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Wikipedia's view of zermatt
Skiing
Zermatt is well known
throughout the world for its great skiing, especially Triftji
for its moguls. The high altitude results in consistent skiing
continuously up until the summer. Skiing in Zermatt is split up
into four distinct areas; Sunnegga, Gornegrat, Klein Matterhorn
and Schwarzsee. There is also a connection to
Cervinia and
Valtournenche in Italy.
Trail Map.
Sunnegga
The Sunnegga Paradise is accessed via a
funicular railway, followed by a gondola to Blauherd and finally
a cable car onwards to the Rothorn (3,103m) above. The unique
topography of the mountain and the valley tends to keep the
Rothorn clear and sunny, even when Zermatt itself is submerged
in cloud.From Blauherd there is a gondola down to Gant, and from
here there is a large connecting cablecar up to Hohtälli. This
cable car is currently the only connection between Sunnegga and
Gornegrat. With few steeper slopes, this mountain is often used
to train younger skiers.
Gornergrat
The Gornegrat is served by a railway of the same
name (Gornergratbahn)
and, whilst picturesque, the journey is a very slow ride up to
the Gornegrat peak (3,089m), via Riffelalp, Rotenboden and
Riffelberg, (with limited stops at Findelbach and Landtunnel
just above the town). At the summit, the hotel and restaurant
have been completely refurbished, and there is a further cable
car that seemingly heads more across than up to the Hohtälli
(3,286m), where the Gant cable car connects the mountain to
Sunnegga.
Two final cable cars head up to the
Stockhorn (3,405m) and across to the Rote Nase
(3,247m). These final two lifts serve a unique
freeride area and can be unreliable as this
mountainside requires high snow cover to be skiable.
The lifts generally open for the season in late
February or early March, depending upon the amount
of accumulated snowfall. For the 2007 season, the
Rote Nase opened on the 6th March, with the
Stockhorn opening the 8th of March.
It is planned that the
ancient Hohtälli to Gornegrat cablecar will permamently close at
the end of the 2007 season, with no replacement lift planned. A
new slope leading back from Hohtälli to Kellensee just under the
Gornergrat will open for the winter of 2007 to maintain the link
from the Rothorn to Gornegrat. In addition, to the dismay of
locals, it is probable that the Stockhorn cable car will cease
operation from May 2007.
Klein Matterhorn /
Schwarzse
Near the southern end of
the Zermatt village, the Matterhorn Express
gondola speeds passengers up to the interchange
station at Furi. From here a there is access to
the Schwarszee via a gondola to the right, a
cable car that leads on to the Trockener Steg
mid station (and then on to the
Klein Matterhorn), and a brand new gondola,
opened on the 18 December 2006, links Furi to
Riffelberg on the Gornergrat mountain. This lift
addresses one of the most persistent criticisms
of Zermatt: that it is very difficult to ski the
two sides of the valley without a tiresome trek
through the village between the Gornergratbahn
and the Matterhorn Express at opposite ends of
the town.
Testa Grigia at the top of the Theodulpass
servers as a connection to the Italian ski-resorts of Cervinia
and Valtournenche. From the Swiss side it is only reachable by
skilift, but from the Italian side by a chairlift and by a
cable car. There are customs offices here as well as a small
alpine museum.
Zermatt is marketed as an all year skiing
resort, with summer skiing limited to the Theodulgletscher
behind the Klein Mattehorn. Whilst strictly true, during the off
season in May and June there will only tend to be one or two
runs open, and the main glacier area does not open until July.
In operation since
25 October
2003
The article above is reprinted from
www.wikipedia.org
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