While thinking about today’s image I have worked out that I have spent somewhere between 200-250 days in Zermatt over the past 50 years. And all those days involve a wake-up and a trip to a window in a hotel or an apartment to look out at the Matterhorn that is the dominant feature of the Zermatt skyline. I’ve seen it in every possible condition, and sometimes not at all when the clouds are down.
No two days are the same. The Matterhorn has moods. It’s a cloud magnet and when clouds wreath its steep slopes it can be mysterious, angry or just extraordinarily beautiful. And nothing conveys mood so powerfully as a good old-fashioned Black and White image.
This image was taken late in the afternoon in 2011 after a dusting of a new snow on the peak. Click the image to view an enlargement.
LensScaper 
Super! Keep ’em coming Andy.
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Thanks Paul. MountainScapes will keep coming, no chance of them going AWOL.
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absolutely dramatic! more please…
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Thank you! I’ve decided that in future Monday’s post will always be a MountainScape of one sort or another. So…stay tuned!
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I am pretty sure that you could spend your whole life looking at that majestic mountain and never get tired of it, Andy.
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Many thanks Len. Absolutely, I could. I play a game sometimes when the clouds are down and I can’t see the summit: where exactly in the sky would the summit appear? And when the clouds clear I will always have picked a lower marker point. This peak just soars into the sky to improbable heights.
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Great shot – I love the way the clouds have banked up against one side, like the mountain has stopped them in their tracks.
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Thank you. Clouds tend to stream off that East Face (Lt side in image). When that happens the Matterhorn is said – by some – to be ‘smoking’.
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Must be a fantastic feeling waking up to this. Great shot.
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Thanks Ken – it most certainly is one of the THE great views in the Alps. I’ll be back there again early next year for 10 days skiing.
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Great shot Andy, B&W makes it look even more rugged.
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Thanks Mark. Can’t beat black and white for creating atmosphere
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Terrific shot, Andy. This really captures a great mood. This seems to be a second home (of sorts) for you. 😉 Well done!
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Thanks very much Jimi. I wish I was born Swiss!
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I agree this is beautiful in B&W. It just conveys such a mysterious mood while being serene at the same time. Wonderful image Andy.
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Thanks very much Edith
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Very dramatic image Andy!
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Thanks very much for commenting, Anne.
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Truly beautiful, Andy…wonderful in black and white, too….
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Thanks, Scott.
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You’re welcome.
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