At the beginning of this year, it was time again for our yearly retreat. This time we went to Zermatt. It had been a few months since we had last met and as a distributed team we have only been in contact with each other via online tools like Slack or Zoom. To compensate the time apart, we have “Company Retreats”, where we meet as a team at a chosen place to enjoy activities together and strengthen the team spirit.

Arrival Day

One day was reserved for traveling to Zurich, so that everyone could arrive when it suited them best. In the evening we had the first dinner together at Daizy. True to the motto “Sharing is Caring” all courses were shared.

The Surprise

After having breakfast together in the 25Hours Hotel (where some of us were allowed to spend the night) we headed for the main station. The destination was clear, Zermatt! Or was it?

From Zurich we first headed for Chur. As a Swiss person, you might wonder why Chur if you are going to Zermatt – that is in the wrong direction! But for me, it was only a normal ride through beautiful Switzerland. Once we arrived in Chur we changed platform and waited for the connecting train. You will not believe what came next…

The “slowest express train in the world”, the Glacier Express, arrived. 😍

Almost 6 hours with panoramic views took us through the Swiss Alps over the Oberalp Pass at an altitude of 2’000m above sea level to Zermatt. For sustenance we had Capuns, a traditional dish from Graubünden.

Arriving shortly before sunset, we were able to capture “Ds’Hore” – as the people of Valais call the Matterhorn – with our cameras for the first time.

We checked into our rooms at the Hotel Bella Vista. A cosy family run chalet with a panoramic view of the Matterhorn. While a few of us took advantage of the yoga offer, the others explored Zermatt at night. “Z’Nacht” was at the hotel, a traditional “Walliser Plättli” to share and hay goulash soup.

Workshop, Gornergrat and the Igloo Village

After an abundant breakfast we reserved two hours for a workshop on our job platform Freshjobs. For 2020 we are planning some interesting enhancements as well as development of partnership with conferences.

After a very productive workshop, we took the train up to the Gornergrat. At an altitude of 3’135m above sea level, after some initial worries we were lucky with the weather. The clouds cleared up and we got a perfect view of probably the most famous 4000 metre high mountain, the Matterhorn. If we had our ski gear (not existent) with us, now at the latest, we could have gone down the slopes.

First, we took the Gornergrat train down one station to the Rotenboden and started our hike over the slope through the snow to the Igloo Village.

The finale

After the hike we had really earned dinner, which lead to CERVO Puro with fish, beef and, of course, side dishes to share! The Valaisan wine, red and white, could not be left out either All in all, a perfect end to a wonderful company retreat to Zermatt!

The next day we returned back to Lucerne, Bern and Zurich. I hung around for a few more days and enjoyed the rare opportunity to work (and drink coffee) in the office with Karin.