Off to Zermatt
we got a bum steer from the barman at the yeti bar the night before he was saying the lifts to Zermatt would be closed for sure, we lay in bed in the morning thinking no point in getting up early all the higher lifts are closed due to winds the knowledgeable barman had said, we were wrong and so was the barman! Bob was dropping Calum at ski school we arranged to meet him at the plan maison for a day at Zermatt. He text to say the lifts were open we got a shift on and met him,
Once up the second bubble car at the crossing
between Italy and Switzerland we headed over its flat crap cross over section
from plan marinan lift to the Zermatt ski area , we were now at altitude and
because of the altitude it was bloody freezing cold even with my six layers on
and gloves under mitts long johns under sallopettes I was still shaking when we
stopped and scared to take of my mitts to take photos because it hurt my
fingers , which was a shame as we were in sunshine and now had the better side
of the Matterhorn to view , the perfect triangle mountain I had seen for years
on toblerone and wanted to see for myself was now glorious looking in the
sunshine , bob proceeded to tell us all about the climb where the guides take
you the mountain refugees his mate Graeme’s close escape all good stuff even
the history of its first ascent he truly is a font of mountain knowledge our
man bob
We opted
to ski all the way down to Zermatt from where we were which our plan from the
start was a visit into town. The red runs were good wide well-groomed slopes. Then
we hit a section we had to go through if we wished to ski down to Zermatt,
there was a big sign and barrier saying black expert skiers only beyond this point!
oh well then black ski routes to town it is then it actually wasn’t that bad I’ve
been on worse reds in other resorts but it was narrow in places and I wondered
if it was the steep and narrow that made the difference here between reds and
blacks ,
Once down into town we ended up at a bus stop
near a chair lift we had no clue where the centre of town was and where we
could get lunch? we got the next bus and ended up in what we could only guess
was the centre of town , we took a short walk to a town square it was a typical
alpine town and it appeared we were in the wrong area for lunch but it was time
to eat and we chose a creperie where the team had crepes I ate nothing as I am
off dairy for now I did have a beer though , then but a Swiss postcard to send
to mum we knew we had a fair distance to cover to get back so we marched back
to the bus station we got dropped off at
Zermatt has a policy of zero combustible
engines all cars buses taxis gritters and even the police cars are electric and
they were a different shape from normal cars strange looking small squares ,
the bus was full to bursting when it eventually arrived we got ourselves
squeezed in , from the inside of the packed bus we easily spotted the lift out
of town that we had originally skied down to , the bubble car out of town is
called the Trockener Steg is used all
year round by outdoor enthusiasts and mountaineers in summer, the ski area (21
km of piste in all) finishes at the Trockener Steg sector. In winter, the
options for skiers and snowboarders throughout the terrain of Matterhorn
glacier paradise (3,883 m) are endless the actual trip starts in Zermatt, from
the Valley Station, at an altitude of 1640 m. You then board the gondola to mid
station Furi at 1867 m. The route crosses the forests and meadows just outside Zermatt.
Here the gondola doors open people get into empty ones here, but we are on the
long haul up we sit tight through the station and the doors shut again and
heads of uphill at a sharp angle. After bits of forests, the cable car goes over a rough, rocky,
high alpine landscape. With cracking views out our window of the Matterhorn in
the sun, bob entertained us to a talk about all the local peaks he had trekked nearby
.he pointed out the mountain refuge huts he had visited and was able to name
all the local peaks, and it was warm enough inside the gondola for me to take
my gloves of for photos, after two further station pass throughs We eventually reached
the mid station Trockener Steg at 2939 m.
You
need to leave the gondola here to cover the final section: the long awaited
cable car ride to Klein Matterhorn at 3883 m. There are two parallel cable car
routes on this leg: the Matterhorn Glacier Ride it features a few extra
luxurious cabins, named the "Crystal ride", with a glass floor that
turns transparent during the ride .unfortunately we didn’t get one of those ones.
We were now starting to feel that the thin air was making us tired, the entire
ride from Zermatt takes about 45 minutes.
I had been looking forward to taking this 3s
cableway since I first booked the flights and it didn’t disappoint it took
around two-and-a-half years’ construction work to complete the "Matterhorn
glacier ride" – the world’s highest 3S cableway – It only opened last year
as planned, and Zermatt gained a new
attraction. From the beginning of the 2018/19 winter season, and we were now
able to use the new cableway to reach the Klein Matterhorn the new 3S cableway
connecting the Trockener Steg mountain station and the "Matterhorn glacier
paradise" on the Klein Matterhorn (at 3,883 metres above sea level) the
views out the crystal glass windows on the way up out over the glaciers of the alps
eternal winter region is awesome, here is the web site description –
The
journey to Europe’s highest mountain station, situated at 3821 metres above sea
level. Four of the gondolas are the special "Crystal ride" cabins,
encrusted with thousands of Swarovski crystals and featuring an integrated
glass floor through which passengers will be able to observe the 200 m drop
below their feet – not a view they will forget in a hurry and perhaps one that
will set a few nerves jangling. With a carrying capacity of 2000 passengers an
hour, waiting times at Trockener Steg will be a thing of the past. The
nine-minute ride offers first-class comfort and a fantastic all-round view of
Zermatt’s majestic high-alpine panorama. How will you react to the lift
and the "Crystal ride" glass-floor cabins?
Once we were up at this end
of cableway station (did I mention it’s the highest in the world)? it was a
weird feeling being at this altitude with no acclimatisation the oxygen level
drops from our normal 20.9% to the shocking affective oxygen level of 12.7% .
If I was conducting an air quality test at work you would not be allowed to
work in an atmosphere like this! We were all feeling the effects the slightest
work was a chore and we were huffing and blowing, there’s a glacier tunnel and an
exhibition you can visit but we just had a look around the gift shop and got
our layers ready for going out onto the slopes, we knew it would be bitterly
cold up there even though the sun was out the panorama was fantastic
It was now all red runs back into Cervinia now
we were back into Italy, and the first section of this was steep and heavily mogulled
worse to ski than the earlier black but certainly wide enough, once past that
section the rest was smooth well piste`d slopes and before long moving at the
pace we were kicking up we were back into the main ski area where we chose to
go left down the reds back to bring us right to the door of our apartment ,
when we were within walkie talkie range to base ( Gary at the Apartment) I radioed
in to say we were approaching and Gary came out to film us on his phone coming
down the last section of the run, A truly wonderfull day out on the slopesnow it was time for some apres
