Mesmerising Matterhorn

Majestic and mesmerizing, Switzerland’s Matterhorn is as breathtaking as they come.

- David Bowden

I could close my eyes and draw Switzerland’s mighty Matterhorn Mountain as it’s one of the world’s most recognised landforms. Now I’m in the village of Zermatt at the base of the mountain that towers 4,478 m above sea level, and continually mesmerised by the mountain’s many moods. Whether it be illuminated by the morning’s rays of sunlight or shrouded in clouds at dusk; it really is a magnificent sight.

Its sheer size and grandeur can be admired from many parts of the valley that snakes up from Visp in the Swiss canton of Valais (or Wallis for German-speaking Swiss).

Take a stroll around any part of historic Zermatt, dine in almost any restaurant or, sip a local Zermatterbier in one of the friendly bars and there’s a good chance that the Matterhorn’s ‘perfect peak’ will be in your gaze. Even when I was relaxing in the jacuzzi of the Christiania Hotel, there it was capturing the afternoon sunshine.

While it’s not Switzerland’s highest peak (that’s claimed by Dufourspitze at 4,634m), its shape and the challenge to climb it, makes the Matterhorn so famous (even Toblerone chocolate resembles the Matterhorn).

ALPINE GOLF

Described as an ‘Alpine parkland’ course, the Matterhorn Golf Club in Zermatt offers some of the most amazing views of any golf course with the Breithorn and Klein Matterhorn in clear view on most holes. The allwalking course is located at an altitude of 1,420m between the two villages of Täsch and Randa in the valley leading to Zermatt.

While just a nine-hole course, it’s the course to play for those venturing up to Zermatt and the Matterhorn. However, through ‘reconfigured’ tee boxes, the course can be played as 18-holes.