People Walk This Bridge Just For the Fun of It

The Triftbrücke, or Trift Bridge, is the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in the Swiss Alps. It is 560 feet (170 meters) long, and is 330 feet (100 meters) above the valley at the midpoint. It was first built in 2004 to allow workers to access a hydroelectric power plant. Beforehand, folks just walked across the Trift Glacier, but it has receded. This scary walking bridge turned out to be popular with hikers, though, and then sightseers, so it was rebuilt in 2009 to be more sturdy. It looks like a rope bridge, but it's made of steel cables with an attached wooden floor. Yes, it still sways in the wind. 

Getting to the Trift Bridge is quite an undertaking. You could walk up the mountain, which takes a couple of hours, or you can take a cable car. From there, it's still a 90 minute hike to the bridge. Once across the bridge, what then? You walk back across the bridge, then 90 minutes back to the cable car. But 20,000 people a year consider it a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Read about this bridge and see plenty of scary pictures at Kuriositas. 

(Image credit: alessandro valerio


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