Conquering the matterhorn

At dawn, we woke to this view and thought - this is the day.  It's the Matterhorn or bust!

 We couldn't have wished for better weather and the view of this magnificent mountain beckoned us to get a closer look.

 From our balcony I said, let's go for a walk to admire the view but Bob said let's go to the top and ski the glacier!!!!  The Matterhorn is 4500 metres above sea level (twice as high as our highest mountain in Australia.  Oh *#^*  I thought to myself!!!  Well,  I have never skied before but thought why not give it a go.

 As the dawn gave way to morning, the view continued to improve and firmed our resolve to conquer the mountain.

 The highest point reachable by cable car is called Kleiner Matterhorn 3900 mtrs high which is the small pointy mountain in front of the majestic Materhorn which is jut under 4000 metres high, so armed with this information, we ventured to the sports store to equip ourselves for the adventure ahead.

 So there we were with all our inadequate gear and were told our hats, gloves, pants, glasses etc weren't good enough so we hired everything we could muster up and headed up the mountain where it was  minus10 degrees celsius.

 Here I am, feet in a vice, in a cold sweat from anticipation and fear, oh **** what have I let myself in for!!!

 3 cable car rides later, and a nose bleed,  we have elevated ourselves from 1600 mtrs at Zermatt to 4000 mtrs at the Klenier Matterhorn.  On parts of the ride we encountered sheer cliff faces that we passed over.

 The cable car was packed with locals and visitors looking at doing the same thing...

and was also filled with a whole lot of 'show offs' kids as young as 6 years old, armed with their winter gear and skis and ready to hit the slopes...

At one stage, all we could see was snow capped mountains all around us.  I have never seen so much snow in my life...

When we arrived at the top we headed for a 'blue' run (beginner) so as to teach me how to ski.  So we headed down the slopes.  'It looks mighty steep to me' I said and with Bob's assurance he said 'You'll be fine'.  So off we went.

Bob then realised as we descended that the 'blue run' was actually closed and we were on a 'red run" (Medium to hard".)

'What have I put myself in for' says Jen looking over the cliff on the right hand side - "oh that's nothing Bob says, it's just the wall of death'.  You'll be fine!!!

Imagine my surprise - thank God the ski pants were hired ones... and it's amazing what freezes at minus 10 degrees celsius.

So do this, do that Bob says, but I had one foot which couldn't turn towards 'the wall of death' for fear of going over the edge.

An hour later, 300 metres down the slope and about 3 falls and 6 rests later, I looked at the fast steepening slopes and said to Bob, 'How would you like to have a great run yourself and I will head back to the cable car on foot'.

Well, Bob headed down the slopes being the experienced skier that he is - having a great time and I trekked my way back up the mountain (for about an hour or so - yes, only 300 metres but a .... hard walk uphill at 4000 mts above sea level).  I have a renewed respect for Edmond Hillary.

I could only manage a few steps at a time and had to rest every 10 feet or so.  I was looking for the great St Bernard with the whiskey tied to his collar but he was nowhere to be found. I was looking for a triple whiskey at this stage. I think that is just something that they put in movies.  If there was really a St Bernard I would have adopted him on the spot.

All the show offs - kids of all ages, zoomed past me without a passing thought - no one stopped to see if the old lady needed any assistance, and so I kept going, with the threat of a pending storm hanging over the mountain.

I am going to die here I thought - if not from exposure then from exhaustion.
However, there is a God and I finally made it back to the cable car.

By this stage my toes were numb from being in the vice which they call ski boots.

I agreed to meet Bob at the bottom of the second cable car and when I reached the first stop to exit, my ski pass wouldn't work - it was actually the room key to our hotel and I assumed that Bob had my ski pass with him, but when we finally hooked up I found out that it was in my pocket - silly me!. LOL.

Eventually we caught up, swapping stories of our adventures on the Matterhorn only to find out that there was only one way down and that was a 10 km run which Bob did falling on his ribs and spraining his wrist after going over a 5 mtr cliff by mistake.  Boy am I glad I walked back..

Overall we had a great time - we came, we saw and we conquered or fears, but once is enough!!!