The Matterhorn has claimed its share of lives, but it is still one of the world’s most stunning views

Getting up close and personal with the Matterhorn is much less risky today than it was in the 19th century.

That’s it. I’m officially in need of a time-out. I’m in Switzerland, one of the most beautiful countries on Earth. Its most beloved mountain, the Matterhorn, is directly before me. All around, yellow-billed choughs swoop and twirl, their hoarse calls filling the air. 

A marshy creek gurgles past my hiking boots. In the midst of it all, the mighty mountain rises like a crooked finger: a warning to the sky. Sensory overload, right? To my annoyance, I find I can only focus on which of these sights would look best in my photos, but spending all my time fiddling with an exposure dial isn’t going to help me understand what’s made this mountain so special to the people here for thousands of years.

I’m wearing a “Welcome to the Matterhorn” beanie bought when I arrived in the nearby mountain town of Zermatt on the famous Glacier Express, travelling with Trafalgar Tours. The slow and winding 291km journey through the Swiss Alps from the ski resort of St Moritz passed icy-blue glaciers and wildflower meadows. And today I’ve made my way up through thin air and Swiss pines to see the Matterhorn up close.

I tuck my phone into my backpack and sink onto the moss. Instantly, I feel present. I observe more clearly. The Matterhorn is the obvious star of the show, its 4478m peak having emerged from the clouds. The Riffelsee lake reflects the mountain’s magnificence, and the sound of squeaking marmots echoes nearby. I stroke purple and yellow flowers around me and am entranced. But later in the day, when I meet lifetime Zermatt resident and musician Käthy Graven after her performance next to the main drag of Bahnhofstrasse, she warns me that visitors must be cautious. 

I make the slow and winding journey through the Swiss Alps on the famous Glacier Express. Picture: Alamy.

“We have so many flowers, a lot of animals and beautiful lakes,” Käthy says as she packs up her alpenhorn, a 4m-long wooden pipe that is traditionally played in the region, into what seems to be a ridiculously small case. “They must be careful of the nature.”

The Matterhorn has claimed its share of lives, a fact made clear at the bottom of town. There, past charming fondue restaurants, expensive ski-gear shops and après-ski bars, you find the Mountaineers’ Graveyard. Here, inscriptions reveal snippets of stories of those who never made it back off the mountain – two young men from Cambridge frozen forever as best friends, a teenager from New York with the words “I chose to climb” carved into stone. It’s a stark reminder of how, despite the danger, the Matterhorn still draws climbers to it.

Our tour director shows us around Zermatt. Picture: iStock.

“In 1840 or 1850 when they’re climbing the mountain, if [climbers] fell into a crevasse or broke their leg, there were no helicopters that could come and rescue them,” explains Michael Thomas, the Trafalgar tour director who is showing us around Zermatt and other parts of Switzerland. “Many of the mountaineers are still up on the mountain.”

People continue to ascend – albeit under safer conditions. Perhaps it is this pull, to get closer, that’s at the heart of what makes the Matterhorn so revered. While I and others are happy to remain at a distance, enjoying the view before descending for schnapps, others choose to go further. “[I climbed] with my brother,” Käthy tells me, decades-old joy radiating from her face. “My father was a guide, and my brother also. It was wonderful. My brother and I, we make a record. We run down!”

The writer was a guest of Trafalgar Tours.

Where should I go first time in Switzerland?

Trafalgar offers a journey on the Glacier Express to Zermatt as part of its eight-day Contrasts of Switzerland tour, on which all hotels, experiences, meals and transport are accredited as “Swisstainable” – Switzerland’s national benchmark for sustainability. Ascending the Klein Matterhorn is an optional experience.

Originally published as The Matterhorn has claimed its share of lives, but it is still one of the world’s most stunning views