Where to Ski And Snowboard - New state-of-the-art gondola for Zermatt

New state-of-the-art gondola for Zermatt

23rd June 2020, by Dave Watts

This new gondola is fully automatic and needs no attendants in the stations. Pic: © Zermatt Bergbahnen AG

Regular readers of Where to Ski and Snowboard will know that Zermatt in Switzerland is my favourite resort.

One of my favourite runs in Zermatt has long been the one on skier’s right of the whole area starting at Rothorn at over 3000m and ending 5km and 1100m lower at the Patrullarve chair. It took you away from all the lifts, with an interesting mix of straight running and mogul pitches. The main downside was that it had no snowmaking.

From this winter (if all goes to plan) this run will be served by 67 new snowguns and a new 10-seater gondola starting 200m higher than the Patrullarve chair at Tuftern (near a rustic hut serving simple food and with a terrace with fab views down the valley and over Zermatt).

The gondola will be the first in Switzerland not to need attendants in the stations. Someone keeps an eye on it from a distance via monitors and there are also various sensors installed that automatically bring the gondola to a halt if, for example, the doors do not close properly or someone gets stuck. A similar gondola has been running in Val Thorens since 2017.

The top part of this run used to be served by a high-speed detachable triple chairlift (one of the first high-speed chairs, built in 1983). But the chairlift was hit by an avalanche in 2018 and never re-opened.