Riffelsee
Small alpine lake on a high ridge where the Matterhorn mirrors perfectly in still morning water.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Riffelsee above Zermatt turns on the fourteenth of July, eighteen sixty-five, when Edward Whymper's party of seven became the first to stand on the Matterhorn summit mirrored in the water. You'll meet the guide Michel Croz, the father-and-son Taugwalders, and an eighteen-year-old lord, and hear about the rope and the rumours the Zermatt inquiry could not silence. Best heard at the water's edge on a windless morning, when the peak lies upside down at your feet.
This audio guide was created using AI.
Similar places
Hörnlihütte
High mountain hut at the foot of the Matterhorn's Hörnli ridge, base camp for summit climbers.
Mountaineer's Cemetery
Churchyard graves of some fifty climbers lost on the surrounding peaks, including Matterhorn pioneers.
Grünsee
Cold, green alpine lake in former glacial terrain, fed by meltwater and springs below high peaks.
Matterhorn Museum - Zermatlantis
Underground museum of a rebuilt mountain village, holding the rope that snapped on the first ascent.
Monte Rosa Hotel
Historic alpine hotel where Matterhorn pioneers lodged, with a facade plaque to Edward Whymper.
Schwarzsee
Dark alpine lake beneath the Matterhorn, with a small pilgrimage chapel to Our Lady of the Snows.