Mountain Village EURO 2008: How Do the Fans Get to Europe's
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Mountain village EURO 2008: How do the fans get to Europe’s highest football- party? From the 23. to the 25. Mai 2008, the first European mountain village championship in football will take place in the idyllic hamlet Gspon (Valais). With the eight teams from eight different nations, there will arrive a lot of fans what poses a big challenge to the organizers as the cable car up to Gspon is not built for such huge capacities. But they already worked out some alternatives and can await calmly the run of hiking and football crazy Europeans. One’s should be free from giddiness to take the cable car to Staldenried/ Gspon. The start is in Stalden, situated in the Visp valley close to the world famous mountain resorts Saas-Fee and Zermatt. There, you enter the small, red cabin with a capacity of 12 persons. A few minutes and over 1000 meters of altitude difference later, you reach the scene of the European mountain village championship in football on 2008 metres above sea level. The organizers are especially looking forward to the behaviour of the Dutch team when they reach the GsponArena surrounded by four thousand metres high mountains and after a five minutes’ walk. Netherlands’ highest mountain is barely 322.5 metres above sea level. Shuttle-service for the fans Because of the huge interest in this crazy football event and first announcements of the environment of the teams, the organizers can bargain for a very high attendance. Therefore, the organizers knew that the capacities of the cable car would not be adequate. As Gspon is car free, the journey can neither be made by car. That’s the reason why the idea of a shuttle-service came up and will be realised in cooperation with the transport service “Postauto Oberwallis” and with friendly support on the Raiffeisenbank Mischabel- Matterhorn. According to Anton Karlen of Postauto Oberwallis, there will be 10-20 busses with about 15 seats circulating all day long between Ackersand (Stalden) and Gspon. Furthermore, there will be a car park in Stalden where the visitors can leave their car behind and take the shuttle-bus. In the end, it is necessary to take a 20 minutes walk through the forest to reach the GsponArena, Europe’s highest football ground. The organizers recommend warmly travelling by public transport. Thanks to the new Lötschberg- tunnel, the GsponArena is very good developed. From the capital Bern for example, it can be reached in less than two hours. Timetable „Bergdorf-EM“ on 2008 metres above sea level from 23.05.- 25.05.2008 in Gspon (Valais) Public Transport Departure from Brig or Visp with the “Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn“ or the postal car in direction Saas- Fee. Step off at the station Ackersand. Here, you can transfer to our shuttle bus which takes you, depending on the traffic, to the cable car station or directly to Staldenried / Gspon, from where you reach the GsponArena in a 20 minutes walk. Postal Car Departure in Brig: 06.15 06.45 07.15 07.45 08.15 08.45 09.15 09.45 10.15 10.45 11.15 11.40 12.15 12.51 13.15 13.45 14.15 14.45 15.15 15.45 16.15 16.45 17.15 17.45 18.15 18.45 19.45 20.45 Departure in Visp: + 20 minutes after the departure in Brig. Train (Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn) Departure in Brig: 05.10 05.53 06.53 07.53 08.53 09.53 10.53 11.53 12.53 13.53 14.53 16.08 16.53 17.53 18.53 19.53 20.53 Departure in Visp: 05.29 06.10 07.10 08.10 08.43 09.10 09.43 10.10 10.43 11.10 12.10 12.43 13.10 14.10 15.10 16.25 17.10 18.10 18.43 19.10 20.10 21.10 Cable Car Cable car Stalden - Staldenried - Gspon: Always connected to the train or postal car. Return journey: Departure in Gspon: Cable car Gspon - Staldenried - Stalden: All 30 minutes or on demand. Postal Car Departure in Stalden-Saas (direction Visp / Brig): 06.37 07.10 07.37 08.06 08.37 09.01 09.37 10.01 10.37 11.01 11.37 12.01 12.37 13.01 13.37 14.01 14.37 15.01 15.37 16.01 16.37 17.01 17.37 18.01 18.37 19.01 19.37 20.37 21.37 00.05 Train (Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn) Departure in Stalden-Saas (direction Visp / Brig) 06.38 07.13 07.38 08.38 09.38 10.38 11.38 12.12 12.38 13.12 13.38 14.38 15.38 16.38 17.12 17.38 18.12 18.38 19.12 19.38 20.12 21.12 22.12 Shuttle Bus Freitag, 23. Mai 2008: 10.00 - 20.00 Samstag, 24.05.2008: 09.00 - 20.00 Sonntag, 25.05.2008: 08.00 - 18.00 Private Car Ackersand (respect traffic signals) -> Shuttle Bus (all 15 minutes to Riedji/with walk (about 20 minutes) Staldenried -> Just in exceptional cases (with badge) possible. Use our shuttle bus from Ackersand and enjoy a lovely 20 minutes walk on the experience trail to the GsponArena. Further information on www.fc-gspon.ch .