Bonjour de la Suisse: "Would you like that with or without Italy?"

"With please!" I answered with a fat smile on my face.

This is what the woman selling us lift tickets in Zermatt asked us from behind her window, and without expression slid us the little plastic card that would give us access to the most wonderful slopes I have ever skied.

We arrived on Friday after a four hour train ride to the little burg of Zermatt. We checked into our hotel and worried that we would never see the Matterhorn, the weather was so bad and the forecast called for a storm to move in over the weekend. The cable-car lifts were closed on account of the wind so we set out to check out the small, car-free town.

While very cute, we quickly learned that besides skiing (& hiking in the summer) there really isn't much to do in Zermatt. The guidebook even reads, "On rainy days, the Tourist Information Office can only shrug, tell you optimistically about the Alpine Museum, and suggest you go swimming in one of the big hotel pools."

Saturday was literally a new day. We got up early, determined to snow board no matter what. To our happy surprise, the sun was shining and we got our first glimpse of the Matterhorn. It is literally the most beautiful mountain I have ever seen (the pictures don't do it justice). We were so transfixed by it that together we took almost 400 pictures in two days!!

Our lift ticket included the ski resort of Zermatt Matterhorn and the Italian resort of Cervinia. Together there are over 313km of ski runs (or almost 200 miles). I have heard that even if you try, you cannot ski every run in a weeks time. Imagine Squaw Valley, Heavenly, & Kirkwood combined, put them on the Canadian boarder and tack on Whistler. Then you are getting close to what this place has to offer. Switzerland's longest ski run is here too. 22km (or 13.6 miles) of beautiful, uninterrupted powder.

We took a gondola and two cable cars to get to the top of Klein Matterhorn (the "little" Matterhorn) and we started off toward Italy. We were 12,740 feet up (2.4 miles) so I was feeling the altitude a little. We crossed the boarder (no passport controls up here) to the back side of the mountain and found that the Italian side was even better. There were plenty of warning signs to be sure skiers got back over to the Swiss side before the lifts closed, because to get back around the mountain by car is an expensive 4 hour ride.

There was a huge difference between the Italian & Swiss sides of the mountain. Italian side: laid back, loose lines, cheap lunch and a sea of brightly colored lawn chairs to catch a few rays after lunch. Swiss side: lots of clocks, orderly lines, and no place to sun bathe on the mountain (at least not that we found). Those Italians have their priorities straight!

We ended the day exhausted and happy (and yes, we did make it back to the Swiss side). Our hotel even had "wellness", which is the Swiss term for anything spa related. There was a hot tub, saunas and these stone lounge chairs that radiated heat. Very nice.

Sunday we snow boarded a totally different part of the mountain, it was also fantastic. The good weather held and the views were unbelievable. We stopped for lunch at this little reastraunt on the mountain that was highly recommended by a guy in Gary's office, but really hard to find. It was set in a cluster of really old Swiss chalets and barns.

We could ski almost to the front door and it turned out to be well worth the effort to get there. The ambiance was amazing; we climbed to a rooftop terrace and ate outside with stunning views through the valley to the Matterhorn. The traditional Swiss fair was delicious and our waitress was really nice. I'm happy to say they are open in the summer too. It would be a nice rest stop in a day of hiking.

So, I can honestly say it was some of the best skiing I have ever done. I highly recommend it to anyone out there that loves to ski, it is out of this world! Zermatt is actually open for skiing all year round since it sits on a glacier, but of course not all of the runs are open in the summer.

We can't wait for next year and you are all welcome to join us!