296. Shopping High

Matterhorn, Switzerland

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Having waited three days for the weather today was the Matterhorn day. Woke at six thirty before the alarm went off so got off to a cracking start. The station is just an eight minute walk so I set off in good time for the nine thirty train to Visp then, reversing our tracks to Zermatt. We took the train as it is included in our discount card and the road stops at Täsch and we would have to train into Zermatt anyway. The brochure for the discount card states that it can be bought at the station however we arrived at Raron station to find it closed. Was relieved that there was no conductor on the train and we bought the two day travel pass at Visp without issue.

The discount card comes with a fantastic map above, which lays out the whole area in 3D. The three passes that we did is top right, yesterday's trip to Grimmentz departs bottom left, the rack railway to lview the Matterhorn is bottom right and tomorrows trip to see Europe's largest glacier from the Eggishorne Gondola is centre left.

Travelling to Zermatt I melted, sitting in the sun as the train was stifling. Oozed out at Zermatt for a brief respite before embarking on the rack railway's impressive five thousand climb.

Departing Visp for Zermatt .....

..... reading German newspapers found on the seats

Waterfalls, green and mountains, could be NZ

Big rocks in the distance

The train was sometimes wheel powered (fast) and rack on the steep bits.
Didn't stop to change.

First view of - The Matterhorn

The Matterhorn from the rack railway

We were up the front and once moving a door opened beside the driver
so Roman and Audrey rushed in.

Drivers compartment from our front seat

Steep, steep steep
Five thousand feet in total

Was quite pleased with this snap of the Matterhorn....

... until I got this coming out of the tunnel 

The Zermatt marathon was on, thousands of runners.
These ones had to wait for us.
Must admit, even if I could I have no interest in such events,
the competitors do not appear happy or healthy.
Good luck to em

Under avalanche shelters

Many passing sections.
These are the older trains that are half the size.
Out of the trees onto the open ski slopes

Roman

Audrey

Double track for the top half as this is for ferrying skiers in the winter

Tows everywhere.
I definitely have the itch

Progressing up at twenty kilometres per hour

Monster Glaciers, this is the Theodulgletscher

Nearing Gornergrat, hotel has two observatories on top

Loads of people coming down as the marathon was to here

Grenzgletscher

The Matterhorn
Took and deleted hundreds of virtually identical photos

Panorama 

Higher than one can fly without oxygen

Audrey, Iris, Fyfe, Roman and Jacqueline 

Audrey's chips ready to burst due to the low pressure at altitude

Breithorn Peak, 4,164m 

Fyfe and Roman shooting each other with the pay-per-view telescopes which nobody ever use

Thermals billowing up from Italy

KI Matterhorn Gondola

That's the Gondola in the centre of the snap

Iris

Black mountain birds are peoples souls - apparently

A helicopter silently flew as a dot in front of this

Grenzgletscher again

Loved the hotel chimneys
Can't imagine how these rocks stay put

Of course, there were shops.
Here Fyfe's birthday Swiss Army Knife is getting engraved 

The station

Loads of discarded thermal blankets to be snaffled, cast off by
marathon finishers

You are lucky, this is the last

Looked up at the station and saw this

Steepest platform I have ever seen

Maybe one more

Roman delighted with his incredibly expensive Panda
5:1, I didn't have a chance 

Front seat again

This snap doesn't count.
It is a train snap 

Audrey was keen actually

A snap of the catenary wire (left)

A flora snap

Its gotta be snapped

Audrey platting Romans hair on the long trip home.
Fifty five minutes felt like a long trip

Reminiscing

Matterhorn, September 2007
Dad, Ian (died Feb 2011); sister, Elizabeth; Mum, Almond; brother Tony
Taken with the same camera that Uncle Tony generously gave to Fyfe
Thank you Tony for this photo