Matterhorn Hornli Trek 20 Aug 2011

After the demanding 9 days Walker Haute Route Trek from Chamonix to Zermatt (see http://happyotrekker.blogspot.com/2011/09/walker-haute-route-part-c-17-to-1982011_861.html), our guide Sonia decided to change the itinerary of the last day, which included a hike up to Matterhorn Hornli Hut (MHH), to the chagrin of several members of the group.

Somehow, we felt that our Swiss Trek would be incomplete without the trek up MHH, the base camp for Matterhorn climbers. So on the morning of 20.8.2011, four of us informed Sonia of our decision to leave the group to accomplish the task of climbing to MHH ourselves. There are several ways to hike up to MHH. With only 1 full day available, the option of hiking from Zermatt to MHH (5-6 hours – 1 way) and returning the same day was out of question. So we decided to take a cable car from Zermatt (1620m asl) to Schwarzsee (2682m asl) and trek up from thereon to MHH (3260m asl) and return via the same way. This strategy would provide us more than adequate time to trek at a slower pace to soak up the mountain atmosphere and admire the surrounding vistas as well as to indulge in our photography hobby.

Starting at 9.30 a.m. from Schwarzsee, we took about 2 hrs 20 mins (against the suggested time of 2 hrs 10 mins) to hit MHH at 11.50 a.m. The trek was certainly remarkable with a constant view of the majestic Matterhorn ahead. The scree trail which zigzagged up to MHH was generally wide with adequate footholds and safety handhold chains/ropes along precipitous sections. Fortunately, there were no patches of leftover snow and ice which might render the trail slippery. At MHH, we had our lunch while admiring the surrounding beautiful mountains and watching (binoculars) the tiny figures climbing down the north-east face of Matterhorn. We also explored the trail beyond MHH up to the beginning of the climber proper marked by a series of fixed and various plaques. During this time, we saw many exhausted Matterhorn summiteers (equipped with ropes, karabiners, crampons etc) descending to MHH with a contented sense of accomplishment. Apparently, the summiteers started their ascent at 3.30 a.m.

We left MHH at 1 p.m. On route to Schwarzsee we spent about 30 minutes drawing our footprints i.e. Happy Trekker and Malaysia on flat scree plain. At 4 p.m. we took the cable car from Schwarzsee back to Zermatt.

We were happy to have made the right decision to do this wonderful MHH trek.

For the photographs, please see http://happytrekker.shutterfly.com/pictures/11702.

Next we went to Bernese Oberland (http://happyotrekker.blogspot.com/2011/09/bernese-oberland-montreux-21-to-2682011_12.html) for more trekking and sight-seeing.