Zermatt, Matterhorn

(3 photos)
We drove toward Zermatt to see the Matterhorn. The road ends at a huge parking lot in Tasch, about 12 miles from Zermatt. Right across the railroad track from the station is a campsite. Rather primitive, but they had electricity, and we can leave the camper there when we ride the train to Zermatt — we've stayed here two different years.

Well, maybe this version of the Matterhorn reminded us just a little of Disneyland, but the view from most anywhere in Zermatt is fantastic.
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Klein (little) Matterhorn is the highest sightseeing point in Europe, accessible by cable way. The first portion of the ride was in a gondola with eight seats, then a cable way continues to station Trockener Steg, where we found a restaurant and had a cup of hot chocolate on the outdoor patio. A friendly man volunteered to take our photo. Again we were careful, but there was no place for him to run with our camera, if he had such an idea!

Then we rode another cable way up to the Klein Matterhorn (12,736) to a world of mountains, glaciers and permanent snow. The cable car was filled with people with skis, even in the summer time. People buy season or annual passes, and ski all year. We understand in the winter it's often possible to ski the whole way down to Zermatt. The fantastic Matterhorn was in view all of the time. We walked through a tunnel in the mountain after we got to the top station of the cable car, and could watch people sking on mountains on the other side of the Klein Matterhorn.

When we returned to Zermatt, I saw a couple of young fellows trying to decide if they should buy tickets for the ride. I noticed that our tickets were good until 1:00 PM, (they cost $37) so I sold the tickets to them for half price. And while Emmy thinks I was a meany, I think I was a good businessman.
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The Sunnegga Express is a funicular built entirely in a verticle tunnel to transport the skiers up 7,500 feet. Now that means that the tunnel was dug inside the mountain, up to Sunnegga, the top station, where there is a splendid panorama of the Matterhorn (14,590 feet).

To reach the bottom station of the funicular we walked through a 500 foot horizontal tunnel to the bottom station, that was located far inside the mountain. We then rode the funicular, much like an elevator, through the tunnel, to the station at the top — really an engineering feat. At the top of the tunnel, we visited Restaurant Sunnegga, again with the Matterhorn always in sight.