Zurich - The Japanese tourists are like an excitable flock of sparrows: twittering and fidgeting as they wait in the morning chill, their Sonys, Nikons and Canons at the ready.
Even when you’re on holiday it is a truism that there is no gain without pain. Japanese, generally, are disciplined people, so it is no hardship for them to rise before dawn in anticipation of capturing the dramatic show. They’re fans, and fans will endure a lot for this particular rock star…
And this morning, the high altitude air in the Swiss town of Zermatt is bracingly pure, meaning the assorted cameras will have no trouble in capturing one of the most arresting images in modern-day tourism.
On cue – this is Switzerland, after all, and nothing runs on “Africa time” – the first rays of the sun splash over the summit of the Matterhorn, turning the dark shadows into craggy grey granite… and the shutters whizz.
Even though the golden light has softened the menacing aspect of the giant peak – which looks somewhat like a rhino horn or something from a Jurassic Age dinosaur – it does nothing to lessen the reality that this is no tame tourist attraction.
Every year, at least three people die trying to achieve the summit. Of all those who set out for the top (3 000 annually), only 40 percent make it.
Back in 1865, when the Matterhorn was officially conquered for the first time, by Englishman Edward Whymper, it was no walk in the park. On the way down, a rope broke and four men plunged to their deaths. Today, they are remembered in a small cemetery on the outskirts of Zermatt, which is the last resting place of many of those who have found that the Swiss Alps can be an unforgiving place.
A stroll through the Matterhorn Museum in the centre of Zermatt shows just how brave and tough these mountain-conquerors were. But, the Swiss are at pains to point out, though he was the first man to summit, Whymper couldn’t have done it without his Swiss guides.
But, while Sir Edmund Hillary recognised and honoured Sherpa Tenzing Norgay after the two summited Mount Everest in 1953, there is no record of the Swiss experts who helped the Englishman to the top of the Matterhorn. The remarks in the museum go some way to redressing that wrong.
Feats like the conquering of the Matterhorn fuelled interest in this part of Europe and gave growing impetus to the new phenomenon of “tourism,” which was born in and around the natural attractions of Germany, Switzerland, France and Italy from the 1850s onwards.
The influence of tourism, and the need to move people quickly and in comfort around Europe was the spur for the development of what are, arguably, the world’s best railway systems. Nowhere is this more evident than in Switzerland, where rail engineering reached its apogee in the efforts to conquer the Alps. Along with that was the development of cable cars and funicular railways, which transport people to the sort of heights only accessible to the likes of Whymper and his guides 150 years ago.
From Zermatt and its surrounding villages, a spiderweb of links spread out across the mountains and valleys, extending as far as Italy in the south and France in the west. Most of them operate in summer and winter. The snow blanket which carpets the area in the cold season gives a entirely different vision of the area.
Many South Africans who visit Zermatt do so in the winter months for the winter sport… apart from skiing you can snowboard, toboggan and skate.
But, says Zermatt Tourism sales manager Pascal Gebert, Zermatt is a year-round attraction. It is true that more people visit the town in winter than in summer (and at the end of the year, its 5 700 residents find themselves hosting as many as 20 000 visitors), but there are so many different activities in the summer months that Zermatt is becoming known as more than a skiing destination.
Not that you can’t ski in the warmer periods: high up on the glaciers, ski slopes are open year-round and a number of top competitors from European national ski teams favour Zermatt as a summer training base.
You don’t need a permit if you’d like to summit the Matterhorn – just common sense.
If that common sense tells you (as it does to me) that any sort of climbing which requires ropes and crampons is not for you, then what about hiking?
As we journey up with Europe’s highest cable car trip to the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise (opposite the peak itself and just below 4 000m high), we see Europeans of all ages – from small children to couples in their eighties – with warm clothing, hiking poles and backpacks.
Some get out half-way and walk up or down. Some go right to the top and then have a less strenuous walk down.
There is nothing quite like the height and majesty of mountains, coupled with clear, cool air and the sense of being able to see forever, to chill the soul.
Gebert says there are more than 400 km of summer walking trails, which take in all sorts of scenes, ranging from the barren scree and snow of the upper heights, to the forests and the alpine lakes.
And, wherever you look, there is a chocolate box picture. Even with the most basic photographic equipment, the Swiss Alps will make you look like a pro.
There are also plenty of mountain biking routes, including some which provide an adrenalin rush second-to-none… like barrelling down the lower slopes from Zunegga (the “sunny corner” of Zermatt) after going up on a funicular railway.
There are also some spectacular golf courses in the area, and they’re challenging, not because they are technically tough, but because the scenery is the ultimate distraction.
Zermatt itself is your quintessential Swiss town: the multi-storeyed wooden chalets are bursting with flowers on the windowsills in summer and blanketed in white in winter.
The people of the town are proud of the fact that they have always had a “car free” municipality. In the old days, all transport was horse-drawn and today, small, electric-powered utilitarian vehicles carry everything from people to freight. If you want to drive to Zermatt, you have to park your car at a town further down the valley and take a taxi.
The result is a town which is not only free of diesel and petrol exhaust fumes, but which is a place where the rumbles and burbles of the Visp River are the loudest sounds. The downside to that, though, is that you have to keep your wits about you when walking as you don’t hear the electric cars.
There are more than 120 hotels, ranging from three to five-star, as well as 2 000 holiday apartments (again varying in price) in the town. Prices will not be cheap to South Africans, but in summer they are certainly reasonable and the quality is excellent. Winter is much more expensive, because it is one of Europe’s foremost snow playgrounds.
l Brendan Seery was a guest of Swiss International Airlines, Zermatt Tourism and Swiss Travel System. - Saturday Star
IF YOU GO
l SWISS flies daily to Zurich from Joburg.
l SA passport holders need a Schengen visa.
l One Swiss Franc (the country is not part of the EuroZone monetary area) costs about R11.
l Swiss travel System offers multiple SwissPass options for train, bus and boat travel.
l Take warm clothing: even in summer, mornings in Zermatt can be nippy, and the mountains are cold – the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise is around - 5°C at this time of year.
l See www.swiss.com
www.swisstravelsystem.com
www.zermatt.ch