Winter hike around Zermatt
At the heart of the Swiss Alps in Canton Wallis (or Valais in French), Zermatt is one of the most important ski centers in the country and hosts the country’s most famous mountain, the Matterhorn. I show you here its wildest parts, far from the ski slopes, as we hiked with snowshoes all around.
Snowshoe hiking in Zermatt, Canton Valais
The town of Zermatt is in the French/German-speaking Canton of Valais/Wallis (respectively). Going from West to East, Zermatt is in the first German-speaking valley of the region, just on the other side of the last French-speaking valley, where Zinal sits. By the way, Zinal is the place where I shot these photos in a glacier’s cave earlier this winter:
Close to Zermatt you find the most iconic mountain of Switzerland, the Matterhorn. Yes, the same that some chocolate brands feature in their logos.
You can actually see the Matterhorn (which sits on the border with Italy) from the town of Zermatt itself:

The Matterhorn is 4478 m high, and the town of Zermatt is at around 1600 m so this means climbers have to do almost 3 km up to reach its summit. And it’s not for aficionados like me, because the slops are very steep and hard to do.
The summit of the Matterhorn often retains clouds, resulting in views like this:
Here you have a shot as we hiked up towards the mountain. Just towards it, but of course we didn’t climb it!
A couple of animals escaped my camera. But this waterfall falling right into a lagoon was easy to catch:

There are several small, frozen valleys:
Many containing quite big stalactites that form in the sections most protected from the sun:
I don’t like cold weather, but I definitely love snow and ice! And the Zermatt region is just perfect for this.
Want more winter?
www.lucianoabriata.com I write and photoshoot about everything that lies in my broad sphere of interests: nature, science, technology, programming, etc. Become a Medium member to access all its stories (affiliate links of the platform for which I get small revenues without cost to you) and subscribe to get my new stories by email. To consult about small jobs check my services page here. You can contact me here.
