My boots are warm to the touch. They've been resting on the boot warmer inside the storage room of the Hotel Monte Rosa for the better part of 12 hours - about the time that has elapsed since I arrived at this historic, quaint, four-star establishment in the centre of Zermatt.
I grab them, along with my skis and poles, and make my way to the front door, where a blast of Alpine air and a sensational view of the 4,478-metre Matterhorn await me.
Decisions, decisions. Do I walk over and take the Stand-seilbahn funicular to the sun-drenched and appropriately named 2,288-metre Sunnegga peak? Or ride the Gornergrat-Monte Rosa-Bahnen to Gornergrat station, altitude 3,100 metres, to be mesmerised by more stunning vistas? Or do I skip skiing altogether and go shopping - an indolent pursuit that seems entirely appropriate following a five-hour journey from Hamburg? I decide to ski.
For first-timers, this village of 4,500 residents can be confusing. There is no ski-in, ski-out, there is a great deal of schlepping and most disconcerting of all is the discovery that, even at 10am, little sunlight filters into this almost-mythical village.
It's really not surprising. Coddled and surrounded by soaring saw-toothed mountain ranges and serrated peaks, regulars don't learn about ski conditions by looking out of the window. Instead, they turn their TV dials to Alpenpanorama, a network broadcasting up-to-the-minute ski reports and live video feeds from atop all of Switzerland's alabaster-like peaks.
The Klein Matterhorn, altitude 3,885 metres and the end point of the highest cable car in Europe, seems like the best option. Following a five-minute crosstown ride aboard one of the many yellow mini electric taxis that litter the alleyways of Zermatt and its sister village, Saas Fee - both of which are car-free - I reach the base station, espresso in hand. The gondola comfortably transports me to a mid-station, where I change and wait for a cable car to take me farther up the mountain.