Zermatt - Part One

The first thing I see when I arrive in Zermatt is a mural dedicated to Lucy Walker, the first female climber to summit the Matterhorn- I already like this place! My hostel, Hotel Bahnhof is surprisingly quiet for somewhere with a name that literally translates as Hotel Train Station. It’s wooden and alpine and has me craving the mountains. As I’m late arriving, I find my key left at reception for me and head to my room- ‘4. Dom’. I assume the sign maker has stuffed up the dorm sign. It’s only later when I find myself smiling at one of the rooms being called Annapurna that I realise I’m in a room named after The Dom, the highest mountain completely in Swiss territory and as I notice the next morning, a peak I have a view of from my bed.

There’s a magic about Zermatt. Steeped in mountaineering history, it’s situated at the foot of some of Switzerland’s highest and most iconic peaks. The town itself sits at 1620m above sea level, almost 300m higher than the peak of Ben Nevis.

On my first night I set out to find a view point of the Matterhorn. With a location scouted I head back to my hostel and set out everything I need for a quick and quiet getaway. Alarm set for a few hours time, I get some rest before I find myself hiking up some steep steps at the outskirts of town.

It’s 1am, the sky is incredibly clear and I’m struggling for breath as I climb higher. I write it off as tiredness before I remember that it’s likely the altitude. Somewhere in the back of my brain I remember that there’s a link between dehydration and altitude sickness. I’m not high enough to be worrying about anything serious, but the body starts to show effects of altitude around 1500m which is why people often get nosebleeds and headaches, and a little more out of breath when staying up in the mountains.
I make a note to guzzle some more water when I get back to the room to make it easier for my body to get back into the swing of things.

I spend the next two hours hopping around waiting for long exposures on my camera to finish as bats swoop overhead. It’s a beautiful night and although I can’t quite make out the Mountains with my bare eyes, i spend my time picking out stars and constellations. Eventually I decide I should probably call it a night as I’ve got a busy day ahead tomorrow and so I skulk back into my hostel trying to avoid waking anyone.

(The line in the starry photo is a plane that flew through at just the right moment!✈️)Read more