This post is really nothing but videos. I made three videos from our three favorite hikes from our week in Zermatt. Be advised, I do NOT spend a lot of time editing them for perfection. There will be a couple of hands across the lens moments!
Two of the videos I enhanced the speed. One is a video of us crossing the suspension bridge, and the other is the gondola ride up to the secondary peak of the Kleinmatterhorn (Small Matterhorn).
5 Lakes hike
This was the first hike we took. We took a funicular train and then a ski lift up to the Blauherd stop. This is about 3/4 of the way up the mountain, and then we hiked down to the Sunnegga stop. By the name you go around 5 different lakes on the mountain. Most of this hike was downhill. The uphill part is basically the last mile. However, we did the hike in reverse. If we did it the “right” way it is a mile downhill, and then about 5 miles uphill. I think we did it the smart way. The best part about doing the hike backwards is that with about 3/4 mile left to go, there is a restaurant. So we were able to stop and have a beer before finishing.
Kuonen Hängebrücke Hike
This was by far the most challenging of the hikes we made. It was another roughly 10 kilometer hike. What set this one apart from the others was the amount of elevation. The hike is published at 966 meters of elevation. However, this starts at the published trailhead. The trailhead is probably 100 meters (or more) above the town. So I have no qualms about calling this a 1000 meters of elevation. The trail was pretty good up, even nicer was the fact that there were benches periodically so we could sit, have some water, and rest. It was a relatively cool day, but you will see from the sweat on my shirt that you put forth an awful lot of effort going up the hill. Going down was not a whole lot better. The trail going down was not as wide and there were many places you were simply crossing rock slide areas. It was by far the most difficult of our hikes, but crossing the bridge was amazing. Until this year, the bridge was the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in the world. Julie has some issues with heights; so I was a little scared for her, but she was a trooper, and made it across with out many issues.
Glacier Paradise Hike
The last hike we did was hiking down the mountain next to the Matterhorn. This was the same mountain I was skiing on when we were here in February of 2020. I have to say the hills are even more intimidating in the summer. The snow seemed to level things out a little. During the summer you see how steep and rocky the slopes really are. The video is not so much our hike as it is the ride up to the top of the Kleinmatterhorn (Small Matterhorn). You are in a small gondola for 3/4 of the way up the mountain, but then for the last part you get into a gondola that holds about 30 – 40 people (probably 50 during the ski season when they really smash you in there). It is a beautiful ride, and it takes about 35 minutes from the bottom to get to the top. That is not including the wait at the station where you have to change. The first video is right at 35 minutes long, but if you want to skip to the most scenic part skip to the last 10 minutes. The second video has been sped up to about 1 minute 45 seconds.
I hope you enjoyed the videos. If you would like to see more of our adventures, please add your email address to the text block below and click submit.
Thank you for reading my ramblings. I hope you have a great day.