Zermatt was weird.

Don’t get me wrong - I liked it, for the most part. But man, it was a different slice of life.

Descending into Zermatt via cable car, August 2025.

We entered Swiss territory via cable-car after a long hike, with one last haul head of us. The lift dropped us off in the hills just above town and we made our way down the rest of the mountain, peeling layers off in the afternoon sun. Real life Lincoln-Log cabins, new and ancient, dotted the hills. Each had it’s own splash of color, whether it be flower boxes, shudder paint, umbrellas or all three. There was a very unique aesthetic to the entire place.

I ran into a guy wearing a Buffalo Bills hat on the way down, and assuming he was American asked if he was all the way out here from Buffalo.

No, he told me, he’s DANISH and only has a Bills hat because he went to one of those London games a few years back. No kidding.

Another thing these cabins and cabin-adjacent buildings had in common were these massive stone roofs. And when I say massive I mean both the stones and the roofs. It was an incredible feat of math and science that these stones didn’t cave the structures in below them. Some of the older ones were hundreds of years old, with 5-6 foot wide shingles made of mountain rock. Even the newer ones, like the restaurant pictured above had them. Definitely a tribute to sticking with what works.

This was hour-twelve of the twelve-hour hike. I barely remember taking these. I was deliriously tired and hangry.

Man were they putting up some real estate in Zermatt. You could live a very nice life as a crane operator if you speak German (I do not).

So we saw some full sized vehicles up in the hills, but once we got to town I noticed the lack thereof - it was all electric, and everything was mini. Mini-taxi’s mini-buses, scooters, bikes, skateboards. No gas, and I was taller than any of it. It was a bit lawless - organized chaos but it was up to the people. There was no right-of-way, and intersections flowed freely. It was like Richard Scary or something, just these strange little vehicles buzzing and bopping by. Wouldn’t have entirely surprised me to see someone driving an apple on wheels.

A few shots of the architecture and infrastructure of the town, both of which were top notch. Also pictured: it’s proximity to the mighty Matterhorn. The second photo was taken from ‘Base Camp’, the hotel we stayed at, where I slapped both SGB and Rim & AB stickers in the lobby.

I’ve seen cemeteries in town before, the southeast side of Cedar Rapids has one not far from downtown for one obvious example, but I’ve never seen one in the CENTER of town, the way it was here. The dead, bless their souls, had the best real estate in Zermatt, and it was taken care of that way. There were immaculate flower displays in front of each headstone, it was pristinely clean, and it was again, at the very center of town. A feature, not a bug. It says a lot about a place as to how they treat their lost loved ones, and I’ve never seen it done they way the Swiss do.

This one was among the finalists to make the calendar but I ended up doing a series of pink flowers in the mountains.

Grand Hotel Zermatterhof, a century-old 5-star hotel that I wish I would have stuck my head in.

A lone man walks in the rain through downtown Zermatt as a storm rolls in. One of my favorite images from this odd and awe-inspiring place.

One of the most memorable parts of Zermatt was this pedestrian mall in the heart of the city. It featured some restaurants and souvenir shops like anywhere else, but that’s where any similarities might end. Everything else was specifically, almost stereotypically, Swiss. I’m talking at least ten Swiss Army Knife stores, probably a dozen Swiss chocolate shops and if you had the time - no - if you had the money you could buy the time: Patek Phillipe, Rolex, TISSOT, Hublot, Breitling; you name it and they had a storefront. Most, you could actually walk in and purchase a very expensive piece. There were displays and inventory, just like any other store. Patek Phillipe however, consisted of just five display watches, two chairs and a desk.

Because if you want one of these, we’re going to have to sit down and talk about it.

Ann and Kevin! I hope to see Kevin again someday (we are still in touch and I sent him some calendars!)

In an unlikely series of events, while I was walking the ped mall and RECORDING A VIDEO FOR AB in a Rosecast hoodie, my aunt saw a girl IN A DES MOINES shirt. I stopped recording when she pointed it out and tried to chase her down so that I could Refer-A-Friend, but lost her in the crowd. A metaphor perhaps, because at the time I thought I was moving to Des Moines for a new gig - I told them I was going to hike the Alps and think about it - but the opportunity ultimately slipped away.

I think it worked out for the better, but I can’t help but think - what if she was a Rosecast listener!?

And just like the Des Moines, I’ll never know. And that’s ok.

TRAVEL

ZERMATT, SWITZERLAND