The eternal attraction of the Matterhorn - winter vacation in Zermatt

By Bernhard Krieger Jan 3, 2012, 3:06 GMT

Zermatt, Switzerland - One can scarcely escape it. Not while skiing, not during a stroll through town, and not even while taking a shower. In Zermatt, the Matterhorn mountain is everywhere. The most photographed peak in the world draws everyone's attention.

Winter vacationers stare in fascination a the mountain's slopes which boldly rise up into the blue sky. The 4,478-metre-tall trademark peak has made the erstwhile poor mountain village in the Swiss canton of Valais wealthy and famous.

The Matterhorn has almost become synonymous with the country itself. The Swiss call it the 'stony Miss Switzerland.'

But the mountain only appears grand and majestic when seen from Zermatt. On the Italian side of the mountain, with its skiing area and total of 350 kilometres of ski runs, the mountain is called 'Monte Cervino' and looks completely unspectacular.

As a result, Matterhorn's fans quickly return to the Swiss side after they have completed their downhill skiing at Breuil Cervinia.

The best view of the Matterhorn and of 28 other peaks rising over 4,000 metres is from the ski runs located at the Gornergrat mountain (3,089 metres) and Rothorn (3,103 metres).

Exactly mid-way between them is the hamlet of Findeln.

A handful of farmhouses stand on the edge of the ski run on a mountain pasture and the Matterhorn towers over the scene - a dream setting for photographers and winter sports enthusiasts.

One of the farmhouses is in fact one of Zermatt's best cottage restaurants, 'Chez Vroni.'

On the mountain slopes and in the hamlet, at 1,620 metres elevation, are numerous top-class restaurants combining for a total of 246 Gault-Millau points.

The quirkiest one is 'Chez Heini,' where the owner, Dan Daniell, not only serves up an outstanding dish of lamb raised on his own pasture, but also sings 'Matterhorn hit songs' for the customers every evening.

The performance ends with Daniell's rendition of 'I have a dream,' which he recorded in a duet with ABBA singer Frida.

The Swedish singer has been living privately in Zermatt for years now, like the many wealthy people targeted by advertisements for luxury watches and private banks.

But in the down-to-earth town, few people actually go about flaunting their wealth. Most melt into the masses of visitors, who come not just for the skiing.

The daring ones go for tandem paraglider flights, or scale the icy walls at the Furi and Blatten waterfalls. There are 45 kilometres of winter hiking trails, sleigh-riding, and helicopter tours with 'Air Zermatt.' Especially inspiring are the rides on the mountain trains during a full moon.

The highest-elevation cable car in Europe takes visitors up to the nearly 4,000-metre elevation year-round skiing area of the Theodul glacier, or to the Swiss Alpine Federation's mountain lodge Neue Monte Rosa-Huette.

To get there you first go up the mountain on a cog railway to Gornergrat, and from that point via trekking skis, led by a mountain guide, to the remotely located high-tech lodge.

The route is not dangerous, contrary to the one on the Matterhorn. In the winter, the mountain has its peace and quiet, unlike the summer when thousands go climbing up it.

Some are not skilled climbers, and each year a number of them die on the mountain. Those who plunge down from the mountain wall are swallowed up forever by the 'glacier mailbox,' the mountain guides say.

Amid all its beauty, the Matterhorn also has a gruesome side to it.