Matterhorn

The Matterhorn as it appears in Soarin'

**The Matterhorn** is a real-life mountain which is also the setting of the Disneyland attraction *Matterhorn Bobsleds* and which is also featured in the *Soarin*' attractions *Soaring Over the Horizon, Soaring: Fantastic Flight* and *Soarin' Around the World*.

## Description

The Matterhorn is a mountain-peak in the Swiss Alps, found in the watershed between Switzerland and Italy over the municipality of Zermatt. It has a near symmetrical glacial-horn which is fairly iconic due to being one of the highest summits in Europe. Thanks to this peak and harsh conditions, the mountain is considered to be one of the deadliest mountains on Earth with a death-count of over 500 recorded.

### Disney Parks

The Matterhorn in Switzerland is not only deadly for its symmetric peak, but also for its seemingly paranormal resident. The mountain is home to the Yeti, a legendary alpine cryptid which has been violently and territorially defending the mountain from intruders for at-least decades if not centuries. The mountain has also been noted to hold crystal caverns which held crystalline structures that glowed different colours and made harmonic sounds.

#### Features

* **Bridge**: This was a bridge which passed over a waterfall on the side of the mountain.
* **Crystal Caverns**: The Crystal Caverns were caverns lined with large, luminescent crystals which let out serene sounds.
* **Lift-hill**: Within a cave at the base of the Matterhorn was an enclosed lift-hill used by Swiss locals to send bobsleds up the mountain's peak.
* **Splash-down pool**: This pool was located at the base of the mountain with bobsleds frequently descending into them from the mountain.
* **Yeti Lair**: The yeti's lair was a cave in the heart of the Matterhorn which contained trophies of the yeti's many kills over the years.

## History

### History

The first recorded ascent of the Matterhorn occurred in 1865. The expedition behind this first ascent killed over 60% of those involved however. The mountain would only be completely traversed in 1962 by Hilti von Allmen and Paul Etter.

### Disney Parks

Many have attempted to trek the surface and caverns of the Matterhorn over the years only to be met by tragedy, if not by the mountain itself then by the yeti which inhabits it. Said yeti would keep trophies of certain victims illustrating the doomed expeditions and ascents of countless people such as would-be mountaineers and alphorn players.

In the late 19th century, the Matterhorn was visited by Camellia Falco, an early aviatrix and member of the Society of Explorers and Adventurers. Following Camellia's demise in 1875, her ghost lead tours of the sky aboard her invention *The Dream Flyer* with the Matterhorn being one of the destinations on said passages.

   One presumably doomed expedition through the Matterhorn was that of the Wells Expedition which was likely launched in the late 19th- 20th century given their known resources. This expedition seemed to encounter the crystal caverns of the Matterhorn only to have an encounter with the yeti. While the fate of the Wells Expedition remains a mystery, it can be presumed that it ended in tragedy as the yeti would add equipment from their expedition to his trophy collection.

Around the 1930s, hang-gliders of the Arbori tribe of Adventure Isle, South America travelled to the Matterhorn in Camellia Falco's vain. These hang gliders were able to magically access the Matterhorn due to their worship of the sky god Q'otár. The sky god controlled the sky-realm of Mayu which allowed Arbori hang gliders to access nearly anywhere on Earth, instantly.

By the mid 20th century, the locals of Zermatt had established a habit of sending bobsledding teams through the mountain's cavern. These endeavours were partly accomplished via one or two mechanical lift-hills which accessed the icy caverns of the Matterhorn from its base. Despite attacks from the yeti and bobsleds disappearing in the mountain, the village at the base of the mountain was well known for offering bobsledding excursions through the mountain for tourists and regularly sending mountaineers to its peak.

An expedition (possibly the same as the Wells expedition though this is speculative) would find a foot-print of the yeti on the South Slope of the mountain on the May 27th of 1978. A cast would be made of this footprint and put on display in the Swiss village at the mountain's base. Circa 1986, the Matterhorn likely held connections to the futurist colony of *Tomorrowland*, California though the extent of their operations in the mountain is unknown; it is believed that they constructed an experimental, "House of the Future" in the woods near the mountain's base. Gondola lifts known as, "Skyways" or, "Skyway Buckets" similar to those once used in Tomorrowland would be constructed to pass through the mountain. This transportation system was seemingly destroyed by the yeti and later abandoned by humans while the yeti stashed away a skyway bucket for its collection.

By the 21st century, the Matterhorn was featured as a travel-destination by the hang-gliding airline company *Soarin'* and their outposts in Grizzly Peak, California and EPCOT, Florida. Soarin' used Zermatt as a stop on flight-routes which connected Paris, France to Hohenschwangau, Germany where Soarin' flew over the Eiffel Tower and Neuschwanstein Castle respectively.

## Appearances and allusions

### Disney Springs

A poster for Zermatt, Switzerland featuring the Matterhorn decorates Twenty-Eight and Main in Disney Springs' marketplace. The Matterhorn is also featured on a map in the same store.

