I am now in a place that in English we would call “The Carpet”.
But in German, they call it Zer Mat. ZER-MATT! ZERMATT! Geddit?!
*OUTSTANDING* humour, I know!
I was wandering around St Moritz the other day when I saw a train trip advertised that I’d never heard of before called The Glacier Express. It went straight through from St Moritz to Zermatt in 7.5 hours, a place I was going to visit again anyhow. After checking the weather and confirming it was going to be a stunning day today, I signed up: I paid the (ridiculous) 204 Swiss Francs [130 pounds] for the Second Class Ticket + Meal and the deal was done.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank one Mr Gordon Brown, our unelected Prime Minister who heads our democracy, for his policies which, over the last twelve years, have caused a devaluation of Sterling by 30% against the Swiss Franc in recent years. I really enjoy paying one third more for everything here than I have done in the past. It inspires feelings in me that I rarely experience towards another individual.
The trip was scenic, as promised, the weather was stunning, the food was good, and it delivered. It was expensive but it was a one off and probably the most scenic ride I’ve ever done. For more information on the trip (infact, for more information on planning any train trips, anywhere!) check out Seat 61. I’ve used that site for planning trips around Europe, Corsica and for “my big one” from Hong Kong to England a few years ago via Beijing, Moscow and Berlin. It has to be said that that site has remained true to its roots: it’s simple, it’s not cluttered with adverts, and it gets to the point. I like it.
And today I bought my first souvenir. WOOOO! I wanted a mascot to stick on the front of Naomi when I’m cycling across Australia and I figured this was ideal!
Moooooo
It’s worth pointing out that it’s a cow GIRL not a cow BOY. I don’t even want to think of the relentless – and I mean, RELENTLESS – Brokeback Mountain references that would have come my way if I’d bought a cow boy. I’ve decided to call her Moooooo. Not Moo. Not Moooo. But Moooooo with six o’s. Please: respect! Moooooo it is!
Anyway, after seeing The Glacier Express advertised, it got me thinking that despite hiking for nearly 10 weeks I hadn’t really seen any glaciers close up. So that was my mission!
The first hike was up over Fuorcla Surlej, about 1100m above St Moritz. By going over this pass you get into the valley that runs parallel to St Moritz. You can not really see much over the top of the pass until you are standing on it… and when you do, it’s full-on, in-your-face glacial city:
OOOOH!
From Fuorcla Surlej, it’s a two hour hike around to the Coaz Mountain Hut that sits perched on a rocky outcrop. If I didn’t mind the cold, and I didn’t mind the ice, and I didn’t mind the mountain huts, and I didn’t mind paying 7 Pounds for a sandwich, this would be a great place to spend the night. From here, you can undertake any number of glacier crossings or summit attemps on the surrounding icy peaks (suitably equipped and experienced, of course). The setting is stunning:
Left: hut approach. Right: hut view.
Looking back up at the hut on the descent shows how awesome the hut location is. Can you spot it?
After that, I had heard of a place called Diavolezza Hut which is about 45 minutes by train away from St Moritz. It’s a 1000m hike up from the train station to the hut from where you once again have a good view of the rapidly retreating glaciers. On the way into the train station at St Moritz from the Lake, they have an exhibition of photographs of this place from decades ago in black and white. Small, lone figures walking across huge, vast glaciers. People hiking up sheer ice faces with pick axes and basic ropes for security (none of this fancy ice-axe stuff!). It’s mesmerizing. I had to go there!
To get to Diovolezza, I was planning to hike up to Munt Pers (3300m) that is next to it and then descend to the hut. Unfortunately, I completely lost my way. The “panorama map” (a high level, low-detailed map of the area showing the hiking trails that the Tourist Information office gives out for free) neglected to mention that the ascent was, infact, an Alpine ascent where the way markings turn from “red/white” to “blue/white”. Or had I got the wrong trail? The problem is, I’m never quite sure what Alpine means: scrambling? Climbing? Technical equipment required? Glacial crossings? Snowfields? It’s probably written down somewhere. Anyway, given I was hiking on my own, I didn’t want to chance it so I descended 300 glorious metres and then reascended in the other direction to get to the hut.
It was a good day though and higher up it was once again Alpine desert. The last hour in particular reminded me of the Schiltorn ascent (also in Switzerland) including a few easy snowfield crossings but which I still *HATE*. However, it is fair to say that my Lowa Tibet GTX Pro Mountain Boots made kicking into this snow much, much easier than my Raichl GTX’s:
The glacier views from the hut were outstanding but unfortunately my pictures are not. This is embarassingly bad:
Anyone who has gone skiing will have seen far better. But I hate the cold and can’t imagine anything worse than paying good money to put oneself in a freezing environment. Middle Eastern mythology has it wrong. My idea of Hell is cold, not warm!
Now that I’m in Zermatt, I’ll spend four days here in a cheap Hotel with a “complimentary buffet breakfast” as they call it. I beg to differ! It’s not complimentary. It’s in the PRICE. And I intend to get my moneys worth!