24 July 2018
This was the day where we walked down a mountain in Switzerland. To be specific, it was the Gornergrat, a rocky ridge at 3,089 m above sea level and accessible from Zermatt, a popular resort for winter skiing and summer hiking.
The best time for high altitude hikes in the mountains around Zermatt is on a clear day. Earlier in the morning, we rode the 111-year-old cog-wheel train called the Gornergrat Bahn to Gornergrat. On the way, we made a stopover at Rotenboden for a short hike to Riffelsee . Riffelsee is an alpine lake that offers superbly beautiful views of the Matterhorn reflected from its surface, usually in the early morning when the air is still and the sky is clear.
From Rotenboden, we continued by train up to Gornergrat. Gornergrat is a popular tourist destination in itself, offering panoramic views of the surrounding mountain peaks and glaciers. After spending an hour at Gornergrat, we started on our hike down at about 11.30 AM.
The trails that we took were the Aussichtsweg (1.9 km distance) down from Gornergrat to Rotenboden at 2,815 m, followed by the Riffelseeweg (3 km distance) to Riffelberg at 2,582 m. One highlight of the Riffelseeweg trail is the chance to view the reflection of Matterhorn from the surface of Riffelsee, as mentioned above.
At Riffelberg, we took the Mark Twain Weg (2.5 km distance) down to Riffelalp at 2,211 m. From there, there is an option to even continue hiking all the way down to Zermatt (1,608 m) depending on our energy level, weather, time of day and our sanity.
The details of these trails are documented at www.zermatt.ch.
From Gornergrat to Rotenboden and Riffelsee.
From the observation platform of Gornergrat, we took the trail that ran almost next to the tracks of the Gornergrat Bahn. It was a gradual slope downwards on terrain that is rocky, uneven and covered with loose gravel in most places.
Good hiking shoes are a must when hiking this trail. Hiking poles were also useful to provide better stability when going downhill and they also take off some stress from our aging knees.
Lovers of train would enjoy the views of the brown trains of the Gornergrat Bahn chugging up or down the mountainside, with snowy mountains as a backdrop.
Shortly after starting our hike, we stopped by a rocky outcrop on the left of the trail for a brief photo-shoot, with excellent views of the nearby mountain peaks and glaciers. This area is unfenced, with steep drop into the glaciers below and one has to be mindful of the dangers.
This hike down from Gornergrat is only possible during the summer months of July to October, when the snow that usually covers the mountains above 3000m ASL has melted. A bit of dirty snow could still be found by the side of the trail in late July.
A bit of dirty snow could still be found by the side of the trail in late July.
Besides hikers, there were also mountain bikers riding down from Gornergrat.
Looking back up at the trail we took with Gornergrat at the peak.
Riffelsee is the tiny lake visible in the bottom left corner.
This trail from Gornergrat to Rotenboden and then to Riffelsee is quite popular. Looking back, we could see a long line of hikers snaking down the rocky mountain trail.
Near to Rotenboden, we took the Riffelseeweg trail towards Riffelsee. Riffelsee is about a 10 minutes’ walk down from Rotenboden station and is the highlight of this trail.
However, Riffelsee at mid-day did not look as nice as earlier in the morning. By this time, the Matterhorn was half-covered with clouds and the wind was causing ripples on the surface of Riffelsee. These conditions were much less idealcompared to the early morning when we took this shot. We were glad that we had visited Riffelsee earlier, on our way up to Gornergrat.
Picture of the Matterhorn reflected from the surface of Riffelsee taken earlier in the morning.
Riffelsee and the Matterhorn at mid-day.
We rested near Riffelsee before continuing on to Riffelberg.
From Riffelsee to Riffelberg, along the Riffelseeweg.
The Riffelseeweg trail took us past a smaller lake after Riffelsee.
Walking past a small lake after Riffelsee.
From Riffelsee to Riffelberg, the trail sloped gradually downwards and it was relatively easy hike. By now, we were walking across green fields, with views of the Matterhorn and surrounding mountains all around.
It is hard to describe the feelings of being in such open spaces, surrounded all round by views of mountains peaks with only the clouds and sky above us.
We snapped some photos using the “panoramic” mode in our smartphone cameras to try capture the beauty and vastness of landscape around us.
Closer to Riffelberg, we could see Zermatt, down in the valley below.
In this direction, we could see Riffelberg before us and Zermatt in the valley below.
In the other direction, we could see Matterhorn and other mountain peaks.