### House of the Future

Promotional art for House of the Future shows the mountain in the landscape behind the titular futuristic house.

### Jungle Cruise

One version of the skipper scripts for the Jungle Cruise has skippers compare jagged rocks in the rapids of Kilimanjaro to resembling the Matterhorn.

### Main Street, U.S.A.

There is an advert in a posting from the, "Disneyland Casting Agency" for actors needed on a film being shot on the Matterhorn. It also mentions the, "Matterhorn Basketball Court" which alludes to a small basketball court within Matterhorn Bobsleds used by cast-members.

### Matterhorn Bobsleds

This Disneyland rollercoaster is set within the Matterhorn and has guests riding through its caverns and cliffsides on a bobsled while being pursued by its territorial yeti.

### Soarin'

The Matterhorn is passed over in *Soaring: Fantastic Flight* as part of S.E.A. member Camellia Falco's aerial tour for guests aboard her Dream Flyers. In Soaring Over the Horizon it is passed over by an Arbori hang glider from Adventure Isle which was able to travel to the mountain so quickly thanks to the spirit of the sky deity Q’otar.

### Skipper Canteen

One of the books in the *Jungle Navigation Co. Ltd. Skipper Canteen* is called, "Scaling the Matterhorn" and presumably regards ascents of the mountain (written c. 1938).

### In Other media

#### Film

##### Third Man on the Mountain

This 1959 Disney live-action film was filmed on the real-life Matterhorn, was set in the Matterhorn and inspired Walt Disney to create Matterhorn Bobsleds in Disneyland. The film detailed the trek of the fictitious Captain John Winter who climbs the Matterhorn in 1865 after his father died tried to do so.

#### Printed materials

##### Disney Kingdoms

The Matterhorn is a featured location in the shared continuity Disney Kingdoms comics within Disney Kingdoms: The Haunted Mansion. In this story, the grandfather of protagonist New Orleans resident Danny Crowe dies in an avalanche on the Matterhorn while exploring it. The grandfather's spirit is later summoned to the Haunted Mansion by Madame Leota to help save Danny from its evil ghost captain.

#### Other

In a 2004 advertisement for Disneyland, the Hitchhiking Ghosts from the Haunted Mansion hitchhiked in the base of the Matterhorn near its splashdown pool where they got splashed by another group of ghosts passing by in a bobsled.

## Connections

### Expedition Everest

The Forbidden Mountain of the Himalayas and the Matterhorn are both Disney Parks mountains which are home to territorial yetis. Expedition Everest contains several subtle references/homages to Matterhorn Bobsleds as a result. The Yeti of the Matterhorn however looks considerably different from its Himalayan counterpart; it around 6' tall while the Everest yeti is is 25' tall, the Matterhorn Yeti has white fur not covering its face or hands revealing blue skin while the Himalayan yeti has brown fur completely covering its body with some pink flesh being visible, and the Matterhorn yeti having red eyes while the Himalayan yeti has yellow eyes.

The advert for "Yeti Brand Tinned Meat" (featuring the Matterhorn Yeti as its mascot) has the quote, "Hygienic, Tasty and Compact" from mountaineer Klaus Wesselhoft, a mountaineer who scaled the Matterhorn in the film Third Man on the Mountain (1959).

#### Up

The Matterhorn yeti's likeness depicts the yeti needed for the Wilderness Explorers' yeti badge in the Wilderness Explorers game of the Animal Kingdom.

### Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: BREAKOUT!

The original yeti animatronic from Matterhorn Bobsleds in in storage within the Collector's Fortress. It is unknown what the nature of this appearance is I.E. if it is intended to be an a canonical audio-animatronic/robot, a taxidermy/petrified alien which incidentally resembles the yeti, or perhaps a taxidermy yeti taken from the matterhorn or some other ecosystem with yetis.

## Trivia

* The original yeti animatronic for the Matterhorn was a repurposed gorilla animatronic from the Jungle Cruise.
* It has been speculated by some that an unidentified S.E.A. member seen in Mystic Manor who was shown to be a mountaineer might have connections to the Matterhorn.
* The Crystal Caverns of the mountain are similar to those found underneath of Vulcania.
* The Matterhorn's yeti has the nickname of, "Harold".

## References

1. ↑ https://www.yesterland.com/homages.html
2. ↑ https://www.yesterland.com/skyway.html
3. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=tbHQVUsTVOs
4. ↑ https://www.mousesteps.com/2015/11/07/twenty-eight-main-open-at-disney-springs-new-shop-offers-clothing-accessories-for-men/
5. ↑ https://www.yesterland.com/homages.html
6. ↑ https://www.themedattraction.com/the-disney-jungle-cruise-spiel/
7. ↑ http://www.mainstgazette.com/2016/07/now-casting.html
8. ↑ https://jungleskipper.com/sea/attractions/skipper-canteen#&gid=1&pid=center-shelf-top-shelf-c12
9. ↑ http://ultimateorlando.blogspot.com/2014/01/matterhorn-tribute-in-expedition.html