Please direct your attention to the icy slopes of the Matterhorn! Back in 1962, a photographer was mighty impressed by the sight of two daring mountaineers (but not Mouseketeers) as they made their way up to the peak of the Matterhorn. You can see one climber clearly here, though there is just a speck of red at the tippy-top indicating that Horst reached the summit just moments ago.
This one's my favorite, mostly because the photo captured a yellow and red bobsled. By now all of you know that a bobsled sighting is good luck, so make a wish. Matteo has reached one of the more difficult parts of the ascent - this is where most climbers are eaten by the abominable snowperson. Smart people fill their pockets with anchovies, which the snowperson hates.
Come on Matteo, time is money! Horst is making you look bad. I've always thought that the mountain climb looks potentially dangerous, and yet I am unaware of any injuries or incidents over the 60+ year history of the Matterhorn.
Major-
ReplyDeleteI'm getting a nosebleed just looking up-!
Thanks, Major.
Horst and Matteo seem to be taking a difficult route up the Matterhorn. It looks like it would be much easier from the other side (our right, in these photos). It has a gentler slope. I guess they have to take the hard route to prove that they are Manly Men.
ReplyDeleteMajor, that's not a bobsled. It's a German flag being unfurled by those tourists from Deutschland. Only, in their haste, they got it upside-down. The black stripe is hidden by the rockwork.
Always nice to see Matterhorn photos. Thanks, Major.
Looking at these photos on my cell phone, it looks like the Matterhorn is stuffed into a cardboard box, in the 2nd photo.
ReplyDeleteWhere is our photographer standing?
Maybe he’s standing in a cardboard box??
Ok, Major, I made a wish. It’s probably what everyone else is wishing for today. * sigh * (with a heavy heart)
Sue, yeah I know. I almost said something, too. I even wrote it out, then deleted it before hitting the 'publish' button (I almost deleted this one too). The outcome does not look hopeful.
ReplyDeleteCould our photographer be standing near the backside of the Yacht Bar?
ReplyDeleteThat part of the track, where we see the bobsled, has now been enclosed....but only recently. They just did it in '78.
I always think its interesting that the climbers don't suffer the same fate as Black Bart in the Rainbow Ridge shootout footage (he grows to epic size as he climbs up into the town!) Of course the climbers scale is even much much more off but up against the nondescript (rocks) its hard to tell. Also, they realy are pretty dang far up there! Brave men! (Women too?, I've never seen any). Thanks Major!
ReplyDeleteI spy a bird perched on the left boulder of the upper falls, also good luck. Birds flapping around the top of the Matterhorn have boggled by the scale mix-up, but nothing like the little sparrow I saw chirping away atop the miniature golf course Matterhorn; that would be Birdzilla.
ReplyDeleteTo the right of the upper falls are some rocky spires which form an alcove, and once I saw two climbers relaxing there, kicking back, probably razzing the crowds below, if their body language was any indication.
I remember it was always a kick to see the climbers on the Matterhorn. You don't get that in Tucson by golly. We would stand there like the tourists we were, looking up for about a minute, then down the rabbit hole with Alice. Looks like everyone's going down the rabbit hole. I'll wish right along with you Sue, for what good it will do. Now's the perfect time to jump into the second pic from yesterday's post.
ReplyDeleteAre they really Horst and Matteo or Rocky and Bullwinkle?
Thanks Major and good wishes for all of us here, wrapped in the loving arms of the Major's blog.
They’re just following the built-in handholds.
ReplyDeleteTM, you’re right, photo from behind the Yacht Bar.
The sheer chutzpah of Disney, build a fake mountain, then pay guys to climb it.
Cheers all!
JG
@ TM!-
ReplyDeleteI think so. LOOK HERE. And HERE.
Thanks to Daveland.
Nanook, “Ol’ Nosebleed Nanook”, that’s what they call you! ;-)
ReplyDeleteJB, any self-respecting mountaineer will avoid the easy route to the top of a peak. I know that when I climb Everest, I take the hardest trail, and I wear a t-shirt and jeans, instead of all that bulky stuff that the other guys wear. I should have recognized the German flag!
Lou and Sue, back in the early days, the Matterhorn WAS in a cardboard box. It seems strange now, but that’s how Walt wanted it. And I think I know what wish you made, I hope it comes true.
JB, how am I supposed to censor what you write if you do it before me??
TokyoMagic!, I honestly was not sure where these photos were taken, but the Yacht Bar seems likely! I wonder why they enclosed that part of the track? Did a lot of people scream right there, and it was disturbing to guests?
Stu29573, you make a good point about the climbers destroying the forced perspective, but somehow it doesn’t seem quite as bad as the famous Black Bart example (where he eventually towers above two story buildings!). Somehow, the height of the Matterhorn (147 feet) doesn’t sound that high, and yet… I’m not sure I would want to be up there.
Stefano, in the evenings I used to see crows landing all over the Matterhorn, it was kind of funny to see how much it threw off the illusion of scale. Darn crows! Wow, I’ve never heard of the climbers just chilling up on top of the Matterhorn, especially if they were chilling AND razzing the crowd!
DrGoat, I’ve told this story before, but when I was very young (maybe five or six?), I stopped to look at the climbers on the Matterhorn, and the next thing I knew, my whole family was gone. I was in a panic! A nice security guard quickly reunited me with my folks. I guess I needed to be kept on a leash, ha ha. Nice to hear from you!
JG, when I’ve seen photos of the climbers that were relatively close-up, I have not noticed any built-in handholds - but there MUST be some. Or do they actually hammer in pitons, or use ice axes? That’s probably it. I would build a fake mountain, and then pay people to paint it pink and purple.
Nanook, if I look at those links I have to pay Daveland $200.
Thanks for those photo links, Nanook (and Daveland)!
ReplyDeleteMajor, I'm glad the security guard got you back with your folks. This blog would not be the same without you! This daily party you host is exactly what we all need and look forward to.
I love how “just” 44 years ago is “recently” round these parts.
ReplyDeleteA familiar vista to those visiting yesterlands gentlemen's lounge, apparently.
Nanook, thanks for that confirmation!
ReplyDeleteMajor, I don't think it was a matter of people screaming right at that point. It's the part of the track just around the corner from the top of the lift hill. I think they enclosed it to make it a bit more foreboding, along with adding the glowing eyes of the Abominable Snowman, and his GRRRRROOOOOOOWL!
Lou and Sue, I'm glad too! If my parents were not located, I would have been put to work in the mines beneath Disneyland, where rich churro deposits were found.
ReplyDeleteMichaeland, I know what you mean! Sometimes when I am watching a show on Amazon Prime, I'll look at info on a cast member, and see they the person was born in 1992, which is just wrong, ha ha.
TokyoMagic!, I like your explanation better, if it was all to serve to make the ride more dramatic, then I'm all for it!