“The still waters of a lake reflect the beauty around it. When the mind is still, the beauty of the Self is seen reflected in it.”

– B.K.S Iyengar

1. “The still waters of a lake reflect the beauty around it. When the mind is still, the beauty of the Self is seen reflected in it.”
2. Getting There:
3. Sunnegga-
4. Blauherd-
5. Food-

Getting There:

Now is your chance to visit the funicular station in Zermatt. It is just past the Gornergrat railway station on the same side of the road. Tickets can be purchased to Sunnegga. You can access time tables and ticket sales here: https://www.matterhornparadise.ch/en/book/tickets Once you reach the entrance you will walk into a deep tunnel towards the ticket window/kiosks. It is not necessary to prebook a ticket. The kiosks can be temperamental with credit cards not based in Switzerland so have back up funds available.

Once you purchase your ticket you will walk to the funicular and board. You can select your own seats- seats are accessed by climbing the steps and then walking across to the row. The higher to the top on the way up- the closer your are to the exit. The lower on the way down- the closer you are to the exit. You don’t need to worry about views- as you are inside a mountain. The ride lasts approximately 5 minutes.

Sunnegga-

This is the exit station- you can transfer to a cable car to take you onwards to Blauherd or Rothborn- which may or may not be open during shoulder season. Study the schedule closely. https://www.matterhornparadise.ch/en/information/operating-hours/lifts-and-pistes

Sunnegga is a base for hiking trails, swimming in alpine lakes, biking and marmot watching. (see Marmot page) It is located at 7,506 feet (2888m)

Blauherd-

Most people board the cable car at Sunnegga to travel here to hike to Lake Stelliswee. It is closed in the shoulder season as is the next station Rothborn. Blauherd doesn’t open until June 15th or thereabouts. So we decided to hike to Blauherd and onto Stelliswee. Fortunately, for us, while the trails were muddy in spots, snow was limited on the trail. There were significant snows (about 3-4 feet) around Lake Stelliswee.

We ended up going up the road that the mountain bike carts come down. Once we reached the Blauherd cable car station which was being tuned up for opening the following week, we sloshed through muddy snow to find the path (just follow the sign posts) towards Lake Stelliswee. The trail is an up and down. Just follow the well defined road and eventually you will see it emerge on your left. The lake is not that big so you can hike 365 degrees. The highlight of course is at the end opposite the Matterhorn where the reflection can be caught. For us, the lake was still partially frozen, but we were still able to capture a good image. This area can get crowded so be patient. If you try to cut over the grasses to the part of the lake that is opposite the Matterhorn and there is snow on that section- beware- you might be stepping into 3-4 feet of soft snow. There are fish in the lake.

From the lake, cross back to the main trail road junction and follow the signs down to Sunnegga. The trip will take you past several alpine lakes and beautiful scenery. Look our for the Marmot which has its habit in the region. There is a marmot “playground” trail right off the Sunnegga Funicular stop. As you can see from the above section pictures- the marmot blends in well with the environment- we were simply lucky to catch him crossing the snow.

Food-

The only restaurant we found open in this area was at the Sunnegga funicular station. There are trails that lead to mountain huts in this area, but they were closed at the spring season.