Zermatt's Glaciers and Climate Change
Trockener Steg
Trockener Steg
Lift Station
Zermatt has the largest and highest altitude summer ski area in Europe. Most slopes are located on the Upper Theodul Glacier shown to the left and are accessed by lifts from the Trockener Steg station also shown above. You can reach Trockener Steg by a cable car from either Furi or Schwarzsee stations. A cable car and the new 3S tri-cable gondola that opened in the winter of 2018-2019 give rapid and higher volume access to the Klein Matterhorn station and the high elevation all season skiing.
Matterhorn Glacier Trail
2008
2018
This trail begins at the Trockener Steg station and crosses the retreat surface close to the terminus of both the Upper Theodul Glacier and the Furgg Glacier under the shear face of the Matterhorn (shown in the first photograph above). The trail ends with a steep decent to the Schwarzsee station. As the photographs show, the trail takes you through rock-polished outcrops with glacial grooves, sediment of all sizes, and meltwater lakes. It is also follows the edge of the glaciers, where you can easily see their retreat. The photos above from about the same location show a view of the Upper Theodul Glacier in 2008 and 2018. The retreat is obvious even after 10 years!
The empty valley of the Furgg Glacier beneath
the Matterhorn is shown below.
Along the trail there are information panels explaining glacial features as shown in the photograph above. Immediately above is a remnant of ice from the Furgg Glacier.
The retreating terminus of the Furgg Glacier is shown in the center left of the photograph to the right. Historical photographs from around 1900 show this valley filled by the glacier. The beginning of the trail up to the Hornli Hut, the base camp for the climb up the Matterhorn, is close to where this photograph was taken.
