Da Cipriano · Places & Stories
Zermatt
Winter Beneath the
Matterhorn
12–14 February 2026 · Switzerland
The Mountain
A Sky Almost Too Blue
There are mountains one recognises instantly, even before knowing exactly where one is. The Matterhorn is one of them.
During those February days, I was extraordinarily lucky. The sky seemed almost impossibly blue, the winter sun was brilliant and the air so clear that every contour of the mountain appeared sharply drawn against the sky.
I found myself looking up again and again. Sometimes the summit stood completely free; at other moments a small trace of cloud drifted around it. The view was never quite the same twice.
Explore Zermatt, the Matterhorn and the surrounding Alpine region through Switzerland Tourism.
A Winter Story
Some journeys begin with a tradition — and then take an unexpected turn.
For more than thirty years, my winter holidays have taken me to St. Moritz. It has become a tradition, almost a ritual — returning to the Engadin, to the mountains, the snow and a place that has accompanied so many winters of my life.
Every now and then, I extend those days in the mountains with a short visit to friends spending their holidays somewhere else.
In February 2026, that somewhere else was Zermatt.
I arrived on 12 February to join friends who were already there — and could hardly have chosen a more beautiful moment. Brilliant sunshine, deep snow and extraordinary clarity revealed the Matterhorn in all its splendour.
What was meant to be a short visit became three wonderfully simple days of friendship, beautiful food, winter sun and views I will not easily forget.
Zermatt in Winter
Snow, Wood & Mountain Light
Beyond the famous silhouette of the Matterhorn, I loved the smaller scenes just as much: timber chalets beneath heavy snow, narrow winter paths and that particular Alpine light that moves between brilliant white and deep blue.
Beneath the Matterhorn
Sometimes a place simply gives you the perfect moment.
Zermatt · February 2026
Lunch in the Winter Sun
An Afternoon at Paradise
One of the loveliest moments of the visit was a long lunch with friends at Paradise.
We sat outside, surrounded by snow yet wonderfully warm in the February sun. There was no reason to hurry: good food, good conversation, the mountains around us and that extraordinary winter light that makes an afternoon seem to last just a little longer.
Afterwards, rather than heading straight back, we took a small walk uphill through the snow towards the gondola. With the sun still shining and the mountains opening around us, it felt like exactly the right thing to do.
Paradise Zermatt ↗
The View
Mountains That Stop the Conversation
There are views that become part of the background, and others that repeatedly draw your attention back to them. In Zermatt, the Matterhorn did exactly that. Again and again, conversation paused for a moment simply because there was something more compelling to look at.
A Small Zermatt Souvenir
The Ray-Ban Emergency
There was, however, one small problem: I had forgotten my sunglasses.
With brilliant sunshine reflecting from the snow, that was not going to work for very long. So there was only one solution: a new pair of Ray-Bans.
It also happens to fit a little tradition of mine. Over the years, I have collected Ray-Ban sunglasses on my travels around the world. Each pair is connected to a place and a memory — sometimes deliberately chosen, sometimes bought simply because the moment called for them.
Vienna, Cape Town, New York and Barcelona are among those memories. And after arriving in Zermatt without sunglasses on one of the brightest winter days imaginable, another pair inevitably joined the collection.
Not exactly the souvenir I had planned to bring home — but perhaps one of the most useful.
Christiania Mountain & Spa
For my short stay in Zermatt, the Christiania Mountain & Spa became my base — a comfortable place to return to after days spent outside in the extraordinary February weather.
Visit Christiania Mountain & Spa ↗A Winter Memory
Three Days,
One Perfect View
Three days are not very long. But sometimes a place gives you exactly the moments you hoped for.
I remember the warmth of the February sun, lunch with friends, walking through the snow, the almost unreal blue of the sky — and looking up again and again to make sure the Matterhorn was still there, perfectly clear.
It was.
Zermatt, 12–14 February 2026.
One of those winter memories that needs very little explanation.
Lunch
Paradise Zermatt
