Join me and my 79-year-old father on an unforgettable adventure holiday in Cervinia, Italy, at the base of the legendary Matterhorn! 🌍⛰️
From high-altitude hiking trails to the rush of whitewater rafting in the Aosta Valley beneath Mont Blanc, our journey was packed with adrenaline and awe-inspiring landscapes. 🚣♂️🚵♂️
We pushed limits mountain biking to nearly 3,000 meters, walked across the breathtaking Matterhorn Glacier Paradise, and even explored surreal ice tunnels carved deep into the glacier. ❄️✨ To top it all off, we couldn’t resist squeezing in a little skiing! ⛷️
This video is a celebration of adventure, family, and the beauty of the Italian Alps. Whether you’re looking for inspiration for your next alpine getaway or just want to see what’s possible at any age, come along with us for this once-in-a-lifetime experience!
[Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] and reality. [Music] So, look at this way from Australia that I found. We finally got through security. Dad had his bag confiscated. He left the speaker in. Well, here we are in the car having come out of Milan airport and heading to Little for the first major shop. Bit of rain as you can see slightly. But right here on time well the lights falling on that right hand side there. Coming much further up the valley now and you can just catch a glimpse of the manor and cloud in the distance. Good morning from Germany. This is what it looks like at 7:00 in the morning. I’m just heading down to town to get some fresh crescent. There’s been some fresh snow last night. Looking up there. We got some blue sky. Early morning mist is clearing. This is our rather weird building. And uh that’s where I’ve parked my car. So, it’s just before 9. We managed to get ourselves together for the start of the first walk. Short 16 km hike starting at base camp. We’ll call this 2,000 m. We have about 1,000 m of elevation gain today just so the weather’s being kind to us so far. You see the glaciers up there. Lunches are packed. We’re off. [Music] So, we just started our day’s hike. The weather is getting better and better. What do you think of it so far? A good breeze breeze. [Music] Getting steeper here. [Music] Unfortunately, the matter horn is not showing itself. So, we’re making it closer to the glaciers. Getting higher. Still spectacular. I think we’re all enjoying it, but a bit short of breath. So, we’re following this trail up here up to there. The refuge. You don’t get much better spot for your morning coffee, Dad. Do you? Not bring us back. H all the way up from down there. That’s why trepidacious. We going to make it straight in the water there. My turn. Oh, smile at the camera. Well done. [Music] [Music] heading our way back now. There’s a far there looking at a photograph. There’s an old pylon from this huge golf. We’re heading this way. Not up that, just this way. Have the blue lake. Father surveying the landscape, watching the gondilas. There’s the dam. Pretty cool, huh? So, we’re finally on our way down after a really good day’s hiking. That’s plan Mison. And there’s the village of Chvinya where we’re staying. We’re staying just over there. That’s the town center. Cheers. Welld deserved. Pint pint. [Applause] run away into his log pile house. So, we’re doing our final little bit of the track back to the village after enjoying a cold beer. This is route 15 to Germany. Then we’re going to go to the um tourist information, maybe look at some bikes to hire and take it from there. [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] Dad’s impressed. Can finally see just about all of the Matterhorn just he’s scandalized with the prices of the supermarket just being in. had to buy a knife cuz very poor kitchen utensils. So, I’m going to head back to the car, head back up to the apartment, have a beer, think about what we’re going to do. Another morning trip to the Bakers. Another horrible morning in Svenia. Skies are gorgeous. [Applause] [Applause] So, I decided to see if there’s a way of getting onto the ski slope, walking into town from our apartments through there, but took quite a while. sort of waste deep in undergrowth with massive rocks. But I have just spotted a path. Wonder if I missed it. Let’s go and investigate. So, it’s quite a steep slope as you can see. And that’s the town there. And if we walk down, it would save us having to walk all the way down the road, which is quite slow. This is quite steep though. Usually don’t