View of the Matterhorn from Zermatt
Days 1 of 7: July 17, 2008
My friend, Dave Tipler, and I spent a week traipsing through the Swiss Alps in July. Dave was in Darmstadt, Germany for business, and I was in Roth, Germany for the Quelle Challenge. The timing worked out perfectly!
On Wednesday, July 16, I took the train from Roth (near Nurembourg) to meet Dave in Darmstatdt (near Frankfurt) and we drove down to Randa near Zermatt at the base of the Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps.
To get to Zermatt, we took a car train from Kandersteg to Goppenstein via the Lötchberg Tunnel. The train was able to carry tourist buses in addition to dozens of cars at a time.
Lötchberg Tunnel car train
On Thursday morning, we caught the train from Täsch to Zermatt (tourists and hikers were not allowed to drive to Zermatt) and our hiking adventures began!
On our first day, we climbed from Zermatt at 1,620 meters (5,314 feet) in the valley up through Furi and the Schwarzee to the Hörnlihütte SAC (Swiss Alpine Club hut for sleeping and eating) at 3,260 meters (10,696 feet) or roughly a mile higher. The Hörnlihütte which was as close as we could get to the Matterhorn without Alpine gear (crampons, ropes, etc). When we reached the hut, we enjoyed a $12 bowl of Goulash Soup - all the food and supplies are helicoptered in - before hiking another 4 hours down over and up to another hut (Gandegghütte), where we spent the night.
Dave and I on the way to Hornlihutte
The first day was the toughest day for me. We started our hike at 8:40 AM and finished at 7:10 PM, 10.5 hours later. Dave had tried to describe the hiking to me when we met for planning prior to leaving for Europe, but his descriptions fell on ignorant ears and I just didn’t get it. “No worries. I can do anything. I’m a Ironman-distance triathlete,” I had told myself prior to our trip.
I was humbled, and I was pushed outside my comfort zone physically from the steep climbing and mentally from the precarious hiking along narrow, uneven trails, which if one slipped or tripped, would lead to a 1,000 foot slide or even drop down the side of a cliff.
Two hours into our hike, we reached Furi, at the top of one of the Gondolas that came up from Zermatt. We had decided to skip the Gondola in order to warm up our legs to hiking. When we stopped at the restaurant at Furi, I crashed on the picnic table for half an hour from exhaustion. It was going to be a long, challenging day! One moment at a time is a mental strategy that I use for Ironman racing, which I applied this day as well.
In front of
I suppose that having a stomach bug the first four days didn’t help me, as I had to visit the WC (water closet or toilet) or find a large group of stones to hide behind every two hours. I don’t think all the other hikers in our hut appreciated me climbing out of the bunk to shuffle across the creaky floor to open the creaky door before heading down the stairs and outside to visit the WC in the middle of the night and back again. Ah, well, you play the cards you are dealt.
When we finally reached the hut that evening, dinner was already being served. Dave and I sat down and paid $7 each for one of the best beers that I had ever tasted. The food was delicious, too, but my stomach was unsettled, and I had to force feed myself while propping my exhausted head up with my hand. I have never felt as tired even after racing 140.6 miles in an Ironman triathlon!
At the hut, we met a family of four from Ohio. They were the only Americans we met up in the mountains during our trip, although we did see a few American tourists (not hikers) around the towns and villages.
Dave and I had a four person room with two sets of bunk beds to ourselves. In order to get to our room, we had to pass through the room the family from Ohio.
Hiking back
After a relatively sleepless night, we ate breakfast then headed back down the mountain to Zermatt.
Leaving Zermatt, we took the train back to Tasch then drove through the Lötchberg Tunnel to Kandersteg. Dave had originally planned for us to hike back into the mountains that afternoon in order stay in another hut, but we opted to stay in town at Hotel Ericka.
Day 2 of 7: July 18, 2008
The second day was our shortest day during our trip, as we decided that we needed to an easy day to recover from the first day in preparation for another long, tough hike on day 3.
Map of our hike on days 1-2
My adventures in the Swiss Alps will continues in my next blog entry.
More photos are available on my flickr site.
Live life fully and boldly!
David
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David B. Glover
Experiential Writer, Elite Athlete, Coach and Race Director
Author of Full Time and Sub-Nine
Personal Web: www.davidglover.net
Business Web: www.enduranceworks.net
©2008 David B. Glover
