Hello friends! Are you ready to know a little bit more about Switzerland? Because today we’ll take a trip to the beautiful Matterhorn, probably the most iconic peak in the world! 

If you want to learn more about Matterhorn don’t forget to download our activity package:

Click here to download the Matterhorn learning guide (English)

Click here to download the Matterhorn learning flashcards (English)

Click here to download the Matterhorn quiz (English)

–

Click here to download the Matterhorn learning guide (Spanish)

Click here to download the Matterhorn learning flashcards (Spanish)

Click here to download the Matterhorn quiz (Spanish)

What is the Matterhorn?

The Matterhorn, which means “peak in the meadows” in German,  is the most famous of all mountains that make up the Alps, and it’s located on the Swiss-Italian border. Although it’s not the highest mountain, at 14,692 ft (4,478 m) high it’s still quite big. The Matterhorn formed millions of years ago when several landmasses slammed into one another, forcing the ground upward. The resulting pyramid-shaped peak has four distinct sides that align with the cardinal directions: north, south, east, and west. The north side faces Zermatt Valley and the east overlooks Gornergrat Ridge, both in Switzerland, while the south face points toward the Italian town of Brueil-Cervinia, and the western side overlooks the Swiss-Italian border.

With the Matterhorn being so iconic and beautiful, there’s no wonder why there are many local hikers climbing it and millions of people traveling to Switzerland just to see the mountain each year. 

Hikers on the Mountain

And speaking of hikers, the first time someone climbed the Matterhorn was on July 14, 1865, and it was actually a team of seven people. Unfortunately, only three of them lived to tell about it. All seven climbers made it to the top using ropes woven out of manila hemp. But as the group descended using the Hörnligrat route, which is the mountain’s shoulder, one of the climbers slipped pulling three others down with him. There’s a metal cross at the peak that commemorates those who have lost their lives on the mountain over the years. 

But let’s talk about something less sad, like Lucy Walker, the first woman to reach the top of the Matterhorn! On July 22, 1871, she climbed the mountain while wearing a long flannel skirt! When she got word that her rival Meta Brevoort, a fellow climber failed to summit a few years earlier due to bad weather, Walker made a beeline for the mountain and started climbing. Soon, news of Walker’s success spread across the globe. How brave!

If you also are adventurous enough to climb the Matterhorn, first you have to visit the resort town of Zermatt, located at the base of the mountain! Here you can find cozy hotels and the famous Matterhorn Museum Zermatlantis, which has an exhibit focused on the first ascent to the mountain. 

But despite all the awesome hotels here, the best place to stay is an igloo. Yes, the Iglu-Dorf! Carved out of snow and ice, this igloo village is home to the world’s largest snow igloo, with an interior diameter of 42 feet (12 meters) and a height of 34 feet (10 meters). The igloo resort includes more than a half-dozen individual igloos interconnected by a series of tunnels, as well as a bar and restaurant. Yes, they are made of snow but it’s warm inside, trust me!

Now let’s go back to the Matterhorn. Did you know that Switzerland was one of the first countries in the world to use posters as a way to entice travelers to visit? One of the most famous of those early travel posters is of the Matterhorn itself. A  famous poster of the peak, which was created in 1908, fetched nearly $10,000 dollars at auction. That’s a lot of money!

Speaking of the history of the Matterhorn, we can’t forget about the night the mountain glowed red. In 2015, 150 years after the first ascent up the mountain, a team of guides retraced the steps of the first climbers by placing hundreds of glowing red lights along the mountain’s ridge. The result was a temporary light installation meant to recognize the mountaineers who made that original ascent many years ago, and the lives lost during that incredible journey.

And that’s a little bit of history about the Matterhorn. Remember that if you want to visit it, don’t forget to check the weather before planning your trip. It can get very, very snowy.