Enjoy the free content on the site? Why not help us keep creating great content with a donation of as little a 5£/€/$
- The story
- Photos
- Maps
- Resources
The race to conquer the Matterhorn, 4478m began in 1857, ending in the early afternoon of 14th July 1865 when Michel Croz, Peter Taugwalder, his son, also named Peter, the Reverend Charles Hudson, Lord Francis Douglas, Robert D. Hadow and Edward Whymper reached the summit.
Nowadays climbing the Matterhorn is mostly a question of possessing adequate climbing skills, combined with a little bit of patience. Scores of guided roped-up alpinists get in each others way attaining the summit. In the Alpine Centre we encountered a American couple asking if they could do it in hiking boots. The woman had a distracting shade of nail vanish on her flip flop clad feet and when the news was broken she would have to learn to climb, she looked like she couldn't be bothered. Switzerland is all rules, some good, some bad.
In a fine English tradition we looked at it while eating ice cream, nearly losing some while taking a photo.
Zermatt is situated at the head of the valley leading up to the Matterhorn on its Swiss side. In the winter you can ski down the other side of the valley, stop to say ciao and eat a pannini in Italy. Zermatt is also car free, well it is if you're visiting. Cars are replaced with these annoying electric vehicles which whizz around almost silently ferrying all manner of people and produce and attempting to run down Japanese tourists, of which there are many. Go up to the Gornergrat glacier or Sunnegga and you will find diggers, trucks and 4wds, none of which of are electric.
To get to Zermatt you leave your car at Tasch and take the 20 minute shuttle train costing the princely some of 7.8CHF. Then of course you have to pay for your bike, another 3CHF. We had no problem with this, the shuttle is pleasant journey but you then realise you have to pay to get back to your car and of course you have to pay to park your car. Saas Fee just up the next valley is also car free but you park just before the village and can walk, ride or get an electric taxi the 400m between parking and village. There is a road between Tasch and Zermatt used by residents, locals and deliveries and they park at Zermatt. You have to ask if you are being forced onto the train at Zermatt for the good of the environment or the local economy. Zermatt has that feel about it, you always seem to be reaching into your pocket.
Zermatt is chock full of bikes, unfortunately they are only used to get around the village on. We saw some classic bikes like an original Stumpjumper and a Ritchey underneath grumpy old men and women with original tyres on, the bikes that is. Purple anodising is still proudly on show in Zermatt. We did see a couple of Kona Stabs but they seemed to spend their time parked outside McDonalds, presumably working off the price of a lift ticket. A day pass for the Rothorn lift is 59CHF, compare this to 23CHF for a day pass for the whole Portes du Soleil lift network and it’s a touch pricey.
The inspiration for our trip came from the seminal 2004 Mitchell Scott article in Bike Magazine - 'Swiss Bliss. The riding was discovered by Francois Panchard for the CCFC event and is being guided by Chris Winters’ 'Ride Big' company. This riding puts you at odds with the official line from the Tourist Office. Their map shows only 4 marked mountain bike trails in Zermatt, the rest are for hikers.
As Scott points out in his article, the Swiss haven't really taken to lift assisted biking, preferring to ride up the gravel road and back down it. There are only a couple of bike parks in Switzerland and singletrack is more commonly used by hikers and animals. On our first ride we stuck to an official route for an easy ride around Schwarzsee but the climb out was either on road or a steep doubletrack and we soon got bored of it. We could have taken the lift but with only two easy routes down it seemed a bit pointless. Next up was the Gornergrat.
The Gornergrat cog railway takes you from Zermatt, 1650m up above the Glacier to 3089m. An early start, which was to become a common theme to beat the tourists to the train, ended up with us sat in a carriage with a full on Japanese tour group. Much like the Borg they were all wired up and chatted to each other in the same carriage over their Bluetooth ear-pieces. At the top there were hordes of people and it’s likely you can get your photo taken by Japanese tourist, take the photo of many Japanese tourists and get your photo taken with a St Bernard. That's a dog, and not a Japanese one.
The trail down is marked by a 'Bike Hire' sign which is odd but leads you down a steep track alongside the railway with majestic views of the Matterhorn. The trail continues for some time on open, almost moonscape like terrain, until before Riffelalp where you turn up the next valley and head towards the lake at Grunsee. Smooth trails and some climbing take you to the lake shore which features in many shots of the Matterhorn. It’s a pleasant spot for lunch with views up to Rothorn.
