Swiss ski stars are back in Zermatt

After a year of “reflection”, the ski lifts of Zermatt and the Swiss Ski Federation returned to the dialogue. Their new approach to collaboration and long-term partnership far exceeds the only profits for Marco Odermatt, Lara Gut-Behrami and others.

Rainer Sommerhalder / ch media

“Why are you back?” The question posed by a mountain guide from Zermatt to the head coach of Swiss Ski, Beat Tschuor, in the cable car leading to the little Cervin, is nothing critical. It is rather a well felt remark. “With all the successes you knew last winter …”, adds the guide with a smirk.

In the climb to the summit, we meet and we recognize ourselves from the first hours of the day. This Tuesday, shortly after 6 a.m., the Swiss speed skiers left their hotel to join the first ski training training of a Swiss World Cup team in Zermatt, since local ski lifts imposed, a year ago, a training ban on Marco Odermatt, Lara Gut-Behrami and their teammates.

Franz Julen, the charismatic president of the ski lifts, described this dispute as a “parenthesis of reflection”. It found its origin, particularly in the abolition of the descents of the Matterhorn from the World Cup calendar, despite a contract in force. The two parties actually took the time to think, before meeting this spring around a decisive agreement: a training agreement valid until 2034, accompanied by the possibility of organizing World Cup tests during this period.

It takes almost 90 minutes before Michelle Gisin, Jasmine Flury and Malorie Blanc finally have skis on the feet and traded their first prudent turns on one of the 16 training tracks located at 3,800 meters above sea level, in perfectly damaged snow. It even fell a little fresh snow in the night – a rather rare phenomenon in July. What worries much more is the rapid melting of the underlying soil. A phenomenon that further underlines the position apart from this ski area on glacier, the highest in the northern hemisphere.

Zermatt is “A safe bet”

The journey to the training zone requires patience, as the leader Beat Tschuor also recognizes. This 57 -year -old Grison, active as a coach on the circuit since 1996, knows what he is talking about. However, the journey to the little Tervin remains much shorter than that to South America, the only alternative valid to skiing on glacier during the European summer for the best athletes. “Zermatt is for us a safe bet,” says Tschuor.

With the return to Zermatt, the World Cup skiers will only partially go to Argentina or Chile.

The descent track drawn on the glacier, with a maximum racing time of 70 seconds, is not only served as an ideal preparation for the Swiss headliners for winter competitions. This week, teams from Canada, Italy, as well as young people from Swiss Ski and even workforce from regional executives are also training on the spot. Beat Tschuor thus sums up the issue: “The essence of our collaboration with Zermatt is that Swiss Ski benefits, more than any other nation, from a unique opportunity to form its succession in speed.”

Martin Hug, the director of ski lifts of Zermatt, also believes that this new contract concluded with Swiss Ski is of “very great importance”.

The new agreement marks a fundamental change in the distribution of roles. From now on, Swiss Ski rents the training tracks, while Zermatt’s ski lifts are responsible, as part of a service mandate, build the training infrastructure, prepare the tracks every day, ensure general security as well as organize the necessary transport for people and equipment.

The descent track ready in August

“On the one hand, it is a question of sharing the entrepreneurial risk. On the other hand, this allows us to plan the availability of tracks as effectively and suitable as possible, ”explains Martin Hug. Result: the descent track is already operational from the beginning of August – two weeks earlier than in previous years. And, for the first time, training will continue until October 19.

Walter Reusser, director of sport at Swiss Ski, believes that Zermatt represents another major strategic advantage in the face of climate change. “In the past, the conditions were too rough to allow regular glacier training in the fall. Today, there are more and more often long periods of good weather, even at the end of the year.The objective is now to extend the availability period for summer training at Zermatt to 90 days.

A question a bon provocative to finish: will Austrian skiers will now be banished from the Zermatt glacier, since it is Swiss Ski who directly attributes the tracks? Walter Reusser recognizes that it would be tempting, on paper, to satisfy his own needs above all during planning. “But on the one hand, the financial calculation must hold out. And on the other hand, it would not be in the interest of skiing if we act in this way. ”

Space for small nations

He claims that foreign teams will have at least as many possibilities in the future as before in Zermatt – or even more. SWISS SKI, in collaboration with FIS, invites skiers and skiers from small nations from September 9 to 16 to a week of training in Zermatt. The share of using the tracks by Swiss Ski is 40%.

To best organize operations on the Théodule glacier, Swiss Ski has started a coordinator: the former World Cup runner Marcel Sulliger. The responsibility for the rental of tracks is the responsibility of the team of the head of the Alpine sector, Hans Flatscher. Not without humor, Walter Reusser claims that Flatscher is now also “the largest operator of ski lifts in Switzerland”.