Recently, my long-time childhood friend sent me a cool Instagram video of an interactive night sledging run. We both could hardly believe that the adventure was only two hours away in Lenzerheide. For two adrenaline junkies like us, that meant: don’t think twice, just go!
Off to the Swiss mountains
That same evening, we secured ourselves the limited and coveted tickets: A sledging ticket for young adults costs CHF 24. If you need a sledge, you can hire one for another CHF 12. At CHF 36, the adventure costs about the same as going to a club or a concert, so we’re curious to see if it can compete with a night out in Zurich.
It was clear to us that we wanted to combine this outing with an overnight stay, as the sledging run is open from 6 pm to 10 pm. My friends are doing their vocational baccalaureate and I’m a student, so we’re traveling more budget-friendly at the moment. Valbella-Lenzerheide Youth Hostel seems to meet our needs: inexpensive, clean and at a central location.
Our travels are not only budget-friendly, but also spontaneous: Only 4 days after booking, the time had come! We set off for the beautiful Swiss mountains. After arriving and a smooth check-in, we had a delicious dinner in the hostel and chatted about our upcoming adventure. We could hardly wait and were excited to see what was in store for us.
Saturday evening in a ski suit
Equipped with a ski suit and helmet, we’re ready for our Saturday evening adventure. From the hostel, it’s 20 minutes by public transport or 5 minutes by car to the Rothorn gondola. Once we reached the top, we were a little surprised to find that the race didn’t start at the very top, but at the bottom part of the sledging run. Perhaps that wasn’t so bad, since it allowed us to test our sledging technique and race strategy a bit first. After all, the loser has to buy the winner a drink and for 3 students, there’s a lot at stake!
Here we go, here we go
Further down, we are greeted by light and music. Here we go:
The Light Ride is no ordinary sledging run. When I saw the video, it reminded me of the video game Mario Kart from the very first second: Up to 4 riders start side by side, all aiming to reach the home stretch first. But it’s not just speed that counts, you have to avoid obstacles and light beams, to collect points by clapping hands and high-fiving and not to lose your bearings in the tunnel. And all this is accompanied by just the right Mario Kart-like 8-bit music. Your time is measured with a transponder and the results are sent directly to your mobile phone by e-mail.
Unfortunately, it turns out I’m not very skilled at Mario Kart. Last to cross the finish line, my friends were already waiting for me at the bar. Nevertheless, we can all highly recommend the Light Ride! Definitely try it out, as it’s a unique experience, a lot of fun and more adventurous than playing Mario Kart at home. The CHF 36 for a really fun girls’ night out, where we could escape the stress of studying, was well invested. And of course I was happy to buy my friends a drink.
Luckily we had booked the youth hostel, after that evening nobody wanted to drive the two hours home. Instead, we were able to have a nice breakfast together the next morning and the outing turned into a mini-vacation, which we all desperately needed.
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