The Matterhorn

The Great Wall, Machu Pichu, the Taj Mahal, the Matterhorn - Long before MIT was even a faraway dream, I’d wanted to see The Matterhorn. – Lonely Planet describes it as “defying trigonometry, photography, & many a karabiner” and “an unfathomable monolith you can’t quite stop looking at”.  Many people simply know it as the peak featured on Toblerone packaging.    

Being the good sister that I am, I forced myself to wait for Clarke’s visit to make the pilgrimage to Zermatt to view what’s often billed as the world’s most beautiful mountain.  A family friend linked us up with an expat who has made his home in Zermatt with its Valasian chalets and quaint Alps charm.  We met Bill our first morning in Zermatt in the town plaza and went to his favorite spot for morning hot chocolate.  Bill pointed us towards a hike that would snake along the valley through the ten family village of Zmutt and up towards the Matterhorn.

Overlooking the village of Zmutt

Clarke and I set off with water, rain gear, a smorgasbord of leftovers from our hotel’s breakfast buffet, & a dream.  Though the weather was overcast, we hoped to hike hight enough to break through the clouds.  Eight hours and a vertical mile or so later, we were back in Zermatt without much more than compartmental glimpses of the elusive Matternhorn.  Regardless we enjoyed the Alps hike and the mid-mountain restaurant where we feasted on rosti (national dish of Switzerland) and befriended two very impressive 65+ German women.  After a relaxing sauna, scrumptious fondue dinner, and a good night’s sleep, we were ready to try again.

The next day was Clarke’s “best day of the summer”.  Clarke was overjoyed to throw back the curtains and see rays of sunshine peaking through the cloud covering.  We excitedly began the ride up the system of cable cars to Klein (little) Matterhorn in anticipation of its heralded rooftop view of the Alps and deep into Italy.  As we approached the second station, the cable car broke through the cloud covering and there she was – the Matterhorn looming imposingly right in front of us.   

The Matterhorn

We stood transfixed for quite a while contemplating the Matternhorn in all her perfection.  The sound of a child broke our trances and we continued up Klein Matterhorn.  Clarke and I were surprised to see such intensive summer skiing – Clarke was practically drooling at the thought of returning in December to ski.  Why we even shared a cable car on the way down with members of the Slovenian and Japanese national ski teams.

Can I move here?

We returned to Zermatt to join our friend Bill for lunch at an outdoor café with a view of the Alps.  Between bites of local meat and cheeses, we good-naturedly debated a litany of topics from health care policy to the future of energy.  Fueled-up, we rented climbing gear and set off to find the elusive Zermatt via feratta.  Clarke had trouble believing the Swiss policy of letting you rent your own gear and set off on rock climbing courses hundreds of feet in the air at your own risk.  Good thing I kind-of remembered how to put on harnesses!  The Zermatt via feratta with miniscule footholds, rickety ladders, wooden planks, and lots of scrambling, was very challenging, crazy, and a blast.  We caught one of the last trains out of town and sunk in to our seats contented and exhausted.        

Miss you already Clarke!