Splayed out beneath us is a tantalizing patchwork of autobahn-wide groomed blue and black slopes that promise fantastic high altitude glacier skiing.

In the small and even medium sized cities it is much easier to simply park the car and walk to all of the sights, and when it comes to wading into the insanity of major metropolitan traffic, we have learned to stay on the outskirts of town and use public transit to explore the big cities.

I immediately inspected my new face in the mirror: I was glowing.

Despite Switzerland's reputation as a pricey destination, hut-to-hut hiking in the Alps can be a breathtaking (pun intended) bargain.

Vacation is an opportunity for life-changing experiences and, if done right, should sometimes be piss-your-pants scary.

Hurtling down this mountain track, banking through the sharp turns and shooting through tunnels like a bullet, I feel energized, vibrantly alive.

The flocking of Victorians to the Swiss Alps was not about growing crops, grazing animals, or extracting minerals. It was about observing, feeling, and articulating a personal response.

Life is more intensely lived the closer one gets to its extinction. We never feel so alive as when we have nearly died.

Unlike many peaks, there is no "escape hatch" on the Matterhorn. Not much room for error, which is why more than 500 people have died there, thrice the fatalities of Mt. Everest.

Most CEOs who have sold three successful Swiss watch companies would retire, but not watch industry giant Jean-Claude Biver, whose last transaction was selling Hublot to the LVMH Group for 480 million Swiss francs.