The Matterhorn from the top of Gornergrat
When I was a kid and started Snowboarding I always dreamed of going to Zermatt, Switzerland to ski the Matterhorn. I've always loved the mountains, hiking, camping, snowsports, etc. and I've always been drawn to the Swiss Alps. This weekend was a long weekend for me from work, and with Fiona and the kids in Texas, instead of moping around alone in our huge house in Bulgaria, I took the opportunity to finally go to Zermatt and snowboard the Matterhorn.
Looking at the Matterhorn from below Gornergrat, about to drop into the Riffelberg valley
Looking down on Zermatt from Schwarzsee Paradise
The town is beautiful and surrounded by breathtaking views of the Alps on all sides. Even though there was a lot of people the lifts and town didn't feel crowded. Rob met me in Zermatt and we never had more than about a 3 minute wait for any lift or gondola. And we never had a hard time finding a table at night for dinner, though part of the reason was probably because we ate dinner at like 5pm since we were two beat old men after a full day of skiing.
Looking at the Matterhorn from my hotel balcony
The Zermatt cathedral at dusk
The skiing is just as amazing as the views and the town of Zermatt itself. The resort covers huge amount of territory in Switzerland and Italy, and you can ski both sides with your lift ticket. The longest run was just over 22km's long, and most of them took 30 minutes or longer to go down, even if you were moving fast the whole time. And to top it all off the place is dotted with little Swiss (Italian on the Cervino side) restaurants all over the slopes. The food is amazing, the skiing is amazing, and the views are amazing. I honestly don't know if I can ski anywhere else now everything else will just not measure up to the experience of the Matterhorn!
Looking down on Cervino, Italy from Plateau Rosa Testa Grigia
It's hard to see but there are Mountain Goats grazing on the knoll in the distance
Nothing like accordions and yodeling to go with hot chocolate and apple strudel after a long day of skiing!
A short clip carving under the Matterhorn (no tricks, mostly just for Nuala and Bran to see)
Some quick stats:
Day 1: vertical drop 11,434 ft; total ski time 3hr 15 minutes
Day 2: vertical drop 21,400 ft; total ski time 6hr 49 minutes
Day 3: vertical drop 23,500 ft; total ski time 7hr 05 minutes
10 comments:
Wow, Zac, you are a man who lives. That's awesome you got to go! It's so beautiful! I always wanted to go to the Alps and Greg never did, so it just never happened. I loved that clip of the band!!!!
Way cool. Way to take advantage of an opportunity
I can't believe Greg never wanted to go to the Alps... of course it's insanely expensive. When Fiona and I went as students we couldn't afford anything... Seriously, I didn't eat for the 2 days we were there!
Looks amazing there, hon! I love that band...I so wish I coulda been there with you! Not in my current condition, of course, but still... :) Nice boarding, too, I'll be sure to have N&B watch it! Even if there are no fancy maneuvers (sp?), (which, by the way, he is quite capable of!) no wipeouts either, so pretty good ;) Though wipeouts are always fun, too, haha! I'm so glad you had a great time, and that you snowboarded your rear off and got your $$s worth! Love you and miss you TONS! Less than two weeks!!
And while Z didn't eat when we were there those 2 days, I had the BEST $8 bowl of chicken broth with an egg EVER! Nothing can surpass that. Seriously. I was so sick and it was just perrrrfect...
Wow, Zac, that is awesome! What a gorgeous place to be, I'm glad you got to fulfill a life long dream...very cool pictures and videos, you make me almost want to give winter board sports another try. I'm glad y'all had fun.
Oh man, that looks awesome. I am totally jealous...
I just got some new hiking/mountaineering boots and can't wait to try them out this weekend. I am going to head out to Mt. Mcloughlin with a friend and snow camp this weekend. (well, that is the plan at least...) Anyway, glad to see you are having some fun while the fam is in Texas.
Greg
McLoughlin will be fun, wish I could come with you! I'm going to go to a mummers festival Sat morning I think, and then ski the afternoon away.
Looks like another great adventure for the memory bank. Wish I could have been there for that one. I haven't snowboarded in years, it is so crowded and expensive around here that it is not worth it. But even your short video brought back a little of the adrenaline feel of the good days on the slopes.
Cool! Alex loved the videos. here is what he has to say about them:
hn g g jyh
OK, so he got a little stuckbb o on the space ba6r and now I am being attacked.
As always, I'm jealous...
Looked like a lot of fun!!
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