Day Five – 11/1/2014: On Which a 8 year old French Boy Loudly Exclaims “What the F*ck!??”

One of the best parts of our Zermatt hotel was the fact that the room included a very tasty continental breakfast complete with dried meats, cheese and of course delicious breads and jellies.  After filling our bellies, we headed along with throngs of other people to the southern end of the town where the gondolas await to whisk you up even higher into the mountains.  The gondolas are automated and never seem to stop; you just hop into one as quickly as you can (after hanging your ski equipment on the outside, if applicable).  Sam and I were joined in our little car by a French family of four, including the above-referenced 8 year old.

The sight that produced the singular exclamation noted in the title was the long downward sweep we took before heading back up again.  Zermatt sits at roughly 5200 feet above sea level but we were climbing all the way up to 9600 feet on top of Trockener Steg. And to get there you go up and down several different valleys and peaks to give the poor posts holding up these never-stopping cable cars a fighting chance. Apparently our gondola-mate was a bit surprised...

Once we reached the top of the mountain, people just hop right out and start skiing.  Sam and I opted to pick up large hunks of snow. 

After some poking around, Sam and I found some manageable trails that weren’t too icy and did some exploring of our own. The views weren't too shabby. 

  

Those tiny looking houses deep in the valley are Zermatt. 

After coming back down the mountain, we lunched at the Alpen Rose before we were off again to do some hiking at the “lower” altitudes.

Then it was time to say Auf Wiedersehen to Zermatt and once again, wend our way down to go up!