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2007 - The Skiing Area at its Best

«Zermatt in a Day» - or - The new Route to Stockhorn!

One of the most important improvements in Winter 2006/07 is the gondola lift from Furri (Furi) to Riffelberg. As roaming through the skiing area is now possible counterclockwise the lift has very much changed the character of the region. Before, good skiers were forced to start at Rothorn and Stockhorn and finish the day in the Matterhorn area if they wanted to do the whole area in a day.
«Originally Zermatt was made to cross the area counterclockwise, however, the officials did not recognize it!», I exclaim. Why? Follow me and my Salomon Fastback 160 Snowboard, equipped with a light Flow Step-In binding, through the skiing area. You will see that the snow conditions are well fit for a round in this direction. At the end of the day you will probably have a different attitude towards skiing. You will reach exactly 100 km/h and unreel more than 10000 meters in altitude, of which about 4000 are mogul or ungroomed slopes.
8 o'clock in the morning: I'm waiting for the gates of the Matterhorn Express to open. Officially this will be at 8:30, however, there are already so many people waiting that the gates will open about a quarter of an hour earlier. On this beautiful Good Friday morning there is hardly any cloud to be seen above the Matterhorn area. Yesterday evening I made up my mind to get up very early, leaving the camera behind and taking the gps receiver instead, a Garmin geko 201 handheld, to meassure the maximum speed on untouched slopes.
There are more than 90 people in the first gondola for Klein Matterhorn of which I am the first to leave the tunnel for the run back to Zermatt. There is nobody underneath except for a snow cat driver who honks the horn as I greet him on my way down, taking up speed to the utmost extent. The inclination is not very long, so I only manage to push the mark up to 96.7 km/h. 900 meters of altitude are done when I steer the snowboard towards the gates of the Furggsattel lift at Trockener Steg.
The slope that follows the lift line is not of equal inclination. For about 450 meters in altitude the surface seens to «roll» downhill. When you try to take up a speed that is probably difficult to master you should be sure that there is no one in the way. Mind this! And mind the snow conditions!
At Furggsattel I reach a speed of 82.4, 87.7 and exactly 100 km/h on the third pass. The receiver does not show decimal digits at that speed. I have achieved my aim - there is no use in trying any more. Too many people on the piste and too many tracks crossing. Time to change the scene.
By appointment, I meet my wife at Furgg at a quarter past ten. From Trockener Steg down to Furri I unreel another 1050 meters in altitude. This is where the Riffelbergbahn becomes of invaluable worth. It takes us directly up to Riffelberg where we change to the Gifthittli chair lift. A quarter of an hour later we find ourselves at the start of a slope called Kelle, the direct connection to Gant, 700 meters below. The Gondola at Gant has a capacity of 125 people beaming them up to the top in eight minutes. From there we take the gondola to Stockhorn. The service has expired at the end of winter 2007. There is a skilift to Stockhorn nowadays.
There is no other picknick place in the whole skiing area that can compare to this beautiful spot. Usually there is no wind around but the scenery of many mountains higher than 4000 meters: Monte Rosa, Liskamm, Castor, Pollux, Breithorn and Matterhorn. At twelve o'clock I have already done 4000 meters in altitude.
Downhill from Stockhorn to the Triftji skilift and from Rote Nase to Gant means another 1700 meters on mogul slopes or in deep snow. We make use of the Gant-Hohtälli connection for three more times, going down the Mittelritz mogul slope on standard and variant trails as well as the White Hare, all in all 3150 meters in altitude.
We leave the Gornergrat region with the old lift to Blauherd, changing immediately to Rothorn. It is late now and the slopes Schneehuhn and Downhill are closed. From the top of Rothorn you have the choice between Tufternkumme and Rotweng. Whatever you choose will provide you with the missing 1150 meters in altitude as well as additional 250 meters that are of statistical use only. However, they contribute to the enormous length of this wonderful slope down to town with the Olympia Stübli Après-Ski facilities in the end.