By Betty Gordon
© 2022 text and photos. All rights reserved.
This is the first in a series about my October trip to France and Switzerland.
There are taller peaks in the Swiss Alps but none with so instantly recognizable a profile.
Some describe its shape as looking like a shark’s dorsal fin or an elongated triangle.
It’s so famous that Swiss-founded chocolate company Toblerone uses its image on its packaging.
What is this granite behemoth? It’s the Matterhorn, of course, and a trip to Zermatt in the southern Swiss canton of Valais is the best place to get a really good look at it.
The view from my Zermatt hotel was excellent, especially in the morning as the sun rose. Enchanting may be a strange word to describe a mountain, but I think it’s fitting in that the Matterhorn is always beckoning the viewer to take another look, snap just one more photograph. On a fine day, when you think it couldn’t be more gorgeous, it somehow presents a tantalizing new variation from the last time you stole a glimpse.
One minute I was enjoying my buffet breakfast at La Couronne hotel, watching through the windows as the shifting light reflected off the very top of the left face, making that section seem like a shimmering golden pyramid. The next I had grabbed my camera and phone and darted outside onto the hotel’s patio for an unobstructed look and to take yet more pictures.
The weather can be iffy in mid- to late October, with a chance of rain (or possibly snow) and/or mountain-obscuring cloud cover. A chief reason to go in the offseason is the absence of crowds, and though this was my first visit to Zermatt — but not to Switzerland — I imagine it must be a totally different place covered in snow and overrun by winter enthusiasts.
I probably should have built an extra day or two into my itinerary as a weather hedge, but as it turned out, the one full day I had in Zermatt the conditions were spectacular: nearly cloudless sky, abundant sunshine, little wind and a comfortable temperature.
So my plans to get a closer look and do some Alpine hiking were literally on track as my friend Sylvia and I walked from our hotel on Kirchstrasse (overlooking the Vispa River) to the Gornergrat train station, directly across from Zermatt’s main station on Bahnhofstrasse.
In little more than a half-hour, the purpose-built Gornergrat cog railway train covers about 5.9 miles (9.4 kilometers) and makes four stops as it whisks passengers through dense forests, particularly lovely in autumn colors, and some tunnelless, treeless sections up to Gornergrat station.
(From June to September, visitors can learn about black-faced, spiral-horned sheep in the meadows between specific stations, where the woolly flock is tended to by a multilingual shepherdess.)
Sit on the right side of the train for the best views — the windows open inward at the top section — and you should even be able to see part of the path that ambitious hikers can tread from Zermatt (elevation 5,266 feet/1,605 meters) all the way to Gornergrat, the highest open-air station in Europe (10,132 feet/3089 meters). The literature says to allow five hours one way for the on-foot trails.
The Gornergrat route, which took two years to build, was the first all-electric cog-wheel train to open in Switzerland, on August 20, 1898. It was billed as an “excursion” train, with developers looking to expand accessibility and to capitalize on the public’s growing interest in Alpine pursuits and the great outdoors in general.
At first, it operated only in the summer, but by 1928, with improved technology, year-round travel was possible except for the highest station, further igniting the boom that cemented Zermatt’s spot among snow-loving athletes and wannabes. By the early 1940s, the Gornergrat summit finally was reachable in winter.
Snow may cover parts of the route for up to eight months of the year. Snow blowers can move up to 3,000 tons of the white stuff per hour, but in some cases, good old manpower is needed to clear the cog racks themselves, using pick axes and shovels.
At the top is an easily climbable platform with an awe-inducing view of the Matterhorn and the whole mountain range for that matter. There’s also a hotel with a terrace and observatory, a cafeteria, several souvenir shops, a small church, and a virtual multimedia experience (Zooom the Matterhorn), admission to which came with our tickets but we didn’t investigate.
For the record, Monte Rose, also known as Dufourspitze, tops out at 15,203 feet (4634 meters) to claim Alpine bragging rights here and for all of Switzerland. The Matterhorn rises to 14,692 feet (4478 meters). You’ll also be able to see the serpentine Gorner glacier, the third largest in the Alps.
