DAY 33 – CABLE CAR TO THE TOP OF THE WORLD

Time to get a different view of The Matterhorn. Flying just over my hotel balcony every day are cable cars that sail right up to the top of the mountains. I’ve watched them sail overhead for miles, so far that I can’t see them anymore – they become small dots in the distance, then disappear. The weather this morning was perfect – so I walked the 50 meters to the station and boarded.

            With a car all to myself, I could sit back and enjoy the 360-degree views as I glided up the mountainside. There are a few stops along the way, but I just wanted to get to the top.

            At times we soar high above the ground – other times we seem to almost brush the treetops. But the whole way the ground is strewn with jagged rocks – definitely not a place you want to get stuck.

            Zermatt is periodically visible in the distance – and soon jagged rocks are replaced with snow and a sloughing melting glacier.

            There are still some clouds today, but as I head upward they are mostly just wispy ones – so the views of all the mountains is spectacular. Thicker clouds are in the distance, so this amazing view probably won’t hold for long.

            We get to the top of the Kleine Matterhorn – the Matterhorn’s baby brother. The air is thin here – there’s a restaurant that boasts the elevation of 3883 meters (12,740 feet). I head in for a late lunch and a lovely view – and score a corner table. The food is only mediocre – but the view is sooooo worth it, and I just pick at my food. From this vantage point I can see both the Italian Alps and the Swiss Alps – and a small Italian town nestled in the foothills. As I sit there, thick clouds roll in – with the blue sky tries to peek through.

            After lunch, I head toward the elevator going down INTO the glacier. They have carved tunnels in the glacier and created a Glacier Palace – ice tunnels filled with ice sculptures. Even in the afternoon it’s only 37-degrees up here on the mountaintop, and considerably colder inside the glacier tunnels.

            As the afternoon winds down and there is a momentary break in the clouds, I head back to the lift to head back to Zermatt. A lovely ride back down, and perfect timing as the Matterhorn breaks through the clouds and journeys with me.