Adventure for Everyone – Summer Season 2010 has started in Interlaken

May 1st marked the official start of the 2010 Canyoning and Rafting season in Interlaken. Despite the cold and rainy weather 60 excited guests joined Outdoor Interlaken AG for water based adventure in the Jungfrau Region on Saturday and Sunday.

Interlaken, Switzerland, May 3, 2010: “Despite the weather it was a great start to the season” says Beni Steuri, founder and operations manager of Outdoor Interlaken, “we hope that all the guests this summer are as enthusiastic as the ones this weekend.”

Beni Steuri and co-founder Riaan Meinjtes have spent the past 6 months preparing for the start of the 2010 season, renovating a new base, updating and optimizing safety procedures, and preparing for an expanded guide team. This year Outdoor Interlaken opens main base on
Hauptstrasse 15 Matten b. Interlaken and a new satellite base in the Hotel Bären in Boltigen. Together with expanded presence in the Berner Oberland, Outdoor Interlaken will be offering a variety of new trips. New for summer 2010:

Rafting Simme, Float Trips on the Aare, Caynoning Ticino, Canyoning Lenk, Canyoning Zwiesimmen, Bungee Jumping Titlis

This expanded range of trips allows Outdoor Interlaken to offer an adventure for everyone. “Everyone can enjoy Outdoor Adventure Sports” says Riaan Meintjes, “but not everyone is searching for the same type of adventure.” Outdoor Interlaken is now able to meet the holiday
needs of all Interlaken’s guests regardless of their definition of adventure. Three different river trips cover the spectrum from easy float to fast pasted white water action. Six different canyoning trips span the range from a short introduction suitable for families to a two day
expedition visiting some of Switzerland’s most challenging commercial canyons. For guests who prefer to stay dry Outdoor Interlaken offers a high ropes course at the Seilpark Interlaken and (together with partner companies) Bungee Jumping, Paragliding and Sky Diving.

“We are looking forward to a great season in summer 2010,” says, Beni Steuri, “We have a superb team of professional guides from Switzerland and around the world. In addition we have a great range of trips that helps Interlaken truly live up to its reputation as Europe’s number one destination for outdoor adventure sports.”
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Media Contact
Jonathan Fauver
+41 79 370 4190
jon@outdoor-interlaken.ch
www.outdoor-interlaken.ch

Bus2alps Ltd. organizes emergency transport for 200 Amercian students stranded in Munich
Students celebrating the annual Fruhlingsfest in Munich were among the thousands stranded this past weekend due to the Eyjafjallajökull Volcano ash cloud. Bus2alps Ltd, a Switzerland based student travel agency, made sure they got home in time for class on Monday.

Munich, Germany, April 18, 2010: This weekend more than 1,000 American study abroad students travelled from all over Europe to congregate at the opening weekend of Munich’s annual Frühlingsfest. This cultural weekend abroad suffered a major setback when the Eyjafjallajökull Volcano ash cloud shut down the surrounding airports and all departing flights were cancelled. Trains departing Munich were sold out in minutes leaving hundreds of students stranded in Munich with no confirmed date of departure, and no way to make it back for their last week of classes and final exams.

Swiss based student travel agency; Bus2Alps Ltd. had brought more than 150 passengers to the opening weekend of Frühlingfest. Bus2alps was quick to offer up the few empty seats on their buses returning to Italy. As word spread the main office was inundated with phone calls and emails from students and parents requesting help. While the head office fielded phone calls and assuaged the fears of worried parents, the Bus2Alps team in Munich began to organize more transport options. Together with help from Wombats and Jaegers youth hostels, Mike’s Bike Tours, and Seitz Reisen Bus2Alps was able to secure additional buses.

Capacity on the buses was filled as quickly as it was made available. By 10:00 am Sunday morning the Bus2Alps team had secured 4 extra buses to transport more than 200 students back to Barcelona, Florence and Rome in time for class on Monday morning.

When asked why Bus2Alps would go through this extra effort, founder Simon Okeeffe stated “We are the top student travel agency in Europe. We are dependent on students enjoying travel, and traveling safely. Regardless whether the students were our passengers or not, if we didn’t help out we would be breaking the trust we have with our clients, their parents, and their schools.”

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Media Contact:
Jonathan Fauver
Bus2Alps Ltd
Hauptstrasse 15
3800 Matten b. Interlaken
Switzerland
www.bus2alps.com
jon@bus2alps.com
Phone: +41 (0) 33 534 98 76
Skype: jonfauver

The winter rolled on, with the next weekend seeing another large group in Interlaken, and the first major snowfall of the season. We hit the slopes as a team, rolling deep with students on the trip. We arrived at the top of the peak, and I was overwhelmed with joy at the sight of untouched, clean powder to shred, paired with the faces of a dozen experienced skiers and snowboarders who had never seen anything like this. As we made first season’s track with a group of wide-eyed students, as well as my co-workers who did not experience this last season, more students were hurling themselves out of airplanes, off cliffs, and chilling in alpine spas.

