Now, ladies and gentlemen, honoured readers, it’s time to go to the rocks – high five!
After spending two evenings in the indoor climbing hall, we went to a rock area called the Rivella trail near Lucerne, CH – between Hergiswil and Stansstad just next to the lake. Outdoor climbing is a little different from being indoors. First of all, at indoor climbing, you go the route of your choice and follow these specific grips. On the rock, you choose from many different grips, they are not pre-defined. You need to feel the rock with your hands and feet constantly to see if you can get a good hold there.
In addition, ropes are provided in most halls. Outdoors, you need to bring your own rope and someone with experience will climb up first (Vorstieg) and tie the rope with special sophisticated knots at the summit. During the climb, the volunteering lead climber uses a set of quickdraws (Expressen) to secure himself at numerous bails already hewn into the rock in case he falls before reaching the top. Also, bring a helmet to protect yourself from falling stones.
And then, we mean business. Our lead climber and adviser picks a rather easy route to get the feeling and soon we are all in the wall climbing.
We did a tour called Chli Kante (small edge, number 31) with difficulty of 3b to start with and then the Keep Left trail, a 4c (number 1 in the picture).
The nice thing about Switzerland is, you also have an amazing the view from the top of your climbing trail. If you manage to get a good stand (or maybe you can sit in the gear secured by your partner) and if your hands aren’t shaking to badly (which they most likely will do), you can manage to shoot some pics from up above from. Although they will not reflect the great feeling you have after having managed to climb all the way up and being rewarded with a stunning lake view. I did manage to shoot a pic after a few minutes of getting my breath back – although I made sure to keep both hands on the phone.
The trip was great. Unfortunately, it gets dark to quickly after work – this definitely calls for a repetition on a weekend. Today, at this very moment, it’s raining cats and dogs and you can hear the thunder echoing in the mountains. This means indoor climbing, folks!
Spa and Travel 
