Klein Matterhorn, Ice palace and Italy

Finally!! I have a day off and the temperature is with me: the sun is out, and there is not enough wind to close the top of the resort (Klein Matterhorn) and the passage to Italy (Plateau Rosa).

So Samuel, his brother and me start by going up the Rothorn, cross 3 mountains to go all the way to the other side, where two lifts go all the way up to Klein Matterhorn, 3883 meters up. As you can see on the post, at this height, it is important to save your breath, because every fast movement makes it hard to catch your breath. I tried running up stairs to the top, and believe me, it's true that there is not much oxygen up there!!

Here are a couple pictures from the top view point:

First, Zermatt and the valley behind

Then, the Italian side

Up there, it is possible to walk in the glacier. A tunnel gets you deep into this giant strip of ice, 14 meters below the surface. Here are a couple picture of inside the Ice Palace:

An ice bar, for parties inside the Glacier, entirely carve out of ice, as well as the giant bottle on the side


Then, I put my board back on my feet, and head down to Italy. Finally, I get to ride down on this side. It is very windy, and sometimes the wind blows so hard that it's hard to pick up speed.

Here is a view of Cervinia, with the south side of the Matterhorn in the back


With only 2h30 in Italy, I only had time to do two runs from the top down to Cervinia (1250 vertical meters), before I have to fight my way back to Switzerland. You don't want to miss that lift, because if you do, you get stuck in Italy...

Last run of the day in Italy:


Afternoon in Italy, back in Switzerland for dinner...what a life!