always get it on the camera, but I have just spotted this path and it appears to be called 17A. Where can it lead? So, I think it leads to the second car park. I went in the first one. I think people car camp here. I can see why. So, I think some more people car camping down there. And this is our apartment block here on the left. So, that’s handy to know. So, we’re chilling with our coffee at the rafting place. So, we have arrived at the river. Father just getting ready. Having a good time. Decided to have a little coffee. It’s really warm down the valley though. Looks like fun fun fun. Had to drive about 45 minutes or so to get here. So there’s the answer to your question. That’s how you get information. Come here, guys. Nice, man. It’s fresh. Really fresh. Hallelujah. Bye-bye. Most of you guys get in Andrew right here. We have the water. Okay. Let’s say rock and roll. We do this. We put all the puddles in the middle like a high five and we sprint. Okay. We need to give some energy back to the river. Okay. Forward. Forward. Stop. Forward. Okay. Don’t be ready. Aanti forward. Aante forward. Aanti forward. Come on, stop right. So on TV. Okay. So guys, we need to be focused here cuz we want to do an artificial crawl and we need to do it well. Okay. Forward. up. You will need a a good forward to avoid some rocks and then I will tell you to get down. Okay. Forward. Stop forward. Stop forward. Stop it now. Okay, get back up. Get down. Get down. Engage. Swim, swim. There you go. Pretty cold, huh? You can stand up now. Slowly, slowly. Use your hands as well to feel the rocks. Take the other hand. No, no. With this. Take this. Yes. Okay. Sit down. Yes. Very good. The leg onoo. Cold. Cold. That’s fresh. Okay. Yeah. So, after a rather crazy drive, there’s a little finicular. Uh we’ve come up to this point and we’re going to go on a walk. There’s loads of trails here. Look, Dad. Yeah. Are they all on that map? No. Photograph, right? Yeah. So, find yourself will be jealous cuz she always [Music] So we just came up this little mountain finicular up to this plateau. So what way is it father? Dad consults definitely walked a while away from the trail. So the trail is either there. So a late afternoon stroll. It’s 4:00. Pretty warm up here. Although we’re nearly at 2,000 mters, it’s warm. Very different terrain to yesterday. Yeah. [Music] [Music] Whoa, there’s dad. So, we’re taking a big risk and going off paste going back down the valley we came up cuz we didn’t start this walk to nearly 4:00 and uh we’ve got the second half of our movie to watch before the rental runs out. So, decided we’re going to I nearly said hire a pizza. We’re going to get a takeaway pizza from town, bring it back up in the car so we don’t have to cook tonight, and then we’ll maybe do the steaks tomorrow night. Tomorrow looks like it could be wet. So, we might come back down this way and do more of a foresty walk cuz that means we’re not missing any views cuz we in the trees anyway. Come. Nearing the end of the walk here. It’s been a lovely little probably about five or six kilometers I think. Well, we’re back at the car park. This little finicular we took up, but we came down the path and we’re parked here. This is part of the road on the way up to the village on the lower slopes. Yin height looking down the valley. Good morning all. This is day three. Not looking good, is it? So, I’m nipping down to the bakery and I’m going to head down the valley to Val Tornish and look for a more of a foresty type walk. Rain’s not too heavy. It was really heavy in the night. Uh, and then it should get even heavier this afternoon. So, we’re going to do some chores like getting rid of rubbish, finding recycling are, and then going to try and catch the copy of the Grand Prix, or a replay, should I say. This is the car, by the way, which is a hybrid, just a rechargeable one, not a plug-in one. It’s supposed to be a fake panda, but definitely got an upgrade. Down in the village, at least the uh cloud line’s a little bit higher, but not a lot. So, this is my little bakery where we get breakfast and lunch. So, we’ve had to come down to the valley due to the poor weather conditions today. So, can’t really find the exact walk what we’re looking for, but we know there’s a waterfall down this way somewhere. So, we’re meandering on down trail number, what was it? 34. 34. 