Lots of activities claim to be the most exciting or to provide the biggest adrenaline rush. And many locations say they are the most spectacular or stunning. While both of these accolades are highly subjective, we think you’ll find it hard to beat our suggestion of skydiving in Interlaken as it combines both. So is this video the ultimate thrill in the most beautiful destination?
Is Skydiving the Ultimate Thrill?
Many types of extreme sport take years to master. You cannot heliski in the Alaskan backcountry, or ride the Red Bull Rampage trails without being an accomplished skier or mountain biker.
But some of the most thrilling activities take no training at all. Bungee jumping, white water rafting and tandem skydiving can be done by most people with nothing more than a bit of courage.
I have tried all of three of these, plus other activities that require no specialist training, ranging from canyoning to coasteering and paintball to paragliding. All are fun, all are thrilling and I’d recommend you try each and every one of them.
But of these activities skydiving sits above the rest as the ultimate thrill. It is more prolonged than a bungee jump. It is faster than paragliding. And it feels far more dangerous than rafting, canyoning or coasteering – although statistically you are less likely to get injured.
So for me tandem skydiving is the ultimate thrill, because it is available to anyone and there is no buzz like it. And how can you make a skydive even more exciting? Do it from a helicopter, surrounded by mountains!
Is Interlaken/Jungfrau the Most Beautiful Destination
Beauty is a subjective beast. For some people it is spectacular cityscapes, for others it is wonderful wilderness, breathtaking beaches, lovely lakes or magnificent mountains. Beauty is certainly in the eye of the beholder, but some places are universally loved.
One such destination is Interlaken and the Jungfrau mountains in Switzerland. The clean cosmopolitan city is located between two alluring lakes, on the edge of amazing mountains. It is a wild Alpine region, home to the Eiger Mountain, skiing holidays in Grindelwald, Wengen and Mürren, and both the the highest train station plus the largest glacier in Europe.
People flock to Interlaken and Jungfrau from all over the world for its beauty. Both summer and winter it’s stunning and easily accessed on the Jungfrau Railways. But from the ground you cannot take in all at once. What you really need to do is get into the air.
Ultimate Thrill in the Most Beautiful Destination!
So why not combine the two?
Book a tandem skydive from a helicopter in Interlaken and fly around the Jungfrau peaks. Depending on the package you can fly past the infamous north face of the Eiger and get close to the 23km Aletsch Glacier. The cheapest, and most popular, option provides stunning panoramic views of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau mountains with the alluring Thun and Brienz lakes below.
The Lauterbrunnen jump takes you closest to mountains, cliffs and waterfalls during both the helicopter flight and the skydive for the ultimate thrill in possibly the most beautiful destination on the planet. But any option with Skydive Interlaken will showcase more mountains and rugged wilderness than you can point a selfie stick at, plus of course the skydive itself.
Before jumping the helicopter hovers at around 4,000 metres. The door is opened and you and your instructor shuffle to the edge to take a final look around – something you don’t get to do when skydiving from a plane. Then you jump, freefalling for an exhilarating 45 seconds as the mountains rush past and the shimmering lakes get closer.
The chute deploys at around 1,500 metres leaving you with a few minutes of (comparatively) leisurely decent towards a designated landing zone. The post skydive adrenaline rush is incredible and the memories of the views are lifelong. I know because I did it myself a couple of years ago during an Interlaken snowboarding holiday.
So, is this video the ultimate thrill in the most beautiful destination? Let us know your opinion in the comments below. And head to Skydive Interlaken if you want to try it for yourself: www.skydiveinterlaken.ch
