Zermatt, the Matter Valley and the Pennine Alps
POTY 2025
With the turning of the calendar, we come to the end of the Daily Image Project for 2025, the DIP. Since it’s now a New Year, though, it’s time to choose the POTY – the Picture of the Year for 2025.
With the DIP, it is a bit harder this year as I have so many photos to choose from, but it was pretty easy to narrow down the obvious contenders, as Norma and I took a bucket list trip last year – our trip through the Alps of Austria, Germany, Italy and Switzerland. We saw some wondrous sights along the way – from my maternal ancestor’s homeland in Austria through some of the highest mountain passes in Europe to lively cities and towns to some of the interesting historical sites we visited, but the image that stands out for me is the one shown in my blog this week - Zermatt, Switzerland taken from the Klein Matterhorn.
About the image – the town in the foreground is Zermatt at an altitude of 1,620 m (5,310 ft), sitting in the Mattertall Valley and the peaks in the background are the Pennine Alps including Monte Rosa (specifically its tallest peak, named Dufourspitze), Switzerland's highest peak at 4,634 metres (15,203 ft) above sea level. The picture was taken from the Klein Matterhorn, the base of the Matterhorn, which is reached by a gondola and then a cable car and a short hike and sits at 3,883 meters (12,739 feet), the highest cable car station in Europe. The Matterhorn rises behind us in the photo to 4,478 m (14,692 ft), and my photo of that peak was among the contenders for POTY. What you see in this photo however is the scenery including Zermatt which is over 2 km down from where I was standing – that’s over a mile vertical rise.
Norma and I were lucky on the trip weather wise as except for a brief hailstorm on the Bernini Pass along the Swiss/ Italian border, we hit perfect weather and got some amazing views on our expedition to four high Alp peaks. It was a trip we’ll both remember for a lifetime, and so the POTY goes to the image that best represents the beauty of the Alps – Zermatt from the base of the Matterhorn!
If you look back through my Facebook thread for Bill Curry Photography you can view the entire 365 images and see if you like one as a POTY contender. The DIP is now over, but I’ll still be posting lots of photos, just not every day, and of course will continue my weekly blog.
Here’s hoping for a wonderful, peaceful and happy 2026.
