Ski, hike or bike on the Swiss mountainside
Zermatt is a quaint base for an action-packed vacation
ZERMATT, SWITZERLAND— If you love hiking and magical mountaintop views, but you don’t necessarily relish uphill climbs, especially steep ones, then this small Swiss village nestled below the iconic Matterhorn is the place for you.
The area boasts more than 400 kilometres of well-marked trails, but the beauty is, you never have to walk uphill.
That’s because Zermatt enjoys an unparalleled interconnected transport system, from a cogwheel train and a funicular to numerous gondolas and chair lifts. You can disembark at stops on route or at the top, bask in the view and then continue to enjoy unfolding vistas while walking back to Zermatt, downhill all the way.
In the past 20 years, local tourism operators have invested heavily in transportation infrastructure — mostly for skiers — that makes this all-season resort the envy of global competitors. Next winter, a new twocable gondola system is scheduled to replace Europe’s highest cable car on the final, steep 2.7-kilometre leg to the Matterhorn glacier.
This state-of-the-art Swiss creation will allow the sleek gondola cabins to operate in up to 100-km/h winds while ferrying 2,000 skiers, gawkers and walkers per hour to the top.
“Money, engineering and Swiss ingenuity keeps Zermatt one of the world’s top tourist destinations,” says Amadé Perrig, a local legend, proud yodeller and our engaging guide for two days.
Born and raised in Zermatt — he claims to have looked after his family’s cows on skis before he could walk — Perrig, 71, has climbed the pyramidal Matterhorn some 20 times — but not in the two decades since he broke his back, for the second time, in a fall while on another ascent. “I got the message,” he says. Today, Perrig, who for 15 years headed the local tourism bureau, still helps out with visitors when he is not skiing, playing in a seniors’ golf tour- nament or cycling at his winter home in Arizona.
Zermatt’s trail network began centuries ago as a means of connecting small mountain villages that still exist. Typically, each hamlet has a handful of homes, one chapel and two restaurants. The connecting trails are well signed, telling, sometimes in five languages — German, English, French, Korean and Japanese — how long a journey will take rather than providing the mileage. Downhill is always quicker.
Serious hikers can trek around the Matterhorn and nearby peaks for days, overnighting in huts that provide meals and bunk beds at little cost.
For their part, mountain climbers can attempt to scale the Matterhorn itself, and several hundred make it annually, but a handful don’t, sometimes with tragic results.
“Anyone is allowed to try,” bemoans Perrig, who for years has argued that climbers should demonstrate profi- ciency and show proof of rescue insurance before being allowed up the treacherous slopes. “But we Swiss are fiercely independent folk and rebel against any such restrictions.”
I opt for day trips, downhill day trips, which still build up an appetite in the pristine mountain air. Says Perrig: “You can spend a week here and never do the same trail.”
On Day 1, after taking a gondola and two cable cars, the second one being Europe’s highest, to the Matterhorn glacier, I double back partway on the gondola to the Schwarzsee station and then wind my way down on foot to the Silvana Mountain Hotel for a traditional Swiss lunch of raclette, sausages and rosti (pan-fried grated potatoes shaped into a round patty).
That’s another benefit of Swiss hiking — no matter how high you are, a good restaurant is always nearby. Energized by the meal, I opt for the long, winding option back to Zermatt and build an appetite for dinner.
The next day I ride that 19th-centu- ry engineering marvel, a cogwheel train up to the Gornergrat lookout, considered the best place to view the Matterhorn among other peaks. It is clear enough to see 29 mountains that top 13,000 feet.
After an hour of being mesmerized by this alpine wonder, I take the train down one stop, disembark and walk by Riffelsee Lake to bask in the Matterhorn’s reflection.
As I continue the descent on foot, every time I glance up at that majestic stand-alone peak, I feel like an extra in a Swiss chocolate commercial.
To complete the scene, I stroll through fields of edelweiss and other Alpine flowers before a brief coffee stop at the Hotel Riffelberg. Opened in1855, when Zermatt was becoming a summer-only tourist destination, it is the area’s oldest mountain hotel.
Mark Twain stayed here, and from its front you can take a trail that bears his name for another downward climb and another hearty out- door lunch looking up, yet again, happily, at the imposing Matterhorn.
Skiing in Zermatt started in the 1920s. And while today there are more winter than summer visitors, the gap is narrow. In 2016 there were two million overnight visitors, but nearly 900,000 of those came in the summer to hike, mountain climb or stay in town and attend cultural events such as an annual classical music festival.
Some also come to mountain bike. To solidify its attraction in the warmer months, Zermatt has started promoting this increasingly popular activity. The goal is to become a global destination for intrepid bikers. There are already 100 kilometres of trails with plans to develop more. All downhill. Michael Benedict was hosted by Switzerland Tourism and its partners, which did not review or approve this story.