As a child I grew up in the shadows of the mountains that surrounded my little town. We were fairly self contained. We had hotels, gas stations, grocery stores, and attractions. We were a fairly well guarded secret, we were well known because of our attractions but left alone. We had virtually no crime, in fact I could probably count on one hand the number of times I saw a cop in my town. Then something happened.
The secret got out.
Soon people started flocking to my town. More and more people started moving in. Neighborhoods were replaced with subdivisions. We got annexed by the city, bigger companies moved in. The more "dangerous" attractions got shut down. By the time I was a teenager, the town I grew up in was barely recognizable. Today its even less recognizable, gone are the neighborhood barber and grocery stores. Instead we have Great Clips and Wal-Mart.
This location is a place I grew up with, that ended up getting shut down. There are two stories I have heard as to why it was shut down. The first is that it was too dangerous and kids kept getting hurt. The second, and the one I believe is more likely true, is that a high end subdivision bought the land near by and built massive homes. The traffic for the attraction and the noise of the kids was too loud and they made them shut it down.
At the time everything was shut down, the Alpine Slide, the Go-Karts, and everything else noisy. Then after a couple of years the batting cages reopened, then the Go-Karts, and now there is a little arcade. Sadly the Alpine Slide is far beyond repair and as such just lays on the side of the mountain breaking and decaying more and more everyday.
Our group got together and decided to go on up and check it out. I hadn't been there in years, I had heard years ago they destroyed the slide and nothing remained of it. Fortunately, Chris_Kicker actually did some research and found out it was still there. We brought my son along, so he could at least see where I spent so much time when I was his age. So here is our trip, but first a video for those of you unfamiliar with what an alpine slide is:
Re: The Alps are Broken <Reply # 1 on 6/6/2012 9:35 AM >
good set my friend. good write up, and the photos do a good job of capturing the feel from the day. you should look into getting a real camera. i see some major improvements since you got the phone, but I think you could put out some great photos with the right gear. I need to process a couple more of the shots I got from this place... http://ChurchofAtom.com/
Re: The Alps are Broken <Reply # 5 on 6/7/2012 4:08 AM >
Good stuff!!!! Pics are clean too. And the video is an added bonus. I rarely and I mean rarely watch any exploration videos posted, but that one was sweet. Love that you took your son along, some of my favorite exploration pics are the ones where my son is having a blast exploring for himself! Good stuff....
Now time to go back and try the slide out on one of these....
Re: The Alps are Broken <Reply # 6 on 6/7/2012 12:14 PM >
Thanks everyone. I am still racking my brain for a way to ride them. I keep hoping that if I got back, I can find one of karts intact and ride it to freedom.
and this place looks like it would have been a blast while still in use! When I say I'm 'clean and sober', it means I've showered and I'm headed to the liquor store.
