The Awakening of the Immaculate

The Matterhorn, an immaculate, smoking pyramid, is dressed in its finest white and reveals its subtle nature, while its majestic east face basks in the mid-winter sun, while the north face, as if more reserved, prefers to remain in shadow. A fragment of a timeless living world, this iconic summit is a constant invitation to elevation for those who know how to contemplate it.

I still remember that blessed morning I'll never forget when I found myself facing the famous and legendary Matterhorn. Culminating at 4478 meters above Zermatt, in the Valais Alps in Switzerland, I was facing the Hörnli ridge with its mythical hut at its feet. It was here that Edward Whymper, the first mountaineer to venture up summit, achieved his feat.

This photo was taken after a snowstorm, and I spent a long time preparing for it, hoping to get the Matterhorn all white and plastered with snow. It took me many years, and every time the snow fell, I went back to Zermatt, without ever managing to get that moment of truth. I even came to doubt that I'd ever get the quality of snow I needed on the Matterhorn, because it was always either too windy, too cold or too low...

And yet, one morning, as I stood on the heights of Zermatt, the clouds parted at sunrise and offered me a perfect vision: the Matterhorn completely immaculate in white, with the wind and clouds adding a subtle touch of soul between two worlds.

I like to think that these clouds are a sign that the mountain isn't static, that it's alive and kicking, and that something powerfully elusive is going on at its heart. This is what I wanted to reveal to you, and I hope it will bring you as much pleasure to contemplate.