Gornergrat in July 1985

Dwight Peck's nostalgia collection

Gornergrat in 1985

with lots and lots of kids

A majority of Marlowe's mom's siblings have swarmed to Switzerland to see the sights, and as they're all mountaineers (except for the children), we're taking them along to see Gornergrat. 6 July 1985

You may not find this terribly rewarding unless you're included here, so this is a good time for casual and random browsers to turn back before they get too caught up in the sweep and majesty of the proceedings and can't let go.

Moms and kids on the train, all the alpha males are loping up from Zermatt (1606m asl) to Gornergrat (3130m) to rejoin them in time for lunch. The train, opened in 1898, is the highest open-air rack railway in Europe.

The Hotel Kulm Gornergrat (3,120m asl), also dating from the very early 20th century, has housed in its two towers since the late 1960s a succession of astronomical observatories, including one in the infrared spectrum and, from 2001 to 2010, a sub-millimeter array. There's a Japanese solar neutron detector on one of the terraces.

Gathering of the clan on the terrace of the hotel

The railway terminus at 3,190m asl, and the Riffelhorn below.

The Matterhorn, of course

The Dufourspitze on the Monte Rosa massif, at 4,634m the highest peak in Switzerland and second highest in western Europe; seen from Gornergrat.

Lisskamm, and the head of the Grenz Glacier

The train coming up from Zermatt, having just passed the Riffelberg (read Mark Twain's hilarious saga of trying to parachute from the Riffelberg using umbrellas, A tramp abroad (1880))