Extreme hot-tubbers suspend Jacuzzi from Swiss bridge

I have a friend in Michigan who lives in a house with an outdoor hot tub which has never been used. He believes that it simply isn’t worth the effort of filling it, cleaning it, and maintaining it. Clearly, my friend would be persona non grata with the members of the Jacuzzi Association.

The Jacuzzi Association (or l’Association Jaccuzzi) is an informal Swiss non-profit dedicated to fostering its members’ creativity and sense of camaraderie through extreme hot-tubbing. The group designs and builds their own hot tubs which they then place in some of the most precarious and unlikely spots. In the past, they have hosted Jacuzzi parties on top of a frozen lake, at the bottom of a cave, in a parking spot in downtown Geneva, and at the summit of Mont Blanc. That last feat required 20 participants each hauling 45 pounds of specialized gear in a pre-dawn ascent in order to enjoy an 100-degree bath on the Alpine peak.

Not to be outdone by past accomplishments, the Association recently threw their most logistically demanding pool party on the Gueuroz Bridge, in Switzerland’s Valais region, on October 1. More precisely, they built the hot tub under the bridge, on a specially designed platform hanging by wires attached to the bridge 150 feet above. Potential hot tubbers had to then rappel down to the platform, suspended 450 feet above the gorge below.

If you have the urge to bathe in unusual locations, and possess the right combination of courage and love of the absurd (not to mention a basic understanding of French), check out their web site for membership information.

[Photo credit: jacuzzi.ch]