In the Shadow of the Matterhorn
In the Shadow of the Matterhorn
Editors Note: This article comes from SeniorsSkiing reader Elliot Entis.
For the week of Christmas oblivion, I was skiing the Matterhorn with family: Cervino Italy connects with Zermatt on the other side of the divide to form one very large ski arena. We lodged on the Italian side where the prices are half of staying in Zermatt, the food is better and you can ski both sides anyway. But in the Italian side you do miss out on Royalty watching. The princes and princesses are all in Zermatt (I know cause we all gondola’d over the top for lunch among the glitterati, and yes they glittered, though it was not clear if they actually skied). It was a family week: my wife Margaret, myself, son Jon with wife Martina and two tween and younger granddaughters. What could be better? Well… maybe a bit more snow? Yeah the plague struck there as well. They actually had enough to ski on, hard pack but not icy, no powder. But that’s not really the point: you go for the skiing but you stay for the scenery. What’s not to love skiing in the shadow of the Matterhorn, towering above you in touching distance from every angle.? Bucket List. And don’t ignore the restaurants dotting the slopes . Not EPIC pass cafeterias, real restaurants where both skiers and poseurs can mingle, some wobbling back to the piste, others like myself stretching out and trying to figure out how to avoid the drunks on their apres lunch lurch downhill. And yes, at least once I was not totally successful, but she did apologize after crashing into me. Burp on.
My takeaway; I call the place “Practice Mountain”, wide open slopes where even the Blacks are just Blues, no trees, just all relaxing fun skiing but ultimately boring if you stay long and the off-piste slopes (that look like Vail’s Back Bowls) are not covered . But no complaints, and as suggested, you’re there for the gestalt. And that it has in epic abundance. Plus I learned a lot about local geology. After a day of scenery gazing I suddenly realized what the name Matterhorn means. With my brilliant powers of deduction, after seeing dozens of identically shaped lesser peaks surrounding the gigantically larger Matterhorn, I was dumbstruck by a flash of inspiration: Of Course! It’s the Mother Horn! Not only that I learned a bit about how this all came to be: a tale of the kingdoms of ice, schist, Africa and Europe.
But I won’t bore you with more. Likely you knew all of this before, or you can look it up.
And with my tale of the snows of yesteryear, I wish you great hope and happiness for the New Year. And a word of advice: keep a passport within reach.
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We much prefer staying in Cervenia over Zermatt for a number of reasons.
It is on the sunny side of the mountain range, and much easier to reach resorts line Courmayeur, La Rosier, La Thuille, and Chamonix.
Plus, it is always fun to ski the Val Blanche from the Italian side via the Heilbrunner Hut.
Great part of the world!
I loved your story; I’ve skied Zermatt/Cervinia many times, and it is always my recommendation for first-timers to European skiing. You can’t beat the views and the Gemutlichkeit! You won’t believe this, but on my first trip to Zermatt, in the summer of 1970, we arrived late at night, couldn’t figure out our bearings, and so we hiked a couple of hundred feet up the hillside and pitched a tent, where we spent our first night. That’s hard to imagine doing in the mini-city Zermatt is today!
In 1979, I back packed Europe with a friend. Near trip end, in July, we arrived in Zermatt. Back then very few credit cards in existence. We needed our limited cash to get back. About 10 years ago I was back to Zermatt, in July again, with many credit cards. Rented skis and took the tram up the glacier. My wife took one on my favorite photos stepping into my bindings before heading down. I saw at the start a hand written sign, in some language, which I could not read. I stopped for a beer mid-day, were the above photo was taken, looking out at Italy, France, Switzerland, and the Austrian/German Alps. When I went to the glacier lift to load I learned the earlier sign said lifts close at noon due to the snow being too soft. I had a tremendous run down the glacier back to the village looking back at the Matterhorn during the descent. Your sorry reminds me I need to go back.