Skiing and hiking around Zermatt

Skiing in early September, yeah baby! Admittedly, that was a first for me. Usually I wait with the skiing season until late October. :) But this year I found myself on a short, three-day trip to Zermatt, Switzerland. After driving through the night for 8 hours we arrived at Täsch, a small town 6 km from Zermatt, at 5 a.m. As Zermatt is a car-free town, you need to leave your car in Täsch and take a train - yes, with all your luggage and skis and ski boots and everything.
We wanted to go skiing right away, but the cable car wasn't running due to strong winds, and the weather prevented me from taking lots of photos that day, too. Some people spend a week in Zermatt and never see the famous Mt. Matterhorn!


The following morning looked more promising.


Getting to the cable car station meant going down a steep path:


It's funny being dressed in your skiing clothes, carrying your skis on your shoulder, when the grass around you is so green. :) Not to mention it was very warm. But - the cable car takes you to almost 4000 meters above sea level.


I was busy taking photos through the glass of the cable car:


From the top Mt. Matterhorn looks completely different.


The couple of ski runs that were open were full of alpine skiing teams from various countries training for the coming season.


Me and Ivica Kostelić, the best alpine skier in the world. :)


Did I mention that skiing at the altitude of 4000 meters leaves you breathless after a couple of turns? Oh boy, I felt like I had asthma!

By 1.30 p.m. the snow was so soft it was better to call it a day. On the way back to the valley I had to take more photos:






After a hearty lunch back in Zermatt I walked around town a bit. Electric cars, narrow roads, picturesque houses. :)






The third day was a perfect cloudless day from the beginning. Well, a few puffy clouds would actually be nice.


This was my hiking day. I took an underground funicular and a cable car up a mountain on the other side of the valley from Mt. Matterhorn. The views of the surrounding mountains in the morning were spectacular.


But my primary goal was Stellisee, a beautiful lake in an even more beautiful setting.




I hiked down the mountain past some more lakes and streams, with the omnipresent Matterhorn always in view.






Back in Zermatt, it was a 30-minute hike back uphill from the cable car station to the hotel.




As if the trip hadn't been gorgeous enough, I was met with great light on the drive back home.


More photos can be found here.