The Pleasure of Meetups

On Friday I organised a Via Ferrata at the Via Ferrata du Moléson and it went well. I met new people including people that were not part of the group. The weather was cool so there was no risk of heat stroke or dehydration.

What made this VF so relaxed for me, is that I was behind someone who was afraid, so I continued at a relaxed pace behind. It gave me time to look at the landscape, to take pictures and to speak with someone who was stuck behind us. I wasn’t in a rush, and luckily neither was the person behind.

The thing about VF is that it’s not always easy to converse because it might be hard for people to hear each other. I found a good spot, turned around and looked at the landscape, looked at the details, tried to recognise places. At one point a plane flew by us, and then a glider flew by.

It’s the stop for a snack at the top and the hike down that provided to the value of this event. I spent the climb slightly isolated from the group. I could have stayed close but I observed the safety rule. Stay one or two clips behind the person ahead of you in case they fall. I also followed the rule of waiting patiently where I could, with ease.

Speaking and snacking at the top was good, but so was the hike down. This is a VF where you can take the Funiculaire to Plan Francey and then do the VF, and then take the telecabine back down, and the train back down. This is usually a shame, because by doing that you cut the experience short. The télécabine and Funicaire cut the trip down to just half an hour.

By walking down you get two and a half hours to three hours to chat with various people, to get to know about them, what they do, what they enjoy and more. I think that this added tremendous value to the day. I think that it’s good to be in the moment.

And Finally

From the moment I broke my arm, through the pandemic years to recently I really missed doing group activities, either through Globals or meetup or other sites. One of the things I missed is that I didn’t see anything being organised, in the first place, so I couldn’t join in.

Now that COVID denialism is endemic, people like me have had no choice to just compromise, and do things in groups again. Luckily everything I enjoy doing is outdoors. Part of my reason for wanting to walk down, rather than take the télécabine is that I didn’t want to be enclosed in a small space with others.

I think that walking down was the right choice anyway, because by walking down we had a chance to talk with everyone. Sometimes you do a VF, and if you’re in the wrong place you’re isolated. By throwing in the hike you get to speak to everyone.

Yesterday was a good day, and I’m happy I organised it.