34. Uh, so the plan is just doing a morning walk probably cuz the weather’s coming in worse in the afternoon. So, we’ll keep you posted. I can hear running water which is a good sign if you’re looking for a waterfall. That’s step there. This looks like a real ancient out buildings here, right? I think yeah trails both ways. Well, yeah, we’ll go down here and have a look. Big Sea. Yeah. [Music] steep this bit. My dad picked this walk. I wanted to do a nice easy one, but no. This is a bit strange. All these tree stumps, an old building, and a random old bloke. Hello, Mr. Mrs. Kai. Hello. What does that mean in Italian? So, came across this weird monolith aka 2001 in this little clearing. Getting close to the mist. Child’s on his phone again. [Music] We’re nearing the highest point. to think supposed to be a church further up here before we loop back around and head on down. There’s lots of little trails here. We’re going to [Music] So, we’ve broken through under a road. The rain was heavier for a bit there, but it seems to have eased off a bit, so we’ve each got our uh waterproof chargers on cuz we’re sensible that way. There should be a track leading off the Yeah, there is through this playground here. Looks like it. I’m triing my new waterproof socks today. Now, that’s not a sign for a trail, I suppose. [Music] So, we think we drove along this road yesterday. We noticed all this road here in yesterday’s walk. So now I have a rough idea of where we are. Rain’s eased off again. See the mist hanging on the hills. Where is mine fatter? Still faffing on his phone. Nearly looks like sun could be coming through. So I’ve been out walking for a good couple of hours. Not seen a single sausage. This is our favorite, well my favorite red run that came down to Van Terren. If you remember, you go under this little bridge. There’s the snow cannons come out from there and bomb all the way down to the gondilas. Seen this really ancient property that’s been all sort of a new one rebuilt within it. This is crazy. You can see the glass and the old structure. It just takes us up through this little walkway. Feels mad that we’re able to walk through here, but this is one of the trails. Oh, Dad. Sign here. Oh, I just stopped. Is that right? Trust that 3/4 in the beginning of that bridge. Yeah. Passing under the gondelas. Think we’re following trail number 25 according to father. There’s a trail mark going back up that way, but around this. [Music] So, we’re nearly back down to the town now. We’ve been enjoying all the architecture, interesting construction methods and stuff. Uh, mist has come down a bit, but luckily it’s stayed pretty dry for us. It’s still due to rain heavier this afternoon. It’s now about coming up to 1:00. I’ve been pestering dad for lunchtime. He’s always reluctant to eat when he’s out walking for some reason. So, uh, what about here? Do you think is this a good little spot? Got our waterproof trousers on. Bravo. That’ll do me. Lunch with the view. So, as you can see, we’re back in town now. The weather’s taking a bit of a turn for the worse. Uh, right. We’re just heading back to the car, which is near the police station, just in case we got into trouble, I’d be able to post bail to get me dad out. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] So, we have some sideways video today cuz the helmets are a bit weird and don’t uh don’t allow a mount to go on the middle. So, we’ve got a route to follow. I’ve got it on me phone. Dad’s got it on his Got these cool mountain bikes with telescopic seats. [Music] Here’s mine. Fatter. So, we’re heading up this way. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] So, I’ve straightened the camera. See if that works. I record now. Yes, that’s why I’m uh doing a bit of camera. Yes. [Music] Oh, sorry. To the right. I should have called out. Look at those views. [Music] I was going to say the same to you. Yeah, it is, isn’t it? [Music] Yeah, I just can’t stop. I have to keep looking down the track for me. Yeah, it is. It’s just awesome, isn’t it? Really? Yeah, we’re up higher than plan. Yeah, cuz there’s down there. Well, that’s the one to the left. Clam’s a we bit further to the right, but it’s similar height. That one’s a little bit lower, but not much. Who lives there? [Music] [Music] [Applause] Yeah. Don’t be falling down to your left, Dad. No, Sonia wouldn’t. She’d be walking. [Music] Going to head on up a bit then. We got loads of time. Yeah. Yeah. Well, as long as we’ve got time. Yeah. So on our way up to Kim Biance, that’s plan Mason down