Zermatt is no Saas-Fee! I mean I have known about Zermatt since I was a kid. Toblerone was even available in India when I was a kid and it symbolized Matterhorn, Zermatt and Switzerland for the world. So it is a famous place and it shows. I am in fact surprised that it is not completely destroyed by over-tourism. I am glad it kept its charm over centuries and I think there is a lot to learn about sustainable living from the folks at Zermatt. That said the place is crowded even in the shoulder season but if you stay away from the train station you will feel the charm.
I stayed about 1.5 Km up the river at the southernmost end of the town, which was a great choice. When i arrived at my hotel from my balcony I am supposed to see Matterhorn but all I saw was clouds!
So the experience was similar to Saas-Fee that day. I checked MeteoSwis which is the official weather app for Switzerland and it promised good weather in the morning the next day. So I put my rain jacket on and headed out.
Yes, even in the driving rain there was plenty of traffic. After I had another Valais wine I decided to tuck in and promised myself to wake up early,
I opened my eyes the next day exactly at 6:18am. I know this because I kept my windows wide open and the first thing I did after opening my eye was to look at the time on my phone and looked outside. It was before sunrise and I saw clear sky and big almost uncanny Matterhorn in the twilight! I thought great, let me sleep 5 more minutes and I will get up and take a few pictures! I open my eyes in 5 minutes and there was nothing!! I said to myself.. shit! Without a picture nobody will believe me! What if I don’t get to see Matterhorn at all!
Well, lucky for me the clouds cleared for a bit and I have been able to capture the sunrise on Matterhorn. However just after low fog/cloud covered everything. This is due to temperature inversion. Due to temperature inversion the valley reaches dew point but further above dry warm air persists.
So from the valley floor it looks gray and gloomy, but if you take a cable car or hike up, you suddenly emerge into bright sunshine above a “sea of clouds.”
In Switzerland this is really common in autumn and winter — locals often say “Geh in die Berge, über den Nebel” (“Go into the mountains, above the fog”). That’s what I was told at my hotel anyways. I also checked the webcams above and it looks perfectly sunny at Matterhorn.
Here it is above the clouds at Schwarzsee. This is the most amazing view I have experienced in recent times!
And as I turn around, there is Matterhorn up the valley, much closer now.
I did some geology here but I am not going to bore you with the details:)
Further up, I went up to Matterhorn glacier paradise.
People climbing Breithhorn here. This is a hiking peak and on good days like today, it is an easy climb.
Matterhorn looks different from here.
There are some ice tunnels and ice sculptures to look at here also. Kids will love this.
Then after this, it is time for me to head down and out of the valley. As I finish writing this trip this is something I have never done before. I mean writing as I was traveling. It was a lot of effort but a lot of fun too. Now as I finish this my boarding is closed and I am heading to New York on my way home.
If you haven’t heard of Cat Power, now is the time. Nothing can be more appropriate!
See you on the other side!
