Zermatt: "The Best Day I've Ever Had in Switzerland"

We headed out to Zermatt mid-day Friday to meet up with all our friends for a weekend of skiing, snowshoeing, drinking, gorgeous views & loving of life. The weather was impeccable the entire weekend, not a cloud in the sky & bright sunshine despite the negative temperatures. Friday evening we stayed in town at the youth hostel which also provided us with a stunning view of the Matterhorn right out the window of both the 'boys' & 'girls' rooms (both nights our rooms were equipped with bunkbeds & slept 4, so we seperated along gender lines). Friday night we went out for a few drinks & ended up in a gorgeous hotel bar with cushy leather couches, a huge fireplace & for the boys, a pool table. We later looked up the hotel, turns out the cheapest room in the place goes for 630 a night. Guess we'll stick to enjoying their bar next time we're in Zermatt (and trust me, there will be a next time & a next time & well, hopefully a next time). The girls were all tired so we retired to the hostel early while the boys enjoyed the pool table & a few more beers.

Saturday morning we were up early enough to catch the sun rising on the Matterhorn from our hostel window. Seriously phenomenal. The skiing crew got out of town early & onto the extensive range of slopes that Zermatt has to offer. I stayed in town with Adam & Trish for a while before the 3 of us headed up as well. We all lunched together at the point where our snowshoe hike was to begin, sat on the terrace & enjoyed the bright bright sun. We started our hike at about 2900m & ascended to 3480m. The entire hike we were alongside one of the ski pistes, so we had the chance to see the others ski, Lachie rock the halfpipe & Joe & Erin attempting a 'jump' which Joe crashed & burned on the landing. However, they returned later in the day & Lachie filmed while Joe & Erin both attempted the jumps again, which they both landed beautifully. A, T & I were definitely sweating by the time we reached the hut, our lungs were burning & Trish '6 knee surgeries' Moyer had a swollen knee. Luckily, it was nothing that a little bit of rest, snow in a bag & Advil couldn't solve. So, the three of us hung about the hut, re-hydrating & eating trail mix until the rest of the group began to slowly file in for the night.

The hut was certainly interesting, nothing really like our last hut experience. Again we had 2 rooms of 4, complete with short bunks & enough space between the bunks for a maximum of 1 person to move about at a time. Additionally, the hut had one functioning toilet for all guests & other skiiers who were there for a bite to eat or apero. There was a sink outside of the toilet, but no running water. Luxurious, I know. ThankGod from all 8 of us that I remembered to pack the travel sized hand sanitizer, or else, yeah, I just don't really need to go down that road. Another exciting note, beside our group of 8, there was another couple & then a whole pack of Italian children ranging in age from 6-14/15, there with a few of there young adult male ski instructors. The kids were excited, loud & the leaders were not so much interested in quieting them down, a few occassional 'shushes' before they turned back to each other & their bottle of red wine. All in all, for kids, they were pretty well behaved, but still, none of got nearly as much sleep as we had hoped. Again, dinner was provided by the hut & it was actually quite good (we were in Italy after all) --- that's right, we snowshoed from Switzerland to Italy! We played a rowdy game of Taboo, enjoyed a night sky full of more stars than I've ever seen & looked down into the Italian valley where a gorgeous little town backlit almost an entire mountain peak. It was brisk enough to make a few minutes of awestruck staring sufficient before we hustled back into the warmth & glow of our friends & the hut. And this, was Joe's "best day I've ever had in Switzerland." Honestly though, I don't imagine life can really get all that much better.

Sunday the skiiers took off for a morning ski run into Italy in which they were the only ones on the piste. Can you imagine? The lifts weren't even running when we stepped out of the hut, (after a rough night of sleep & indigestion issues for the whole group of us --- apparently altitude affects more than just the old lungs;) and they enjoyed a completely untouched run. We also saw barely a soul for the first 90% of our descent on the snowshoes. As Trish said: "I feel like I'm on the Discovery channel." All we could hear were the crunch of our snowshoes & the occassional howl of wind. It really made me understand how people can risk their lives to get to the top of a peak or go off on their own to explore uncharted ground. The feeling of being surrounded by 360* of jagged cliffs, icy glaciers & pure quiet, the infinite scope & glory of nature, made me feel completely alive, totally calm.

We couldn't have hoped for a better weekend of weather, nor could we have ever dreamed how content gorgeous scenery, bodies strong enough to accomplish days of skiing/snowshoeing, plus a fabulous group of friends can make us feel.