a little fun at some moments.

Next: yellow. 3-4 meters high. First, I consider asking Mario to go ahead of me, but then I decide that he should watch my back. I climb up the first chicken ladder to the first platform, and suddenly I freak out completely on the platform. It feels like it's too high for me. The realization that I just started something that won't end until 11 elements later, and I have no chance to escape the danger, and the others behind me want to continue, and I don't have an hour to think about it, and it gets shakier and higher and higher. I get so worked up that I become hysterical, and I want to cry and forget how to breathe. It's completely stupid, because I can't stand hysterical women, but I'm in danger and can only try to explain to Mario that he has to call someone to get me down. A guide is called, and from the moment I know that I'm allowed to climb down with the ladder, I'm back to normal. I used the time to take pictures of Mario.

To end the experience at height on a positive note, we did the green course again, and I think I could achieve more with patience and practice. At least I noticed the second time that it's getting better and I'm producing less fear hormones. Or maybe they're already used up for today.

Mario's perspective:

Great, the introduction is done, I know how to use and prioritize the carabiners: Let's go! There is a list of different courses, black and red are at the top: Black for climbing professionals, requiring extra carabiners and entry only with registration with the guide. Red is one level below, but experience is also required here. Green is the lowest category, yellow is above, then blue, then orange. I mentally cross out the bottom 2 categories, focus on the blue tour, and head towards the entry point...... STOP! Petra shares her thoughts with me and wants to start with green. OK, I think - why not. We're relatively early, there are only a few people in the climbing forest, and I can't really assess the situation yet. How difficult is each course. So we start with green. The entry is relatively easy, the height is not a problem for me - we're about 2-3 meters above the ground - securing with the carabiners is working very well. The difficulty of the course increases from task to task, and I'm not unhappy with the green tour as a warm-up. We balance and tremble across ropes, ladders, and tubes, all of which wobble and tilt a lot. At the end, we go down with a zipline. Back on the ground, I realize that the height doesn't matter to me. The safety measures are perfect and we're not exposed to any risk. Let's go, next category! The hanging ladder up to the first platform. Petra is in front of me. Suddenly, Petra gets so much respect for the height and the distances between the narrow planks attached to wire ropes that she can't do it anymore. Even my reassurance and belief in the perfect safety doesn't help. The guide who was called and I encourage Petra, who can't believe what's going on inside her. Now completely calm, Petra safely descends using a long ladder that was brought in. I briefly consider whether I should stop with Petra here, but when she is down and feeling well, I decide to finish the course. The tasks here get a bit more challenging and I complete all of them without any problems. To finish, there are 2 ziplines in a row here - the first one is really long and I soar from platform to platform. Great feeling. When I arrive at the bottom, I'm happy that Petra has recovered from the experience and wants to repeat the first, the green course. I join Petra on the green tour again, which we conquer very well during the repetition and have a lot of fun. It feels good and for the second time in a climbing park, we did a good job. I notice that a.) we are the only couple without children and b.) we raise the average age.... I smile and I'm proud of us. We chat with the guide who "rescued" Petra, who, by the way, is also a master carpenter and is taking his lunch break. The people there are ALL very nice, friendly, and always helpful.

We spend the afternoon with a walk in Waldkirchen, which is followed by a portion of kässpätzle. After that, we take a short walk to the Saußbachklamm, which Google told us we should visit. And Google was right, because it's really beautiful here. A stream has carved its way through large granite blocks into the valley, it's beautiful in this gorge and our heavy legs, which we got from yesterday, are happy about the easy trail. Thanks to the cloudy weather, there are not many people here. We can imagine that it will be crowded here on a sunny weekend, especially since there is also a restaurant directly in the gorge.

The rest of the day is dedicated to relaxation, reading, research about fear of heights (and how to overcome it, and thoughts about whether it needs to be overcome. When do you really need to walk on a wobbly rope ladder with missing steps at a height of 4 meters?).

We're also excited that our blog has made it into the top ten of the best travel blogs, now we're planning our last day tomorrow and then it's over again.