Sunday - March 3
Yet another sunny day - we skied over to Rothorn after a warmer upper on #62 (Furgg to Furi). We had lunch sitting in the sun followed by a few more runs then skied down to the base of Sunnegga where we took the ski bus home. For dinner we stayed home for grilled "mischtgrazerli" (spatchcock) - excellent.
Monday - March 4
It was getting very repetitive (in a nice way) - another sunny and warm day. We took the gondola to Trocker Steg where it was extremely windy so we decided to ski back to Furi then up to Schwarzee where we headed over to the Hornli t-bar for a massive morning on it's challenging black run. We had lunch at Gitz Gadi then headed home for an early mark. We had another excellent diner at Julen's (upstairs).
Tuesday - March 5
A cloudy day and extremely windy on some parts of the mountain so we decided to take a rest day. It was 70k's on Kleine Matterhorn, 60k's on Schwarzee and 30k's on Trockner Steg and as a result the gondola only went as far as Furi where you needed to get the cable car to Trockner Steg. At Gornergrat and Rothorn is was less than 10k's.
We went into town for a look around then took the train to Rifflealp planning to have lunch at the Rifflealp Hotel but alas it was full (inside anyway and it was too cool, cloudy and windy to sit outside in our opinion) - we went back down the mountain to the village and had a late lunch at Molino, an Italian place right in the center of town. After lunch we did some shopping (new gloves for Dieter and groceries) and took the bus home (which was running again after a 6 hour stoppage due to read cleaning).
We had cold cuts and cheese for dinner.
Wednesday - March 6
It was a better day so we skied on the Hornli t-bar then headed to Stafflealp for a great lunch. We had an Irish rack of lamb for dinner.
Thursday - March 7
A pretty good day - we skied on Hornli then had a great lunch sitting outside at Zum See - best pasta ever. We stayed home for a pot luck dinner - salad for entree then eggs, speck and potatoes for Dieter and ham, cheese and bread for me.
Friday - March 8 - Dieter's big crash
We went out in poor light (snowing and blowing) and tried to head to Hornli but Dieter had a major crash on the run from Schwarzee and we decided to head home. We had lunch in town at the Walliserhof where we had a 10 out of 10 flammenkucken. For dinner we had the rest of the ham, cheese and bread.
Saturday - March 9
Moving day - we packed up and moved from out apartment to the Bristol Hotel. Dieter's shoulder was very painful so we both decided not to ski. We went up (via gondola and cable car) to the Kliene Matterhorn then back into town for lunch at Molino. Dieter whet to the doctor who diagnosed a torn muscle in his arm so he was fitted with a complex sling and told not to ski or drive - oh dear !!! We then started re-considering our travel plans post Zermatt but could not come to a conclusion due to pre-paid accommodation and un-changeable frequent flyer tickets. For dinner we went to Max Julen's for a great dinner - Dieter had venison and I had Zurich veal - both excellent with portions to suit a whole family.
Sunday - March 10
A wonderful sunny day - I headed out skiing and met Dieter at Zum See for lunch - he hiked up - then onto Furi and back home. We met by chance at the bottom of the gondola and headed back to our hotel. After showers we went into town for a walk around and five'es at Elsie's pub - one of the hip apres ski joints. By this time we had decided to ditch our driving trip and fly to Berlin for the remaining 5 days of our holiday (post Zermatt). We had dinner again at Julen's just around the corner from our hotel.
Monday - March 11
A partly cloudy day - which became sunny. I skied on top of Trockner Steg while Dieter did a major walk. We met back at the hotel for lunch in town (Walliserhof) then later had dinner at Grampi's which was pretty ordinary - shared appetiser and shared pizza.
Tuesday - March 12
Started as another mostly sunny and mild day. I skied at Trockner Steg while Dieter did a MAJOR hike up to Rifflealp Hotel where I met him for an excellent lunch sitting outside in the sunshine. We went to WhymperStuble for a cheese fondue dinner and were not overly impressed overall.
Wednesday - March 13 - last full day in Zermatt
So today our plan is to ship the skis and boot / gear bag by SBB (Swiss Rail) to Zurich so we have less luggage to deal with when we take the train back to Zurich on Thursday. After dropping our luggage we hiked to Blatten for a light lunch sitting in brilliant sunshine. We then hiked up to Furi and back to the village by the long route. We had a final fives'es at our favourite spot, the Monte Rosa, then later had dinner at Max Julen's Grill, another favourite.