All the kids are off at various events today, and I have a free hour, so I want to try to share some more fun day trips we can do from Heidelberg as well as the many differences between my home country and adopted one (many of which have jumped out at our visitor these past few days), and the like here on the blog (I will still write a summary of DLP for the Disney enthusiasts, but that will wait a bit--the non Disney lovers out there are probably more than sick of it).
So today, I will talk about one of our favourite almost local places to visit: Kletterwald Climbing Park on the outskirts of Speyer. Kletterwald translates to "Climbing Forest" and it is basically a series of high ropes courses up in the trees. Such courses are actually quite common and popular here in Germany and easy to find almost anywhere (at least here in the South where we have plenty of forest land). Kletterwald was the first one we visited, and is our favourite. They have added to and expanded it and it keeps getting better and better. We try to go once a season, and at 22 Euro a person, generally only go the one time--it can be a pricey few hours, but so worthwhile.
One thing that jumps out to us Americans is the lack of liability forms to sign. When the kids were younger, I did sign one for them, but now that they are as tall as I am (okay, taller), it is never mentioned. This does not mean safety is not paramount. All climbers, no matter how often you have been before, must be instructed on the ground level set up and show that they understood and are capable before being allowed to head up,
and your first course must be one of the easier and somewhat lower courses (though you can still choose to be a good 3 to 5 meters high--the lowest courses are almost like playground equipment and really just for young kids). There are also many workers stationed on the ground, keeping an eye out on all the platforms to be sure everyone is operating safely.
Once receiving instructions and showing competency, you head up into the trees:
Elements stretch between platforms, where you can rest a moment, or take a photo (keep that camera tied to a belt loop, etc in between times so you do not lose it to the forest!) and which are always limited to no more than three people (and only one at a time can be on an element). Some are not at all physically demanding, just fun, with that thrill of feeling like there is not much between you and the ground:
Since you are safely harnessed in, it ca be fun to let go of the guidelines and try to manage the obstacles entirely balancing on your own. I never make it more than about half way when I try that, but it is still a lot of fun and the extra challenge is enjoyable.
All of the courses have at least a few of the super easy and terrifically fun ziplines to go sailing along. One course is primarily ziplines, with simpler elements to get you up high enough to glide. This is a great one to save for last, when you still want to have fun but are running low on energy.
Many of the challenges, like both elements shown here, rely heavily on using your upper body strength to pull yourself along or remain upright. A trip to Kletterwald is always a workout for the arms!
and some elements are just plain freaky! This series of tubes is about 10 meters up (no joke) and signs say you must go through on your hands and knees. So, there you are, crawling with a view of the ground FAR beneath, easily visible through those open slats, and swaying back and forth, and then you get to the open section where you have to move between tubes. Eek! Technically you are attached, via harness, so a safety line above your back, but it is still horribly freaky (for me anyway) to reach through that foot or so of open space and get my hands on the side and then try to hold my body weight as I hop my legs over.
It is one of those freaky while you are doing it, but also fun and a great feeling of accomplishment once you make it through kind of things.
Kletterwald is certainly one of my favourite local outings--and while not the typical thing tourists think of when visiting Germany, well worth an afternoon of your time, if you are inclined to enjoy this type of thing at all.
--Hadley
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