Sunday, September 19, 2010

Uetliberg

Today, I climbed Uetliberg.

Okay, not all the way. The S10 train goes up to a station near the top, but it's still a decent 15-minute hike up the hill to the hotel at the top.

So, when I was in Zurich last (in February), I had meant to get to Uetliberg, but on my last night, decided I needed to make sure I had presents for my family lined up rather than going up a mountain. So it didn't happen.

This time, I decided that it was my goal for Sunday. What I hadn't realized was how much climbing was involved from the station. The station is at 814m above sea level. The top of the mountain is at 871m. But I got up to the top, and realized that I wasn't done yet - there was an observation tower at the top. 30m more to go.

So I started climbing the tower. There are three intermediate platforms, one on each side, on the way up to the top platform. At the lowest platform, I was suddenly reminded that I'm afraid of heights. So I decided that stopping there was a good idea...and then decided that, okay, I can make it to the second platform.

So I went up to the second platform. I paused, convinced myself to stop here, and convinced myself to continue on. Up to the third platform. Only a few more flights of stairs to the top platform. And so, up.

The top platform is 900m above sea level. And it does, indeed, have an incredible view of not just Zurich, but also all the areas around it.

The way down was almost as white-knuckled as the way up, but I got back down successfully.

On the way back down to the train station, I found the start of a scale model of the solar system - the Sun, Mercury, and Venus. (Earth should have been nearby, but I believe it was in a different direction from where I went.)