Riffelberg sits on the edge of a plateau overlooking the valley of Zermatt. Besides the railway station for the Gornergrat Bahn, there is a hotel, a couple of eating places and some other small huts and chalets.
Walking down to Riffelberg.
Lunch at Riffelhaus in Riffelberg
We stopped for lunch at the Riffelhaus, Zermatt’s oldest mountain hotel. The hotel is quite prominent with its red wooden window shutters. Everyone was sitting on the outdoor patio of the hotel’s restaurant with gorgeous views of the surrounding mountains.
The lunch menu was quite limited. We ordered a salad and a flammkuchen.
Flammkuchen served at the Riffelhaus.
The flammkuchen is a German pizza-like dish with a paper thin crust that tasted like crackers. It came with a spread of sour cream, strips of salty dried beef and sauerkraut-like onions on top. This was our first time trying this dish and it was not bad as a light snack.
Salad at the Riffelhaus. What I thought was a poached egg in the middle was actually cheese.
The salad was also good, with plenty of fresh lettuce, sweet beet, chickpeas, thinly sliced cheese and sliced dried beef.
The patio was by a steep cliff and we could feel the constant updraft coming up the mountain side. Although we were sitting in the sun, it was quite chilly at the spot where we sat.
When we requested for a change of table, to one further away from the cliff and wind, we were flatly rejected by the waiter.
“Sorry, I have keyed in your order with the table number” was the excuse given.
We had to put on our windproof jackets and used our backpacks to shield the thin pieces of our flammkuchen from being blown away.
To add to our misery, there were a few small insects attracted by the food. Not the restaurant’s fault that the insects were there but I thought the waiter could have handled the request for a change of table in a more customer-focused way.
After lunch, we spent some time watching the launching of tandem para-gliders at the field next to the restaurant.
From Riffelberg to Riffelalp
From Riffelberg, we took the Mark Twain Weg (2.5 km distance) down to Riffelalp at 2,211 m above sea level. This trail is associated with the American author Mark Twain who wrote the book “Climbing the Riffelberg”.
The trail starts from Riffelhaus. The initial part of the Mark Twain Weg was a flat and easy walk across green fields. It was actually quite nice to feel the cold updraft from the mountain side when we were walking and not sitting down having our meal.
We had views of the Matterhorn on our left and Zermatt in the valley on our right.
We lingered a moment on the edge of the plateau, trying to spot our apartment in the mass of tiny apartments within Zermatt. Our apartment, the Residence A, was by the river flowing through the town and next to a field. So it was kind of easy for us to spot it.
Riffelalp, our destination, on the right and Zermatt in the valley below.
We could see Riffelalp below us. It was so near and yet so far. A steep cliff separated us from Riffelalp and we had to go down a path that took us away from Riffelalp before turning round towards it.
The flat trail soon gave way to a descent on a trail that seemed to lead us off the edge of the cliff. We were heading towards the Matterhorn and the hamlet of Furi where we did our Day 1 hike was probably somewhere in the valley below us.
The trail snaked downwards and we were soon walking in the direction towards Riffelalp, with the Matterhorn on our back.
Zermatt in the valley below.
We had no more views of the Matterhorn as we negotiated a tricky descent down a steep rocky path. This path was quite challenging where good shoes, hiking poles and steady nerves became useful.
We met some hikers who were climbing up. Some were families with young kids and the energetic young ones were doing much better than the adults! On such trails, climbing up is probably easier than going down.
At the bottom of the rocky path, the trail flattens out and we had an easy stroll into the hamlet of Riffelalp.
Riffelalp is situated on a tranquil alpine plateau at 2,211 meters above sea level. We saw cows grazing amidst the huts, trees and greenery at this lower altitude.
We sat on benches at a playground to enjoy the eye-level views of the famed Matterhorn while local kids played on a trampoline nearby.
Mother and son bonding and enjoying views of the Matterhorn at a playground in Riffelalp.
A distinct feature of Riffelalp is the Riffelalp Resort, Europe’s highest luxury hotel and reachable only by the Gornergrat Bahn train. We had to walk through the grounds of this five-star hotel to get to the train station.
Riffelalp Resort with its own tram.
Along the way, we spotted a small brown antique tram carrying guests from the train station to the Riffelalp Resort. This tram first ran in 1899 and it is still in use.
Although we could have hike all the way down to Zermatt, we were pretty tired by the time we reached Riffelalp and decided to save our legs for more hikes in the days to come.
From the Riffelalp train station, we took the Gornergrat Bahn cog-wheel train back to Zermatt.
