Switzerland 

Matterhorn Ski Paradise

Map Detail: Breuil-Cervinia / Valtournenche (Italy)

                                                  Spotlight On Zermatt

                                                                                       (Originally written for OnTheSnow.com)
                                                                                                           by Ted Heck

This picturesque village in southern Switzerland is on nearly everybody’s list of favorite ski resorts. Superlatives soar when a skier talks of gliding by the Matterhorn.

The world’s most distinctive rock towers over Zermatt, a great pyramid that has had instant recognition ever since one’s fourth grade geography book. It is a centerpiece of a magnificent panorama that lures tourists year round, including many winter visitors who don’t ski at all.

For skiers the landscape is a sightseeing bonus as they ride lifts on major mountains. They access Sunnegga-Rothorn via a subway. A cogwheel railway takes them up the Gornergrat on a winding ride with frequent views of the Matterhorn and an awesome glacier. A series of cable cars and lifts carries them to the massive area of Schwarzsee-Trockener Steg-Klein Matterhorn.

The glacier that grows between Klein Matterhorn and its taller brother has wide-open, gentle slopes, a ballroom on which even novices can dance. It’s the major venue for skiing in summer. Beginners and intermediates have groomed slopes to choose from; experts have plenty of steep and deep stuff, including the drop-off on the Plateau Rosa where world speed records of 120 miles an hour and more used to be set. In the international domain that includes Breuil/Cervinia and Valtournenche in Italy there is a total of 121 miles of prepared runs.

Seventy-one lifts serve a region that offers a vertical drop of 7,200 feet and a longest run of 10 miles. Interspersed in the dazzling terrain are 38 mountain restaurants, where skiers can break for lunch over Swiss specialties. A favorite of this writer is Roesti, roasted string potatoes, topped with a fried egg, and helped along with a glass of beer.

A heavier lunch waits on the other side of the Matterhorn, in Cervinia, Italy. It is a journey that skiers in Zermatt add to their agenda, not for the pasta but for the run. A sunlit cruise that balloons every ego. Wide, manicured, treeless trails, mostly blues and reds, on which they can swing, sing and yodel.

Vacationers explore the village without fear of being run over by a car. Zermatt is a traffic-free town; cars are parked three miles away and skiers are shuttled in by train or taxis.

Folks who come from the Geneva gateway have a four-hour train ride, much of it along Lake Geneva and the Rhone River. Zurich airport takes an hour longer, but the trip is a spectacular ride through the mountains, encountering many tunnels and bridges.

Narrow streets in Zermatt are lined with shops and more than 130 restaurants and bars. Scattered among hotels and apartments are centuries-old buildings with the dark wood of wine barrels.

Zermatt is in the German-speaking part of the canton of Wallis, but a surprising amount of English is heard in the lively after-dark scene.

Travel agents and tour operators can put you into a five-star hotel that could cost you the price of a new pair of skis. But the town has 6,000 hotel beds and the same number in apartments. Some can be had for as little as $60 a day.

Do-it-yourself vacationers will find the tourist office helpful. They keep tabs on what’s available. Meanwhile, consult a thesaurus for new adjectives that you may need to describe your adventure.