The Hills Are Alive...

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Today we conquered the Matterhorn! Well, we didn't summit it per se, but did take the cable car up to the ski area for fantastic views of the peaks and Zermatt in the valley below. The pictures really do tell the tale better than I can. Words like magestic and awesome spring to mind...

We were up at about 9000 feet so it was very cold and windy up there. Cheryl and I immediately got altitude headaches but the guys seemed to be fine. Another example of our finely tuned female senses.

We decided to walk the second stage back down to the village via a field of sheep and a forest of changing leaves. I tried my hand at yodeling...didn't get quite the echo effect I was going for but fun nevertheless!

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Photos

Matterhorn and Fall
The gondola takes you up to the left side of the mountain... where the clouds are! It's over $50 for the single use ticket - no idea how much it would be for a ski pass!

Zermatt from the Gondola
Zermatt is not unlike Whisler, Canada.

Halfway Up
Two gondolas are required to get to the top vantage. Actually a third can be taken, but the top point was in the clouds.

Dances with Sheep Letterbox
The trees are actually all needle trees that change color - something we don't have in the Evergreen State.

Gondola Up
Chizzy was very brave, given the height.

Gondola Down
Looking back down to Zermatt. We remarked many times that it felt like we were in Lord of the Rings.

Breithorn
We were surprised how many people were skiing at this time of year.

Matterhorn Muffs
One's ears get cold up on the mountain. The Matterhorn is actually behind Chizzy and Bryan, completely obscured by clouds.

Windy Tripod
The wind was so strong, it tipped the tripod. At the next station up (Klein-Matterhorn), the wind was 46km/h.

Summer Skiing
Plenty of snow up here to ski/snowboard. Klein-Matterhorn is up there in the clouds; it's a smaller peak that you ski off of down to here.

Sunbake
Despite the clouds hanging around the mountains, we were able to chill (literally) outdoors.

Car Shadow
Cable car shadow on the fall trees.

Autumn-Winter
We hit Fall perfectly. Rare warm weather this time of year. It had snowed the week before.

Trail Home
CM and Bryan on the walk back down to Zermatt. The photographer never ends up in the shot! :-)

Quartz Roof
Quartz tiles are mined and made just outside Zermatt, and form the roofs of many buildings and cabins.