Zermatt, Switzerland: Big Mountains, Big Fun

by Amy Patenaude
Outdoor/Ski Writer

“The Matterhorn is everywhere,” the desk agent at our hotel told us after we discovered that our room did not have a view of the iconic pointy peak.
This year Sharon and I decided we wanted to give Europe a try and after many hours on the computer, I booked the trip. It’s a long trip, an overnight flight to Zurich followed by a four hour train ride and then we were met at the train station by our hotel’s tiny electric car (there are no gasoline powered vehicles allowed in Zermatt). After all that we could cope a room without a view and besides we’d be happy skiing soon.
We walked to the cable car station to pick up our ski passes. My IKON pass includes the international Zermatt/Breuil-Cervinia lift ticket for five days. While walking this was the first moment I realized I was looking up at the Matterhorn.
Later we made a visit to our hotel owner’s farm, the Julen family, to see their Blacknosed Sheep. This outing was a wonderful surprise. Just minutes from our hotel, their farm is perched on the steep hillside. We petted the friendly sheep–females and males both have horns. In the barn next to the sheep we drank local wine and ate cheese and dried meat made right there.
Paul Julen explained to us how their family raises the sheep and about their new biogas plant–the animal manure is mixed with Zermatt’s restaurant’s food waste to produce biogas that is used to make electricity.
We enjoyed half-board, breakfast and supper, at our hotel. Dining in Switzerland can be a wonderful experience. Local fare of cheese fondue, venison and lamb were among the many wonderful dishes served. Booking half-board is not only convenient but much less expensive than eating out at different restaurants.

There were two ways to get to the cable car station. By taxi the ride for two cost $12 or a ten minute walk in ski boots to a free electric-bus stop.
Our first day I played guide for Sharon and myself. The enormity of the resort and lift system is hard to explain. The village is perched at the edge of treeline so everything is wide open. The Klein Matterhorn Aerial Tramway climbs to 3883 meters – almost 13,000 feet, it is the highest lift service skiing in Europe. From the top of its summit station views reach far in to Italy and France. We did see Mont Blanc.
And the lifts are serious stuff! Cable cars–gondolas of all sizes and tramways that are more the double the size of Cannon Mountain’s tramway car. There are also plenty of high-speed six packs chairlifts and I did ride one old-school T-bar.
Maybe you have noticed that all ski resort’s trail maps are printed on the same size piece of paper. Zermat has over 50 lifts and I am guessing a million different ski routes. We had good wind packed powder and yet it had not snowed in many weeks. There were groomed trails everywhere and other options off-piste.
I did well finding our way over the mountains except on the way back I managed to lead us to a dead-end and we had to walk half a mile on a path to a wonderful restaurant at a hotel nestled next to a groomed ski trail. We ate a late lunch outside in the sunshine and we could see the top of the Matterhorn from our seats and on our table we were served a Matterhorn shaped pizza.

The next day we skied with a guide that was recommended to me from a friend that once lived in Zermatt. Well, everything is expensive in Switzerland, we hired Christoph for Friday and Sunday. For about $500 dollars/day he led us all over and back and forth to Italy. We covered so much ground and we skied places we would not have found by ourselves, Best yet we always felt safe. He was also great company telling us many things about Zermatt and the mountains and he found us the best huts on the Cervino side for lunch.
We skied trails near and right below the summit cone of the Matterhorn. From the top of every lift and from every slope the sight of the Matterhorn filled our eyes. The mountains all around us included the nearby highest peak in Switzerland – Monte Rosa at 15,000 feet.
And how lucky were we, everyday we skied it was sunny with a bright blue sky and just a little wind. I know everyone was wishing for snow but it was nice to have to wear sunscreen instead of a neck gaiter.
At night we went to bed long before the hardcore partying skiers and snowboarders finished. Straight from the slopes to the bar is common and everyone likes to drink and sing. Saturday night at midnight I awoke hearing ski boots clomping on the cobblestone street below our window. Many hours earlier I had joined them hoisting a beer while singing along to John Denver’s Country Roads Take Me Home. I heard this song three times during our stay.

One afternoon we walked the main street and went in and out of the shops. There were lots of fancy shops offering the highest-end designer ski clothing and – no surprise – Swiss watches and cuckoo clocks.
We went to the Matterhorn Museum and learned about the history of Zermatt,skiing and the story of the first climbers to stand on top of the Matterhorn (the sad story ends with a broken rope causing the death of some of the members of the climbing party).
For our last supper we ordered cheese fondue again. The bread and potatoes dipped in the yummy hot cheese were delicious. Why isn’t it possible for me to make anything so wonderful at home? And Christoph stopped by to say goodbye and joined us for a drink and he helped finish off our big pot of fondue too.
At the Zermatt train station I noticed I could see the peak of the Matterhorn looming over the main street. Hmm, the Matterhorn is everywhere is very true indeed.
The only Americans we met during our time in Switzerland was on the train back to Zurich; a young snowboarding couple from Oregon. They had not met any other Americans beside us.
We had a wonderful adventure, the only difficult challenge was carrying our luggage and ski bags on and off the trains. If there is a next time we will rent skis and pack lighter.
Have Fun.

Amy Patenaude is an avid skier/outdoor enthusiast from Henniker, N.H. Readers are welcome to send comments or suggestions to her at: amy@weirs.com.