Lizzy Hawker UTMR Training Camp July 9th - 12th

Day one - July 9th Stage 1: 37km Grächen to Zermatt

I arrived in Grächen, Switzerland, by car on Wednesday 8th July; the centre of Grächen is a car free zone so having parked the car I was transported by a small electric vehicle to the Hotel Hannigalp where we all spent the first night. I awoke on Thursday morning to a beautiful view ..

After breakfast we set of for Zermatt. We were carrying all we would need for the next 4 days except evening food and bedding, as we would be staying in shared accommodation in mountain lodges and eating out each night. I had reduced my gear to the minimum but was still carrying a 8 kg pack, much heavier than I was used to.

the gang - Lizzy is taking the picture ..

 the route ..

quite a scary profile (in feet) that we were to get used to ..

some parts of the route were fairly straightforward and easy to follow

There were many beautiful views - above the clouds ..

other mountain paths were uneven with rocks sticking out of the path

or no obvious path except the UTMR painted markers and we were climbing over boulders

some oversized marking with Mira Rai modelling! 

Hangebrucke an interesting bridge ..

some paths I could run on ..

but there we still many trip hazards ..

a mountain village with the Matterhorn in the background

this bridge was closed resulting in a detour .. and more descent and ascent!

some refreshments

and a short rest first ..

first sight of the Matterhorn

Panorama showing the Matterhorn with the glacier to the left and Zermatt nestling in the valley - we went over the Glacier to the left of the Matterhorn in the picture on day 2 ..

A hard day - especially the 2,468 metres of climb and 2,702 metres of descent .. pleased to arrive in Zermatt for refuelling and sleep ..