Reflections From The Matterhorn

By Tiffany Diep, Matterhorn Scholarship Class of 2026

When I applied for the Summit Scholarship, I was still freshly post op from a labrum repair of my hip. I wasn’t cleared to walk without crutches, and despite having a decent resume of outdoor adventures, the past 6 years have mostly been filled with adventures surviving motherhood with very minimal experience outdoors. I was so eager to get back to that outdoorsy side of myself that I had grown to love and pride myself in. So even though the odds were very stacked against me, I submitted an application for a scholarship. I figured it never hurts to try…

You can imagine my utter shock in February when I received a call from Sunny Stroeer. Even as she greeted me on the phone, I wasn’t expecting to hear I was selected. Instead, I was prepared to be asked more interview questions to narrow down the list of potential scholarship recipients. Being bold and putting myself out there paid off though! Sunny was calling to notify me that not only was I selected for a scholarship, but I was selected for 1 of 2 spots to Matterhorn! She started giving me the rundown of what to expect from here, and all I could think of is that there was no way she would keep the decision to select me if she knew the current state of my recovery from surgery.

I was now at a point where I was walking without crutches, but I had to maintain conscious effort to keep from limping, and I still wasn’t even close to being cleared to run. I’d completely understand if she rescinded the scholarship to offer it to a woman who was in great health and  likely to succeed in summiting. I opened up to Sunny about my recovery and to my surprise, her response just showed how truly badass she is. She responded “Women have summited Everest with a torn ACL,” telling me that anything is possible and even someone in the best health may not summit. She told me that life happens and no one knows the circumstances on summit day, but the spot was mine.

And so, I didn’t let my hip become an excuse for not going for my goals. I didn’t know how my recovery would progress, but I signed up for a 50k ultramarathon less than 7 months after my surgery. I had numerous moments of panic, scouring the internet for anecdotes to find proof it was possible and never finding any. I made the bold 50k goal for myself because I needed a goal that lit my fire while being equally exciting and terrifying to provide motivation. I had to find out for myself what was possible by setting the bar high. I rehabbed and trained to the best of my ability (and arguably did too much training), until my hip was stronger than it had been in a decade. And in June, I completed my first race ever, a 50k!

Then it was time to switch gears and focus on Matterhorn. I had imposter syndrome but kept reminding myself that the women behind the selection process saw something in me. Despite feeling like the odds were against me again, as I was now working to overcome an overuse injury in both knees, the only option was to give it my all and again find out for myself what was possible. So I hiked, I climbed, I lifted weights, I ran, I carried a heavy backpack walking up and down hills as my daughters had karate class… I trained as much as I could so that I could show up in Zermatt with no regrets.

By the time I started hiking up to Hornli Hut, I had already done everything I could to prepare. We would start our climb up Matterhorn the following day at 5am. As I was laying in bed failing horribly at sleeping, I thought back to my journey and how far I’ve come in such a short time. I told myself to let go of all the pressure and expectations, and just celebrate the hard work. All that was left to do was enjoy the mountain, soak in every moment, and trust my intuition. As I eventually drifted off to sleep, I knew that that was going to be my focus.

And what a beautiful position it was to be in. I ended up turning around at Solvay Hut and for the first time in my life, I felt confident in my decision despite coming short of my goal. If you asked me days prior if I would be disappointed, I would have probably said ‘yes’ and measured success with the summit, but in the moment I knew how poorly acclimated I felt during my ascent. I knew the risk on the mountain. I knew how different factors like speed affected the risk. And most importantly, I knew myself. And so, I have zero regrets of turning around when I did.

Setting bold goals, and finding out for myself what was possible got me to unbelievable places this year. Instead of letting my injury, my lack of experience the past 6 years, or novice ability compared the rest of the group be an excuse, I put my best foot forward every step of the way and completed a 50k ultramarathon, travelled to Switzerland to climb the Matterhorn, and found the best part of myself that I spent years trying to rediscover. “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” There was no room for anything but pride and pure enjoyment of the wonderful opportunity to shoot for the Matterhorn summit even if I landed among the stars instead

If it’s one thing this adventure has taught me, it’s that personal growth is deeply personal and impossible to quantify. I didn’t reach a new high point, I didn’t even reach the summit, and my younger self may even see this trip as a failure, but when I stood at Solvay Hut I felt like I was exactly where I was meant to be. The entire journey I’ve had in discovering the outdoors, the struggles I’ve had in motherhood and my injuries, and all the ups and downs in between lead me to finding confidence in my intuition. That’s when I realized that the truest measure of my growth wasn’t something that I would have found at the summit of Matterhorn, but it was found at Solvay Hut.