The Gornergrat railway runs 365 days a year, with frequent departures, but times vary with the season. With a round-trip ticket, riders can get off and on at different stations, as we did on the descent.
At the first stop from the top, Rotenboden (9,236 feet/2815 meters), we disembarked. Our goal: Hike to Riffelsee lake, where the still-as-glass water captures the Matterhorn’s reflection producing, perhaps, the most spectacular photo of all. This is probably the image you’ve seen because it’s popularly used in books, online and in promotional material.
In his Switzerland guide, American travel guru Rick Steves recommends this hike, which generally becomes navigable in late June. Signs across from Rotenboden station point the way; follow hike No. 21. The first part ascends, but not for too long, as it then winds into a valley toward the lake.
Except for some intermittent tiny blue flowers, the uneven terrain was mostly grayish and barren, with the summer grasses and plants now just a memory. The path itself lacks good signage, but we could see people up ahead, likely with the same destination in mind.
After about 20 minutes or so, Riffelsee lake came into focus, where earlier arrivers were clustered taking photos, ringing the portion of the water closest to us.
I cannot say strongly enough how magnificent this vista is, especially on a perfect-weather day. Again, the mirrored mountain, writ even larger (if that’s possible), is exactly what people imagine when they think of the Swiss Alps. Though I have a good digital camera, the photos I took with my phone are every bit as inviting.
As we continued downhill, signage did not improve, but from Steves’ advice, we knew to swing out to the left, and so we did. Again we could see people farther in front, and conditions were fine and stable, so we just took our time and were cautious with our footing.
After about another 40 minutes, we could see the next station, Riffelberg (8,471 feet/2582 meters), but it took 30 more minutes to reach it. Total distance of the hike: About 3.1 kilometers. And we just missed the train. So we bought some snacks and sat outside in the sun awaiting the next departure.
The whole outing took about five hours round trip. I was wearing a light jacket and carried my hooded coat, expecting the higher elevations to be cold. This proved not to be the case, and on the hike down, I even took off my jacket.
The first successful ascent of the Matterhorn was not until 1865, when British engraver Edward Whymper (1840-1911) finally reached the summit, on July 14, on his eighth attempt. With six others in his party, they spent an hour at the top.
The descent was, however, disastrous. All the mountaineers were roped together. One climber slipped and fell, the rope broke and caused four climbers to slide at least 4,000 feet until Whymper could no longer see them. Three bodies were later recovered but not that of Lord Francis Douglas, a Scottish novice mountaineer, whose body was never found.
Zermatt’s small underground Matterhorn Museum is dedicated to all things mountain-related. Nearby is a mountaineers’ cemetery (more than 500 people have died on the Matterhorn), and a plaque on the side of the Monte Rosa Hotel is dedicated to Whymper.
Note that the fall off-season in Zermatt usually encompasses the later part of October into early December, and many of the hotels and restaurants close for renovations before ski season. Getting a hotel reservation was not an issue, but finding food at a reasonable price was. Switzerland in general is an expensive destination, and even the simplest dinner entree can run from 20 Swiss francs up.
With options limited, we ate twice at the Papperla Pub, several doors down from our hotel. The food was good and filling, and not totally budget-busting. I had the chicken burger with fries one night and a large salad the next.
Quick reference: Gornergrat Bahn (the Matternhorn railway): https://www.gornergrat.ch. The price will vary if you are using any of the Swiss Rail passes. With no rail pass, I paid 110 Swiss francs, about $110. Seems expensive, yes, but I think it was worth it. This site outlines the hiking/biking/skiing options by season, has links to timetables, and you can buy your ticket in advance online. Full occupancy is about 2,500 riders per departure.
Zermatt has more than 100 hotels and apartment rentals, and hundreds of chalet accommodations. Some visitors also commute from Täsch, which is the train last stop before reaching Zermatt. Hotel La Couronne (at Kirchstrasse 17) was one of the most enjoyable of our trip, and I would recommend it. It also has complimentary shuttle service from the train station to the hotel (but not vice versa); you can request that service by phone or email. https://www.hotel-couronne.ch/willkommen.html
Papperla Pub: Steinmattstrasse 36, Zermatt. https://www.julen.ch/en/papperla-pub/
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