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Perhaps the most interesting exhibits are
                                                              housed in the Historic Alpine Museum, a simple
                                                              wooden chalet within the larger museum. It’s
                                                              filled with grainy old photographs and artifacts
                                                              from expeditions, including a frayed rope from
                                                              1865, in which seven climbers made it to the
                                                              summit for the first time, only to lose four of
                                                              their number on the descent when this lifeline
                                                              broke.
                                                                 The adjacent Mountain Guides’ Hut includes
                                                              a model of the Matterhorn with buttons you can
                                                              push to light up various routes of ascent, as well
                                                              as plaques listing the names of climbers who
                                                              have mounted the crooked beast. Many of those
                                                              who did not survive are interred near the mu‐
            cloaking device, I’m determined to get to the     seum in the Mountaineers’ cemetery, a sobering
            bottom (if not the top) of the mountain’s mys‐    memorial to those intrepid men and women.
            tique. It is at the core of Zermatt’s allure, be‐    A short stroll away, a small fountain also
            cause—although the resort is popular for skiing   commemorates the life of Zermatt’s most fa‐
            in winter and walking and cycling in summer—it’s  mous mountain guide, Ulrich Inderbinen, who
            best known as a base for mountain climbers        died in 2004 at the age of 103, having climbed
            keen on conquering the mighty Matterhorn.         the Matterhorn a remarkable 371 times. From
               For a better understanding of the mountain’s   here, I’d suggest a wander through the “Hinter‐
            magnetic---and sometimes lethal---appeal, I       dorf,” the oldest part of the village, where a
            head to the Matterhorn Museum, a five-minute      handful of charming log structures date back
            walk from THE OMNIA. The entrance resembles       as far as the 16th century.
            a little glass igloo, but like an iceberg, there’s   You’re never far from the Bahnhofstrasse,
            much more beneath the surface. Two subter‐
            ranean levels include a theater, showing breath‐
            taking footage of climbing expeditions, and a
            recreation of Zermatt as it might have appeared
            in the 1800s, with rough-hewn timber structures
            lining a cobblestoned street.
               There’s a cramped cottage, a church, and
            several farm buildings surrounded by a zoo-full
            of taxidermied animals, from an exotic ibex to
            a humble chicken and even a mule. (If it stood
            still long enough, they stuffed it).


            (TOP) The Matterhorn Museum in Zermatt
           may look hardly larger than an igloo, but like
           an iceberg, it lies mainly beneath the surface.
           Copyright Amy Laughinghouse.

           (BOTTOM) Many climbers who have lost their
           lives attempting to summit the Matterhorn are
           buried in Zermatt's Mountaineers' cemetery.
           Copyright Amy Laughinghouse.
           (OPPOSITE) The Bahnhofstrasse, Zermatt's
           main shopping street. Copyright Amy
           Laughinghouse.
            72    WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE WINTER/SPRING 2024
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