there. I don’t know if you can see it with the wide angle on the GoPro. Father’s showing me the ropes on an ebike that I’m not used to. Very quiet. Only met one of the couple of people all the way up here. And there’s somebody else up here. [Music] Another [Music] mad place for a coffee. Kimian, I have got a flat tire. Luckily, we’ve got a repair kit. So, I’m going to stand here and watch dad do it. All repaired. And going to head back down that way. We’re in one of dad’s worst nightmares. He’s in a gondola. We’ve got him in a gondola at Vantage. So nice views down the valley from up here. He’s up. We have Ren. Ren, go away. Dad’s putting his overchargers on. Just admiring the view down these two ski runs. First bit of rain we’ve had today. We thought we were going to get rid of it. We’re away from it. I can’t believe it’s raining. So after, as my dad calls it, a dander up one of the manic slopes, we’re heading back now hopefully to try and find the last little cafe before the gondola ride back down. Maybe have a cheeky beer or coffee depending on what they serve. But it’s been a jacket on, jacket off. Over on, over type afternoon. You wouldn’t have thought 10 minutes ago it’s raining and now look. But hey ho, that’s the hills. Bad news. The bar is shut. My dad’s very disappointed. He’s holding me holding me fully responsive. Yep. We’re going to get this gondola back down. Let’s hope me return ticket works. So, this is our last full morning. I was going to get up early and film the sunset, but the first time I fully slept in and it would have been lovely. Look, look, look, look, look the lovely mountains the M horn. So anyway, we’re going to go up to the glacier. So I’ve got to go down and get some breakfast cresants and then we’ll take it from there. Have to go to the ticket office, I think. So, we’re just walking to the ski high shop to see if we need snowshoes if we’re going to be walking on the glacier cuz I don’t know what the protocol is. So, we’re doing this video now in case it’s our last ever one because we’ve stopped. We’re not worried at all. Do you like my beard? Not shaved since we’ve been away. Trying to trying to look like my old man. We haven’t been mistaken as brothers yet. I know. But my uncle Very funny. But uh yeah, so I’m going to do a bit of skiing. It’s actually cheaper to do it this way, believe it or not. All in the interest of saving. Here I am on the glacier. The bottom run isn’t open, unfortunately. So, it’s just really these runs. So, I’m going to be up and down this, but hey ho, that’ll be fun anyway. Look at me. I’m skiing. Who could have thought? Wowzers. So, here I am at the top of the slope. It’s not bad. It’s a bit icy. It’s actually surprisingly warm. I’ll do a little ski down, then I’ll uh stop and get my gloves on. So, here we are walking on the glacier. Is this your first time in a glacier? My first? Well, no, not quite, but it’s close enough. Yeah, last time was pretty close enough. In other words, the second time. The second time. Oh, you mean you mean today or were you somewhere else? I was on like this here in Canada. Ah, right. Long time ago. Yeah. So, we’re just going to have a little wander over here. Here we are entering the glacier. How crazy is this? In the ice. That’s mad, isn’t it? It’s nothing yet. That’s awesome. This is what it’s like inside a glacier. Who would have known? Oh, that’s the power. Yeah. Pretty cool. What do you think? So, I’ve just skied down from there all the way down into here. And I don’t know how long. Let’s see. What does my watch say? 141. [Music] Well, it’s our final beer. Well, not our final beer. Our final beer out. Not that we hadn’t any beers out. It’s probably only the second one. So, had a great day. Time for this. My dad’s got a friend, a dog. You think he’s after the crisps? Are you after the crisps? Look, you didn’t nudge me. Buddy used to do nudge you when you stopped. [Music] Oh, what a glorious day. We have to do a video. It’s our final morning. We have to do something. Finally got the old van down to the bakery where I go every day. So, we’ve got fresh croissants on, some coffee, and then we’re going to head off. Just about 8:00 a.m. The church bells have just rung. So, about a 3-hour drive back to the car. Say goodbye to the town of Brew Juvena. Sorry. What happened? Must be so heavy. There he is. And when you go away, I still see you with some face in my view. This always happens to me this way. Make confus.