I'm the kind of person who doesn't wake up to a view of the Alps every morning. That's why the car journey through the Swiss canton of Valais alone is an experience for me and my friends. Gigantic rock faces and white peaks as far as the eye can see. But another mate who was here last year had already told me: "From the Swiss border onwards, your neck and right hand will hurt." The neck, because you're constantly looking up at the peaks and glistening glaciers in disbelief. And your hand, because you're constantly flicking banknotes onto the table. 57 Swiss francs, i.e. 52 euros per person with bike for a half-hour ride on the Gornergrat railway! Back home in Poland, you could rent a holiday home for a weekend for that. But it doesn't help, because the Gornergrat Trail is one of the Alpine classics that you have to experience as a mountain biker and the ascent plus descent and 200 metres of ascent cannot be done in one day under your own steam. At least not for us - and we are quite well prepared in terms of fitness.
I only feel a slight twitch in my hand as we get out of the cog railway early in the morning at an altitude of 3089 metres. Almost at eye level with the Matterhorn, Monte Rosa, Dufourspitze and all the other snow-covered and icy summit giants, my neck now relaxes. We still have the viewing platform almost to ourselves, the streams of tourists won't arrive until later. So off we go, so that we have a clear path on the trail for as long as possible. At first, we follow a barely recognisable track through a kind of lunar surface. But the sandy rock is grippy and it doesn't take long to recognise a real trail. Rock teeth protrude from the packed sand. Sometimes the path opens up into a track, but then narrows again in the next alpine meadow and cuts steep slopes. The view is magnificent. You head directly towards a glacier panorama until the path turns again into the next mountain flank. The first real breather is the Riffelsee, in whose water the Matterhorn is reflected - that is, normally, if there are no clouds in between. Nevertheless, we take a short break here and enjoy the silence and the panorama. A few marmots scamper across the slope.
From now on, the trail is surprisingly blocked, stepped and sometimes exposed. Maximum concentration is required all the way down to Furi. Especially as we now encounter the first hikers. It's amazing that such a highly frequented trail has not yet been closed to bikers. As soon as the trail threads around the first larch trees, flow takes over again. The velvety forest floor trail utilises the mountain flanks in endless zigzags. You have to follow it uphill for a few metres at a time. But with momentum, they are no real obstacle. After three hours of varied trail descents and these gigantic panoramic images in our heads, we finally roll back through the pedestrian zone of Zermatt. Let's see what the right hand says when we have an after-ride beer here.
Gornergrat railway: The cog railway was built in 1898 and is still the second highest mountain railway in Europe after the Jungfrau Railway. Bikers are best advised to take the first ascent at 7 a.m. or the last ascent at around 6.30 p.m., as this is when there are the fewest hikers on the trail. Info: www.gornergratbahn.ch
Daniel Klawczynski: The Polish bike photographer usually prefers to explore hidden trail areas, such as the Urals or the Velebit Mountains in Croatia. But the 19-kilometre Gornergrat Trail had been on his list for so long - and he has not regretted the investment.
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