Ponte dei Salti bridge over the Verzasca near Lavertezzo

Directly beneath the historic 17th-century stone arch bridge of Lavertezzo, the “Ponte dei Salti”, you’ll find smooth, eroded rocks with numerous pools and depths. In this spot in the Verzasca Valley, Ticino, there’s that rather unusual encounter between hikers, mountaineers and divers. The river is very popular with divers here because of the clear water and rock formations, but it’s also notorious for the deadly danger posed by currents and the cold.