Europe Matterhorn 2018-06-25

Road trip to visit the Matterhorn. We took a lot of pictures on the trip to the Matterhorn, while at the Matterhorn and on the way back. I apologize if there seems to be a lot of duplication, but there were a lot of great pictures. I was using the Marco Polo app for videos, allowing me to share with family, so there is some pixelation on the videos. This was a great day of breath taking beauty. The Matterhorn is a mountain of the European Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the Pennine Alps, whose summit is 4,478 metres (14,692 ft) above sea level, making it one of the highest summits in the Alps and Europe. Sometimes referred to as the "Mountain of Mountains", it has become an indelible emblem of the Alps and is claimed to be the most photographed mountain in the world. The Matterhorn has four faces, each roughly oriented toward one of the four cardinal points. Three of these (north, east, and west) are on the Swiss side of the border and watershed, while the south face lies on the Italian side. These four steep faces, rising above the surrounding glaciers, are separated by the Hörnli, Furggen, Zmutt, and Leone (Lion) ridges. The mountain overlooks the Swiss town of Zermatt, in the canton of Valais, to the northeast, and the Italian town of Breuil-Cervinia in the Aosta Valley to the south. Just east of the Matterhorn is Theodul Pass, the main passage between the two valleys on its north and south sides, which has been a trade route since the Roman era.