Tree Tent Microadventure Fräkmüntegg – Spend the night in a tent by the tree

At the moment, some projects and travel preparations keep me so busy that I can hardly get away from my desk. So I was all the more looking forward to the planned “microadventure” last Saturday: Sleeping floating in tree tents on the Fräkmüntegg. A really cool idea, I think! And the fact that Mount Pilatus is ideal for a short break was something we already found out last autumn on the ibex safari. Another constant is that the weather luck was once again not on our side. After an unbelievably hot week, gloomy views await us at the Kriens cable car station. Mount Pilatus is cloudy. “I don’t think it’s going to be anything like the great sunset atmosphere,” I say to my friend, dampening my expectations as a precaution.

Seilpark Fränkmüntegg

The Tree Tent experience includes not only an overnight stay in a tree tent, but also exclusive access to the Fränkmüntegg rope park from 5:00 pm. And so, together with all the other adventurous people, we arrive at the meeting point shortly before five o’clock in the evening. After a short instruction on how to sleep in the tree tent and the introduction to the rope park, we can let off steam to our heart’s content – and lo and behold: the sun peeks out from behind the clouds after all.

I’m a big shit when it comes to via ferratas and rope parks. In the Fränkmüntegg rope park, however, I was pleased to see that I was making progress in this regard. There are a total of ten different routes from easy to difficult. The three easiest courses are approved for children from the age of 8 and a height of 120 cm – and are all suitable for Travelita. With pleasure – and even some ambition – I actually survived the three easiest routes without drama and was a birebizeli pride in myself. For all rope park cracks, these three hours of exclusive use are the perfect opportunity to really let off steam.

Like this or like that. After three hours, we are all hungry and looking forward to the fine salad and barbecue buffet. This is also part of the experience package.

Spend the night in the Tree Tent on the Fräkmüntegg

After that, it’s up to you when and how you crawl into your tree tent. Some sit around the fire for a while, others use the time for board games and we go in search of a beautiful sunset spot. But the announced rain front is already on the rise and envelops the sun in a milky veil. Shortly after dark, we take a look at our place for the night for the first time. The tents are surprisingly large and can accommodate up to three people – although the challenge is that not everything rolls into the center of gravity in the middle (maybe this can be compensated with the guying). Depending on the temperature and sleeping bag comfort, it is advisable to take a Mätteli with you. We didn’t have one with us and, despite our warm sleeping bags, we felt how the cold of the ground felt like a kind of “draught”. But I didn’t freeze and it was comfortable. If we hadn’t been woken up by the drumming rain in the middle of the night, I probably would have slept through until dawn.

Sleeping in a tree tent

At some point, the steady dripping lulls us to sleep again and we only wake up again when it slowly gets light outside. On this morning, “we can’t see the forest for the trees” has a completely different meaning. I take a deep breath of the earthy scent of the forest, stretch my limbs and then go to the Fräkmüntegg restaurant, slightly sleepy. Here our little adventure ends with a hearty breakfast, before we gondola down before the rush of day guests and I sit back at my desk shortly before 12 noon in all freshness.

More information about the Tree Tent experience on Mount Pilatus

Pilatus Bahnen launched the Tree Tent Experience at the beginning of June and is offering the special overnight stay on selected dates until mid-September 2017. The offer costs CHF 125 for adults and includes the Kriens-Fräkmüntegg-Kriens train ride, an overnight stay in a tree tent, exclusive access to the rope park, a barbecue buffet and a breakfast buffet. In my opinion, a bombastic offer! All further information can be found on the Pilatus Bahnen website – attention – there are only a few dates left, not yet fully booked – so if you also feel like breaking out of everyday life for a moment, you should hurry.

p.s. by the way, the tents are dismantled after every occasion. This was a condition imposed by the granting authority.

Note: Pilatus Bahnen AG has invited us to the Tree Tent experience. All opinions and impressions are, as always, ours.

Merken