Probably the country I was most excited to see was Switzerland. Sure we live here in the foothills of the Rockies and I grew up surrounded by the coastal mountains of British Columbia. But as Astrid liked to explain to those who asked “Why the Alps?”, these mountains are different that those mountains.

Our Swiss leg originally was to involve a couple of stops – the first being Zermatt, most famous for being the second location for the Matterhorn. With Disneyland, of course, being the typical North American’s first encounter with this majestic mountain. And I’ve been asked – the one in Zermatt is SO much cooler.

Our second planned stop was to be the Bernese Overland – specifically Lauterbrunnen and Gimmelwald.  Sadly, the weather turned on us on day two in Zermatt so this became our only stop in this beautiful and expensive country, complete with exceptionally efficient and well-run rail service. But, the point of this post isn’t to whine about where we didn’t get to go, rather to tell you all about our adventure in Zermatt.

First – the background…thanks again to our friends at Wikipedia we can tell you that Zermatt in the district of Visp and is primarily in the German-speaking section of the canton of Valais. A canton, we learned, is like a province or state. 

There are about 5,800 residents in Zermatt and during our visit – remember it was inter season – about two dozen tourists. It’s a pretty tiny place, you can probably walk from one end of the other in about half an hour.  From what I can tell, there are 3 main drags, all running along the banks of the river Matter Vispa – which rises at the glaciers at the feet of the highest peaks – Gorner Glacier (east) and Zmutt Glacier (west).  Many of the cross streets cut around the train station and the local church – which seemingly is the centre of ‘town”.

The little village – which could have been taken straight out of a children’s book – was EMPTY during our visit! While we had been warned, I still expected a bit more hustle and bustle, even though it was inter-season. Most things were closed and that which was open seemed to be under some form of construction.

The upside to this – no lines and no need for our #donttouchme hashtag. The downside was the restaurants that had been recommended to us were closed and I feel like, after the lovely vibe of Chamonix, we missed out on truly getting a real feel for Zermatt and why everyone I talked to who has been loves it so much. A return visit during ski or hiking season will be necessary. Perhaps when we finally make it to the Bernese Overland – hopefully soon at that!

Wikipedia tell me – though likely if I had a map with me (as Astrid always does) I could figure this out myself – that the town lies at the upper end of Mattertal at an elevation of 1,620 m (5,310 ft), at the foot of Switzerland’s highest peaks. The town of Zermatt lies at the southern end of the Matter Valley, which is one of the lateral branches of the great Valley of the Rhone.

Until the mid-19th century, it was predominantly an agricultural community; the first and tragic ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865 was followed by a rush on the mountains surrounding the village, leading to the construction of many tourist facilities.

It is well known as a mountaineering destination and of course, ski resort. You can actually ski year-round if you really wanted to. We watched a few seasoned pros climb on and off the gondola as we traveled the gondola to the Glacier Mountain Paradise and on the lower slopes where tourists who likely had just strapped a pair of planks on for the first time, and likely never seen snow before.

Wikipedia says “The name of Zermatt, first as Zur Matte (“at the meadow”) and became later Zermatt. It does not appear until 1495 on a map or 1546 in a text, but may have been employed long before. Praborno or Prato Borno (prato also means meadow) are the older names of Zermatt; they appear in the ancient maps as early as the thirteenth century.

Despite being quiet, we didn’t lack for fun things to do. After checking into the Hotel Bristol, we made quick work of getting our shots with the Matterhorn. One of the things I had read was that she is a bit shy – and if the weather and clouds are not on your side, you can go days (or even an entire visit) without seeing her.

From there, we took some time to reflect on the lives lost – as memorialized in the tiny Mountaineers cemetery next to the church. Here there were gravestones that dated back to the 1800’s and many of families had gone to lengths to ensure the decor (?) of the stones reflected the individuals passion for the mountains and the risky sport. 

From there, we walked up and down the main streets doing a little shopping for Astrid’s boys and maybe even for ourselves. 

We encountered the Matterhorn Museum – and Astrid, powerless to not increase her educational levels – suggested we drop in. What a cute little place – the audio tour was done by some folksy guy – think he was the founder of the museum and the place was a dorky and kitschy as you’d expect a tiny museum in this tiny little town to be.

Our second day in Zermatt, we rose to sketchy weather so we booked it up top to the Glacier Mountain Paradise.  Astrid will likely provide a second blog with more geological significance, but for me it was simply a beautiful ride up and another spectacular adventure. We rose in elevation to of over 12,000 feet – and you bet the air was thin! 

On a clear day – and that was not the case the day we were there – the views from the observation platform include Mount Blanc (4,810 metres) – which is the highest mountains in the Alps (and part of our Chamonix adventures) and the summit of the Grand Paradiso (4,061 metres), which is Italy’s highest mountain. Normally you should also be able to see the Matterhorn. We – sadly – saw none of those, but had a grand old time taking snapshots from the platform in the cold, with crazy gusts of wind blowing us around. Astrid kept squinting into the clouds in hopes of getting a glimpse of Matterhorn but it felt like a lost cause. For true Mountaineers – unlike ourselves – you can scale this 4,164 metre climb in about 2 1/2 hours.

The other highlight from our time at top of Europe was the glacier cave, which provided endless entertainment with ice sculptures, a ice slide and a mini Matterhorn. A visit to a glacier cave would also not be complete without an educational video, which had cute little egg-shaped chairs viewers could sit in, the best part being that they were heated which was sure welcome after that gusty outdoor platform.

We had originally intended to descend only to the mid-point and then hike out to town in the cool but decent weather we had left on the ground. We quickly realized as we began our ride down through snow and then rain that we would need to abort that plan. As we got closer and closer to town the rain came down heavier and heavier. It was a teaming, wet walk back to our hotel, but we were sure glad we’d started the day as early as we did – I don’t think we would have wanted to miss that for the world.

We agreed that night – after checking the forecasts – that going further into Switzerland simply wasn’t a good idea.

The weather called for ice, snow, rain, low cloud and overnight temperatures below the freezing mark. Hell, we can get that in Alberta in May, we thought, and knowing it was 25 and sunny in Italy we made our move.

Next up – adventures from Florence. Stay tuned….

CKD

Writers note: Our friends at Wikipedia assisted with facts and history for this post. Writer has cited where referenced as possible, but for more information and a complete look at Zermatt, visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zermatt