A month later brought us back to Interlaken, with the return of a new work season, new expectations, and more winter fun. Our first weekend up to Interlaken for the spring semester with students claimed more fun, some new friendships, and a great start to another work stay. Before I left home from celebrating the holidays I had become skeptical for the first time as to whether still desired this experience, this lifestyle, and this work. All I needed was winter season in Interlaken, and life was put back on track.

This semester brought Bus2alps’ biggest numbers to Interlaken, with a few staggering weekends pushing upwards of 200 people out of Florence, Rome, Barcelona, Prague, Paris, and London. Students came here to meet up with friends studying in other cities, friends who chose to be elsewhere, but needed the reconciliation in an Alpine place of beauty. The amount of times I was told by students this was the best weekend of their lives was staggering. It reminded me of how I felt on my first bus ride home from Interlaken after coming as a student. It was the best weekend of my life, and what initially drew me to this job.

In the end, we took almost 1000 people to the vast wonderland that is Interlaken. It is tough for me to find such a tranquil, beautiful place in the world that can be torn apart by such high octane extreme sports. The only other place being Queenstown, New Zealand, which in my mind is the lost-twin sibling of Interlaken. Kind of like that TV show Sister-Sister.

It is nice to end a good season on a rewarding experience, to remind the world that work is not about the money, but its about enjoying what you do and enjoying that others are sharing in what you do. Peace out Interlaken Winter. See you for white water rafting, canyoning, and glacier climbing. See you again in summer!

Lights, camera action…

Bus2alps presents the ‘Why We Ride’ Video Contest. Bus2alps is on the lookout for students who have been (or will be) documenting their trips. Whether you’re an aspiring director or love the video option on your camera a little too much, we want your videos, and we’re offering free travel for the best.

Easy work, free travel, the chance to be the next Youtube sensations? Why woudn’t you enter…

You never know, it could be your ticket to the cheapest trip ever.

How it works…

- Video clips can be between :30 and 3:00 in length
- Multiple entries per person are allowed
- Each prize can only be claimed by one person
- Each video must be uploaded to Youtube and posted to the Bus2alps Fan Page on Facebook
- Videos can contain anything you did on a trip (i.e. skydiving or canyon jumping in Interlaken, throwing confetti in Venice, etc.)
- See below for a video example

Criteria for Video

- Videos are to be uploaded to youtube
- After uploaded, post the link to the Bus2alps fan page

All submissions must be tagged with the following labels:

- Bus2alps
- Student Travel
- Student Travel
- The destination
- Study Abroad

The person(s) must state the following during the video:

- Who they are
- Your University
- The Bus2alps destination you are in
- Why you ride with Bus2alps
- ***Note: If it is a pre-existing video not containing, you may add a voiceovers or text to the video. If you do not have this capability, you must put all of this information in the video description when uploaded.

- Video does not have to be of professional quality
- Videos should showcase the destination you are in
- No nudity, foul language, or excessive drinking (video will be removed)

Judging

- The final 5 videos are determined based on Youtube ratings as voted on by friends and Youtube users as well as feedback from staff
- The winner will be determined by the Bus2alps staff Prizes

THE DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION IS MARCH 31, 2010

WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED APRIL 1, 2010

Final Prize

Winner receives a free Bus2alps trip for two to the destination of their choice for the remainder of the semester.

So go on. Get out there, break out the director’s chair and earn yourself a free trip!

Check out the Bus2alps Why We Ride Video Example:

In the middle of updating our website today, I sat back for 5 minutes and just watched the header images scroll by on the new Bus2alps.com home page.  At that moment it really hit home, what an amazing line-up of trips Bus2Alps has during the fall semester 2009.  All I can say is; “I wish I were a student studying in Europe Fall 2009!”

This fall Bus2alps will bring you to Europe’s best mountains, beaches, cities, and villages.  Along the way you will:

• Sing drinking songs at Oktoberfest with Germans in lederhosen
• Walk through history behind the Iron Curtain
• Wear a pink toga and drink ouzo while a Greek man smashes a plate on your head
• Jump out of a perfectly good airplane
• Learn to surf
• Go cliff diving into the Bay of Naples
• Sample limoncello where it is made
• Walk along docks full of super yachts and sit next to the rich and famous
• Listen to Mozart in his home town
• Ski the Alps
• Stroll across the Charles Bridge in the Golden City
• Meet the Green Fairy
• and much more!

Make new friends, meet up with old ones, and experience Europe to its fullest.  Travel is one of the best things you can do in your life.  It is about experiencing new things, seeing new places, meeting new people.  Bus2alps makes it easy, fun, safe and affordable.  You will be a better person for it.

Not convinced yet?  Take five minutes, go to www.bus2alps.com, and just watch the pictures.  Then get back to us when you are ready.

Best wishes and safe travels,

Jon Fauver