ZERMATT, Switzerland (dpa) – The magical moment on the Matterhorn comes when the first rays of sun bathe the summit in a blushing red.
The moment is a slow one as the sun reddens the mountain’s 4,778 metres from top to bottom. In winter, you need only find an high spot on the steep streets of the ski resort of Zermatt or the banks of the Mattervisp, keep your eyes pelled and have a camera at the ready. At around 7.30 a.m. the Matterhorn begins to glow.There is little going in Zermatt at this time of year. Now and again an electric car whizzes by delivering luggage for newly-arrived hotel guests. Cars are not allowed in Zermatt which, with eight other ski resorts, is a member of the Association of Car-Free Swiss Tourist Resorts.All the same, from 8.30 a.m. on, the lanes are filled with winter sports enthusiasts, none of them with eyes for the beauty of this small village of wood chalets. In their heavy boots, lugging skies and snowboards, they are only interested in making it to the ski lift.Snow fans can chose from three varied ski regions comprising 250 kilometres of marked pistes: Klein Matterhorn, Gornergrat and Rothorn. The same ski pass covers all of them, and includes travel to Cervinia in neighbouring Italy.Nearest to the Matterhorn is the triangle made up of Schwarzsee, Trockener Steg and Klein Matterhorn. It takes the cable car almost 45 minutes to reach 3,885 metres above sea level. And as soon as you arrive the thin air takes your breath away.The key here is acclimatisation, taking it easy on the viewing platform, for instance, where the panorama makes you forget all your circulation woes. The view sweeps past the Matterhorn to take in more than 20 other “four-thousanders” and 14 glaciers.From there, it’s off to the pistes. There room for everyone outside the peak season: no pushing or shoving, just skiing or snowboarding at your own speed. Zermatt has more than just skiing, though. There is a snowtubing run, like a toboggan run which you travel round in a small rubber boat called the “tube”.There are blue tubes sticking out of the snow ridges beside the snowtubing run. They’re part of the snow-making equipment which skiing in Zermatt possible below 3,000 metres this winter. Very little snow has fallen this season, although only a professional would know that it’s artificial snow at the lower altitudes.Manmade snow is about all there is on the pistes around Gornergrat-Stockhorn, too. Here, a rack-railway – the old carriages still have wooden seats but the announcements are in Japanese – takes you up to an altitude of 3,090 metres, so high it seems you can almost touch the sky.The third ski region at the foot at the Matterhorn is very popular with beginners. To reach the area, you take the “Alpine Metro” through the mountains to Idiot Hill in the Sunnega-Blauherd-Rothorn area. Once there, novices can appreciate the free view of the Matterhorn and the comfortable “magic carpet” which takes them mysteriously up the hill. The cost of this adventure, though, is definitely not for beginners: a two-hour private lesson costs 102 euros (90 dollars).Otherwise a skiing holiday in Zermatt, which is preceded by its reputation as the haunt of the rich and famous, is eminently affordable. The drinks served in the ski huts are not over expensive and restaurant prices are comparable with those of a big German city.When the strength starts to wane after a hard day on skies, it’s time for apres ski. Because the last train leaves from the Sunnegga and Kleines Matterhorn areas at 4.30 p.m., the apres drinks are served below in the valley.A favourite meeting place is the ice- skating rink. While the little ones do their rounds on the ice or shoot down a little snow hill, the adults amuse themselves over “aperos” – generally white wine – on the terrace and gaze dreamily into the setting sun.When darkness sets in, many folk make their way to the Papperla Pub. The cornerhouse is a traditional, noisy Tirolean drinking-house where a generally young crowd meet. The ski village in the Valais mountains is actually the in place for snowboarders at the moment.Outside the pub’s soundproofed walls, Zermatt is quiet if not silent. The streets are clear now for pedestrians and cyclists now that the electric carts have delivered all the suitcases. Now Zermatt is beautiful and peaceful, a dolls-house village. In the dark, the Matterhorn can only be seen by a full moon. But in a few hours, on the next day, it begins to glow again.
