Switzerland

Personal Journey

By Paul "Foot" Hand

How many ski areas are over 2000 years old? None is the correct answer if you’re talking just about skiing. But today’s famed year-round resort Zermatt was first settled by farmers that long ago. Roman coins found on Theodul Pass indicate that the area was an access route to Gaul and Helvetia between 200 and 400 B.C.

Tourism was started by local priests in 1820. They encouraged hiking and mountain climbing in this beautiful environment. The Matterhorn, formidable rock that it is, wasn’t climbed until the summer of 1865.

First attempts to start a ski resort were in the 1920s. The depression in Europe, unrest of the ‘30s and World War II delayed development until the 1950s. Since then Zermatt has grown into one of the world’s best resorts, with the longest ski season in the Alps.

In addition to excellent powder snow and long, challenging runs on several mountains, Zermatt has one of the best and varied lift systems. Just look at the list of facilities in the statistical information above on this page. Among 71 lifts in this international arena, there are only12 T-bars, which are not very popular with American skiers. But they can be avoided with careful planning. Our ski club group in six glorious days of skiing rode only one of them—and that was by accident when we missed a turn-off and had to use a T-bar to get back. The complex of modern lifts on both the Swiss and Italian sides of the Matterhorn allows skiers to make the obligatory run over to Cervinia for lunch. Two of our group, the Schuster sisters, enjoyed the experience so much that they went back the next day. We joked that the pasta couldn’t have been that good.

Blue Book editor Ted Heck joined us for four days and commented that the skiing and ambiance were among the greatest he had enjoyed in recent years. (Our outing was overshadowed since; Ted reports that in a subsequent visit he took another to Cervinia, but only after alighting from a helicopter that had circled the Matterhorn---“so close that we could almost touch it.”)

Two members of our group skied 37,000 feet one day, 32,000 the next. During a day on Sunegga, one of three separate ski areas directly above the village of Zermatt, we made several runs on both cruising and black runs with vertical drops of 3,600 feet. (Think how lucky we Americans are by sticking to our form of measurement. Doesn’t it sound more exciting than 1,100 meters?) Some of our group made the 10-mile run from the top of Klein Matterhorn all the way down to the village for a 7,400-feet descent.

We visited with the director of the tourist office, who filled us in on resort history---and he was proud to point out that Zermatt draws more visitors in a year than Vail does. He also mentioned that more than 20 percent of the visitors in winter don’t even ski. They come for the view and the air and the ambiance. And for winter walking on groomed paths, some of which lead to charming mountain restaurants, of which there are 38 on the Zermatt side.

Zermatt is arguably the best known of traffic-free ski resorts. It is a village without automobiles. Electric mini-buses and mini-cars and horse-drawn sleighs provide transportation between lifts and hotels. Gas guzzlers are parked three miles back down the valley and skiers and tourists come up by train or taxi.

This personal journey was idyllic. Julie Andrews may have sung in other mountains in the neighboring country. But we had good reason to sing here.

POINT OF VIEW
By Bob Dever

What is it about crossing borders that attracts skiers, snow boarders and many winter sports enthusiasts? Heavenly Valley straddles the Nevada - California border. The snow type and the snow depth are similar on the California side to what they are in Nevada. Skiing over some imaginary line won’t change you or your skiing experience, nor will you notice the change from Nevada’s gambling infused glitz to California’s more laid-back beach boy attitude. Nevertheless, people who ski or board at this Sierra resort talk about traversing from one state to another.

Sunshine Mountain has lifts and runs in two Canadian Provinces - Alberta and British Columbia. Ski down and in the middle of the hill is a sign marking the border between the two provinces. And, invariably, there are people taking pictures beside that sign that says, “Welcome to BC.”

For those of us who get that proverbial kick out of skiing across borders, or from one country to another, one of the best places to accomplish this is in the Alps. As spectacular as they are, the Alps are a small group of mountains in a relatively confined area -- south, central Europe. There’s a theory out there that says these mountains were formed when what we know today as Italy broke off from the African land mass. It sailed north, by itself, across the Mediterranean, and slammed into the bottom of Europe. This would probably not have been a good day to be lunching on the Riviera but since all of this happened many millions of years ago, before there were men, women, skiers, snow boarders, or a Riviera, it probably doesn't matter much.

In my geological world a floating Italy bumped into Switzerland at the base of the iconic Matterhorn and created, for me anyway, the best crossing borders opportunity in the world - Zermatt to Cervinia.

Zermatt is large mountain skiing. The town itself sits at 1,620 meters and a variety of lifts, including some surface lifts at the top, give you on-piste terrain at about 3,900 meters. That amounts to about 7,000 feet of vertical for those of us who are metrically challenged.

From the groomed cruiser to the off-piste cliffs, Zermatt has every type of skiing you could desire. What it also has is the most unique collection of lifts in the skiing world. There are the requisite T-bars, pomas, and double, triple, and quad chairs. There are four-person gondolas and teleferiques that hold dozens of people. There is a surface train that takes you up about 4,000 feet from the town of Zermatt to Gornegrat. And, what may be one of the most unusual lifts anywhere, there’s a subway, that runs completely underground and almost straight up inside the mountain.

On the southern side, still in the shadow of the Matterhorn, sits the Italian resort of Breuil-Cervinia. With a vertical drop almost equal to that of Zermatt, too many lifts to count, a snowboard park, and groomed slopes that they measure in miles, Cervinia is an equal partner to its more famous Swiss neighbor.

Getting from one area to the other is no problem, either logistically or from a skiing skill point of view. Four lifts from bottom to top on the Zermatt side or three lifts lift up from the Cervinia base will bring you to a peak that straddles the Swiss - Italian border. One lift ticket conveniently covers lifts in both countries and no passport or identification is necessary. You can figure about $50 US for a daily international ski pass and senior citizen and children’s discounts are available.

Should you want to try this border crossing be sure and allow yourself sufficient time to return to your original starting point since there is no quick and easy way back should you miss the last lift. Also, be sure to pack the correct currency. While Italy utilizes the euro, Switzerland is not part of the European Union and still maintains its own currency, the Swiss franc. Credit or debit cards are an easy way to solve the currency problem.

I have pictures of me standing in treeless snow fields beside signs that say Italia or Schweiz, and I’m sure, somewhere, I have a picture next to that Welcome to BC sign. Crossing borders on skis -- just another tale to add to your endless list of ski stories.