#radicalsabbatical: Zermatt ‘Bound & Found

Friday, we hopped The Glacier Express, mid-day, from Andermatt to Zermatt – leaving Andermatt in some snow flurries. The train route is proclaimed as one of of the top scenic train rides in the world, so we were hoping for some clear weather. As luck would have it, we found blue skies when we popped out of the Furka tunnel, 15 minutes or so after we boarded. For the next three hours we chugged through alpine canyons and past snow covered peaks, viewing the picturesque scenery through the ceiling windows all the way to Zermatt. Prior to pulling into our stop we were afforded a quick glimpse of the Matterhorn, the same peak we'd be skiing around the next day. Aron & I loaded up on supplies prior to departure and enjoyed champagne, local cheeses, meats & chocolate during the three hour train tour... it's a good thing we've been getting frequent ski exercise on this trip...

The ski towns we’ve spent time in up to this point were quite sleepy and tame (in a great way), which led to some culture shock when we disembarked in Zermatt – it felt like Grand Central Station in comparison to where we'd been. The town of Zermatt is the ultimate ski town – I liken it to Vail – very busy, fancy and expensive, but also very beautiful. The town sits directly under The Matterhorn, which we are lucky enough to have a stunning view of right from our hotel balcony. It is quite a sight under a near full moon and then again at first light – really at any moment of the day.

Zermatt is also like no other ski resort in the US – it is a gigantic, mega-resort with an amazing network of lifts and miles, and miles of runs. I think we counted more than nine trams and eight gondolas in addition to an unimaginable number of lifts. You might only get four or five runs in a day because they are so involved and long.

On our first day, we took maybe five legs of gondolas and cable cars to the top, then skied down into Italy for cappuccinos and a fantastic pasta lunch (may take best meal status for the trip). The terrain was quite tame, so we traveled back towards the East side of the resort, traversing directly under the towering Matterhorn. The day was coming to an end, but we were able to do a little recon for some good skiing on our final ski day here in Switzerland.

The recon paid off in full today with a surprisingly ripping day of hidden powder gem after gem. It’s just amazing how much terrain is here if you’re willing to poke a bit further and look around that next corner.

Aron & I wrapped our Swiss skiing up with another amazing day, we feel very lucky as we both agree, we absolutely scored here in Switzerland. Every day was great in it’s own right, and all were so different from the other. The trip will no doubt go down as one of the best, and we’re sad to start packing as we make moves towards Cali tomorrow afternoon.