Zermatt and the Famous Matterhorn

Saturday, September 4 - Sunday, September 5 2010

Many of you have heard of, if not experienced, the famous Disneyland ride named The Matterhorn.  This weekend we decided to see the real thing in a very unique way.  The Matterhorn is a 4-hour train ride from Geneva, located near the southern Swiss town of Zermatt, right across the Italian boarder.  Many claim it to be the most recognized mountain in the world, but you can be the judge of that.




Following the trend of our other weekend getaways, we left Geneva early Saturday morning and arrived in the late morning ready for action.  Because Saturday was supposed to be the clearest day of the weekend (we learned our lesson from our Lucerne mountain experience), we decided that it would be the ideal day for mountainous views.  Poor us, (yeah right) but in Switzerland it’s actually kind of tough to decide on which mountainous views to choose from, because there are often multiple options and transportation up-and-down isn’t cheap (often $50-75 per person, round-trip)!  After asking the locals, we finally decided on the Gornergrat lift, and were not disappointed.  The magnificence of these mountains, glaciers and valleys is hard to describe.  If you think the pictures look fake, it’s because the scenery looks fake in-person, too.  But of course with all the beautiful scenery staring us in the face, Ang couldn’t help but find the most pleasure in the two Saint Bernards hanging out at the top.  Their names were Minnie and Biscuit, and they were dogs, so they were great. :) 

Part of our inspiration to visit the Matterhorn was sparked from a book loaned to us by a friend, titled “100 Hut Walks in the Alps”.  There are literally hundreds of “huts” (quotations on “huts” because they may not match your mental image of a hut—they vary from hotel-like accommodations to non-electric log cabin-style living) that spread across the Alps in France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria and Slovenia.  It’s quite remarkable; you can start in France and actually hike from hut to hut until you reach Slovenia!  We knew we wanted to see the Matterhorn and at the same time were craving an outdoor adventure, so the perfect combination became an overnight hike to the Hornli Hut, at the base of the Matterhorn.

According to our trusty book, the hike up to the hut would take 2-2.5 hours and was considered “nothing too difficult or outwardly dangerous”.  However, in researching the hike in more detail a couple days prior, Dave became particularly concerned by a youtube video (don’t watch unless you have 10 minutes that you never want back) which talked of the Matterhorn being one of the deadliest mountains in the world and that the Hornli Ridge was exceptionally dangerous in high winds.  It’s a terribly-produced video and looking back, it only served to unsettle nerves rather than help prepare us for the hike.  (For example, the Hornli Ridge is what people scale to actually climb the Matterhorn.  The Hornli Hut is at the base of the Hornli Ridge, so we wouldn’t even be hiking on the “dangerous” ridge).  We knew we’d be fine because none of our other research said it was a dangerous hike (on the contrary, said it was actually quite popular).  Anyhow, it couldn’t help but creep into our minds and add to the “excitement.” :)

Our original intention was to start the hike around 3:00pm and be at the hut around 5:30pm.  Unfortunately we got a late start and barely caught the last cable car lift of the day up to the starting point of the hike.  By the time we set off it was about 5:15pm.  The trails were running thin on hikers and the sun was starting to set behind the Matterhorn.  If the mind wasn’t already running just a tad shaky, these new variables certainly didn’t help.  Regardless, we trusted the book, said a quick prayer and set off.

As it turns out, the book was exactly right – the hike was not too difficult or outwardly dangerous…but it was definitely still a challenge.  At one point during the hike we almost convinced ourselves that the building we saw in the distance couldn’t be the hut (it was) because there was no way the ridge it sat upon could be reached simply by hiking (we thought it would have to be climbed via the aid of ropes and climbing gear).  We made sure to take a picture (left) and video (below) at this same point the next day while on our descent as reminiscence to the evening before.  After many switchbacks up the ridge, we finally reached the hut (10,695 feet above sea level) at around 7:45pm and it was clear we were late (dinner was being served and everyone gave us funny looks as we entered).  Regardless, we were relieved that our reservation was still intact and we enjoyed the Church Camp-style dinner with about 40 other people, many of which had plans to make the near-insane climb to the top of the Matterhorn the next morning.  After a much-appreciated meal and a few games of Rummy, we rested our weary bodies. 

After a night of restless sleep (who would have thought such high altitudes are tough sleeping conditions?) we woke early to watch the sunrise.  The views from the hut are stunning to begin with, but at sunrise it is truly one of the most amazing sights we’ve ever seen.  Despite what the photo below suggests, Ang was indeed awake to enjoy the sunrise but, as always, was extremely cold. :)  Most of the climbers woke up around 4:30am to start their climb to the top of the Matterhorn.  If you look closely at the zoomed in photo of the Matterhorn peak (below), you can see the caravan of climbers, on the right ridge, almost to the top.  Crazy.  After another Church Camp-style meal, we waived goodbye to the Hornli Hut, hopefully not for the last time. 

On a side note, we met a wonderful family from Denver right before we started our hike up to the hut: Warren and Kitty, their daughter-in-law Vicky and grandson (Vicky’s son) Tim.  Warren and his son, Greg, (Vicky’s husband / Tim’s dad) had climbed to the top of the Matterhorn 20 years ago; Tim (age 21) had come to climb it this time around.  We happened to run into them again the next day on our way down the mountain from the hut.  At that point they were guessing that Tim was at the top of the Matterhorn and they were eagerly waiting for his safe arrival back down the mountain.  It is quite fun to randomly meet such nice people from our original side of the world.

According to the book, once we hiked back down to our original starting place, we planned to follow a scenic and “pleasant” hike back down to Zermatt (rather than take the cable car back down).  The scenic part was correct (photos below), but by the time we got back down to Zermatt, we had both removed our hiking boots and opted for less-constrictive flip-flops, as the pressure of the 5-hour long descent against our feet was anything but pleasant.  Some of the highlights of this hike included a small village named Zmutt, and random, quaint homes scattered throughout the valley.   

It was an amazing weekend (seemed like longer than an overnight trip) but our bodies paid for it.  Our plan is to take it easy in preparation for our trip to the Cinque Terre on Wednesday, a region in Italy that is considered heaven for hikers.