From Grunsee you head to Grindjisee and turn back on yourself down toward Gant, a lift station not in operation in summer. A real rocky track shoots you out into a Swiss chocolate box scene before swinging round and climbing to Sunnegga. Its starts to get busy here with hikers and around the Sunnegga station and once again tour groups. It’s ok though as they don’t seem to stray far from the restaurant. The trail then turns smooth and fast and back to Zermatt. Too fast for the hikers and hard to stop for vehicles coming up. A leery skid soon brings you back to reality when you meet a piste bully coming the other way. All too soon you are back in Zermatt looking for cake after what's been about a 3 or 4 hour ride. You can carry on round to Taschalp and down to Tasch if the hikers aren’t too thick (in numbers) but its not marked for bikes.
The other rides we did took us out of Zermatt and down the valley using the trains to get us back.
We rode down the valley to Stalden, about 30km ignoring the first part of the trail from Zermatt to Tasch, hikers again crowding it out and picked up a gravel track across the train line just before Tasch. This doubletrack gravel trail will take you straight down to Randa unless you divert off and pick up some singletrack around the golf course. The trail once again becomes doubletrack, switching surfaces and widths past Randa to Herbriggen and down to St.Niklaus. You follow the river and train line down the valley and meet only a few people on route. At St.Niklaus you have the choice of riding up to Grachen, a long road climb of an hour. Grachen has a lift and a downhill route. Moosalpe the other side also has hidden riding apparently.
At St.Niklaus we followed the trail through pastures and then suddenly it changed. We had to hike a bike up some steep steps to get around the train tracks and the following singletrack was tight, up and nasty with lots of pushing. The trail then points you back up toward the road. You then have the choice of riding the road or descending into the valley to Kalpetran and then climbing back out and along a traverse to Stalden. At this point we had been going about 3 hours with lunch break. The Kalpetran-Stalden trail could add another hour.
Stalden is the point where you can pick up the next and best ride we did.
The Gebidum Pass is known for its 2 hour downhill, but that would be forgetting its 2 hour ascent. And 2 lifts and 2 trains. You can do the valley ride from Zermatt to Stalden if you are really fit and keen. Alternatively like lazy freeriders, take the train to Stalden and then the two mini ski lifts up to Gspon. That's at least 1.5 hours to this point. At Gspon you start an arduous climb towards the Gebidum Pass following the signs. It’s a long climb and with pushing in forested mountain side followed by a traverse and another push to the first high point below a mountain refuge. At this stage you can see the trail traversing the side of the mountain towards some winter only ski lifts. A welcome downhill stint takes you to yet more climbing under the lifts before a singletrack takes you up to the Pass. Thunder rumbled over the pass upon our arrival and the odd large drop of rain forced us on. The ascent to the Pass was about 7km and 1 3/4 hours. Did I mention some pushing?
The Gebidum Pass at 2201m is not overly scenic, it's just a crossroads of trails and the eponymous Mitsubishi 4wd. At the pass follow the signs to Brig, a descent of over 1500m and keep following them for the next hour or so. The downhill started on dirt track heading up the thunderous valley to Mattwei, and we picked up speed dropping 300m rapidly. Soon you hit the end of the valley and turn back toward Brig and start to follow the river on a similar if less pitched trail. It’s a stunning setting and you don’t know whether to stop and gaze admiringly or let the brakes off and enjoy the rush. We enjoyed the rush as the odd rain splash still bounced off our top tubes.
The trail cuts through pasture and onto an old grass covered road before switching sides of the river and through the tree line. A series of switchbacks on the edge of the now raging river keeps you heading down and down as the valley tightens and becomes deeper. The trail exits the trees as you cross rickety bridges over ravines and the drop becomes so immense you stop and stare. As the valley opens out again you can see the start of Brig in the distance. The trail becomes wider and more like a road before eventually it is a road and you are at the outskirts of Brig. Head down and right towards Brig centre and the train station. Our arrival saw the heavens open and it poured down, the road steaming in the 30C heat. A great feeling of well being washed over us as we stood undercover sipping a Red Bull and eating Swiss chocolate while watching Brigens scurry for cover.
The downhill section is about 13km and takes between 1 and 2 hours depending on your speed and stops. It’s not downhill bike territory and it’s not technical but it is a beauty.
There are many other places in the valley to explore and some variations on the routes we took but it's one of those places you need some guiding or time (and money) to find the best trails. Like Chamonix, Zermatt is for hikers. Chamonix has better marked bike routes and is cheaper but both suffer from too many people on the trails at peak season. Out of season would be a good time to explore Zermatt. In season stick to the lower part of the valley.
We only found a small part of the 'Swiss Bliss' we were looking for, but we know its out there.
- Swiss Bliss - The article is available online at Bike Mag or as a PDF
- CCFC (Crazy Canucks Freeride Challenge) was an invitational event run by Francois Panchard
- Ride Big - run guided trips to Switzerland including Zermatt and surrounding area
- Zermatt Tourism
- Matterhorn Railway
- Valais Tourism
- Swiss Railways