The village of Unteriburg, close to the rally site of Hoch-Ybrig, in the Swiss canton of Schwyz, welcomed around 270 WIMAs from all over Europe, and from countries much further afield, such as Russia and Japan, with a welcome speech from the mayor.
The programme for rally ‘WIMA ALPINA’ included an opening ceremony with welcome dinner, gymkhana, rally ‘On the way with Heidi’, a mountain pass challenge, campfire, discos, farewell ceremony and dinner, and surprises. Participants were welcomed with gift bags made from maps, containing items to make life in camp easier along with memories of Switzerland.
Ann Weir, from Wales, recalled her soggy arrival at the rally site, and the rest of the week’s activities.
There was a warm welcome with equally warm soup. The Swiss girls literally stripped off my wet gear at the bar of the marquee and plunged me into a borrowed fleece. I was then frog marched to the showers to climb into warmer clothing, after a superbly hot shower of course.
The rally site this year was in a superb location up the mountain cul-de-sac of Hoch-Ybrig, where the huge cable cars run up to dizzier heights using a series of chair lifts.
This year, the rally took on a slightly different format and one with a ‘pass challenge’. You had a day plus to get up and down as many passes as you could in the given time, all for a certificate if you managed 10 or more. They were all marked on a master map so you could pick and mix as much as you dared. As I’m one for any challenge, I went for it and managed 11 in a day and a half – some easy – some white-knuckle rides. I went up so many on the Tuesday, that I felt dizzy when back at the campsite.
As an alternative to the challenge was the ‘Jodlermesse’. Taking the mountain railway up to the mountain top to meet Heidi in traditional dress and be entertained by yodelling while enjoying the panorama.
We had the gymkhana events in the multi-story car park where most of the ‘alternative campers’ camped, due to some terrible weather early in the week. Me? I just went for the small camping field across two stream bridges.
Wednesday was the day of ‘the tour’ with silly things to do at three checkpoints along the approximately 105 km route, where we were treated to yet more spectacular scenery, cool lakes, mist around the mountains; the sun even poked out at the lunchtime stop at a lovely lakeside restaurant. All the challenges were built around the Heidi story with lots of dressing up involved and races against the clock.
Thursday was the day of the bike blessing. A mass ride was planned into Einsiedeln to the famous monastery where the Abbot came to the front of the crowd, said a few prayers in German, then blessed all the bikes. Today turned out hot, so we all dispersed into the many cafés around the square for sustenance. That evening, an impromptu concert had been arranged, and the Swedes gave a hilarious display of ABBA dressed up in anything they could muster.
