The Discovery of the Valais Alps

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150 years of winter tourism The discovery of the Valais Alps

For a long time, the inhabitants of the mountain regions lived in fear of their surroundings. As the haunt of spirits and demons, the mountains possessed an eerie quality. This view began to change only slowly with the coming of the Age of Enlightenment (from 1730). People began to look at the mountains differently, started to recognise their beauty. The Alps become a natural wonder, a miracle of nature attracting visitors and scientists from all over Europe.

The emergence of the railways in neighbouring countries from 1830 onwards played a decisive role in the development of tourism in Switzerland. Although the country was not to get its own rail network for another 30 years or so, Switzerland was already benefiting from rail travel in Europe, which brought tourists to its borders, from where they could continue their journey by stagecoach or the like. The same was true of the Valais. Wealthy British citizens soon made their way here, marking the beginnings of tourism. In 1863, Englishman Thomas Cook played a pioneering role by organising the first-ever package tour to Switzerland, a trip that also took in the Valais, including the Col de la Forclaz, Leukerbad and the Gemmi Pass. The steady expansion of Switzerland’s own rail network stimulated this new travel trend, causing a range of hotels to spring up in all the tourist destinations. The Valais benefited greatly from the Simplon railway tunnel, which opened in 1906, for the railway now brought additional tourists from the south and spread the fame of the Valais and its resorts around the globe.

Another major contribution to the development of tourism in the Valais had already been made a few decades earlier by mountain climbers. Between 1850 and 1870, British mountaineers especially – always accompanied by local mountain guides – shaped what was to become known as the “golden age” of mountaineering. The race to be the first to ascend the 4,000 metre peaks in the Valais got underway. The last major summit to be conquered was the Matterhorn in 1865.

Today, tourism is one of the most important economic activities in the Valais. Almost every third person works in this industry and a majority of the canton’s export revenues are generated through tourism.

Contents

Hotels between dream and reality Page 2

The “golden age” of mountaineering Page 3

SAC huts – the conquest of the Alps Page 4

The Valais and its tourism pioneers Page 5

The tourist resorts – fertile ground for innovation Page 7

Skiing reaches the Valais Page 8

Hotels between dream and reality

The historic hotels from the Belle Epoque era have been making history for more than 150 years. Not only do these establishments bear testimony to the amazing pioneering spirit of the times, they have also steadily kept up with the latest trends.

Hotel Ofenhorn – set amidst stunning flora and fauna

The Swiss Heritage Society considers it one of the finest examples of its kind: the Hotel Ofenhorn in Binn (Goms). Its rooms, corridors and dining room still resound with the spirit of the Belle Epoque, the pioneering age of hotels in Switzerland. Set in the heart of the Binntal Landscape Park, this venerable establishment can look back over a long history. Josef Schmid from Ernen, along with two kindred spirits, began building the hotel in 1881 and was able to open its doors to the public two years later. The Hotel Ofenhorn positively flourished in the initial years following the grand opening, and the first extension was added in 1897. In 1923, electric lighting was installed and during the Second World War the hotel served as army accommodation. Central heating installed in the 1960s meant the hotel could stay open in winter. After three generations, the Schmid family gave up the business in 1968. The hotel’s doors then remained closed for three years before reopening under the ownership of Pro Unter- und Mittelgoms AG. After another series of difficulties, the Pro Binntal Cooperative took over the running of the hotel in 1987. It continues to do so today with the aid of landlords. With the support of the Office for the Preservation of Historic Buildings and Monuments, the Cooperative took the bold decision in 2007 to renovate the hotel from top to bottom. The Hotel Ofenhorn in Binn has been a member of Swiss Historic Hotels since 2008. http://www.ofenhorn.ch/de/hotel/kurzportraet.php

Hotel Monte Rosa – the original Seiler Hotel

Zermatt’s most traditional hotel has been accommodating visitors from around the globe for over one-and- a-half centuries. But the history of the Hotel Monte Rosa reaches back even further than that – to 1838, to be precise. That was when local surgeon Josef Lauber first began offering accommodation in his own home (Hotel Mont Cervie) to the growing numbers of foreign visitors, thus laying the foundations for the village at the foot of the Matterhorn to become a world-famous tourist resort. But it was Alexander Seiler who was to play a decisive role in these developments. The trained soap and candle maker from nearby Goms came to Zermatt for the first time in 1851 and was immediately taken with the unique scenery. On returning two years later, he took over the lease for Lauber’s inn, which had already been renamed Hôtel du Mont- Rose. In the years that followed, Seiler was able to buy the hotel and set about extending it. One of the most illustrious guests was Edward Whymper, famed for making the first ascent of the Matterhorn. In recognition of its significance as the parent hotel of the Seiler hotel dynasty, the Monte-Rosa was completely renovated in the summer of 2008. And so many of the rooms in today’s Monte-Rosa have been largely restored to their original condition. http://www.monterosazermatt.ch/en/monte-rosa/monte-rosa-history/history/

Hotel Bella Tola – a gem of Alpine hospitality

Safely off the beaten track, the villages in Val d’Anniviers have kept their original character. The same is true of the historic Hotel Bella Tola in St-Luc. As more and more foreign visitors began finding their way to Val d’Anniviers, a certain Pierre Pont recognised the signs: after a fire in the village, he started building the Bella Tola in the new centre of St-Luc in 1859. The hotel opened its doors just one year later. The first few years proved difficult, but the business began to flourish when it moved to new premises on the outskirts of the village in 1883. After just six years, an extension was added and the building gradually renovated. Despite these improvements, the fourth generation of the founding family was no longer able to make a living from the hotel and found itself forced to sell to a developer in 1995. It was the present owners who subsequently rescued the hotel, reversing numerous ill-advised transformations of the past using historical models and fitting out the guest rooms with stylish furniture. http://www.bellatola.ch/en/

Hotel Kurhaus Arolla – a story of generations

The Hotel Kurhaus in Arolla was one of the last grand hotels to be built in Val d’Hérens. Dating back to 1896, the building radiates both the cosiness and permanence of a mountain hotel. It wasn’t long before the new hotel was able to fend off the competition from the much older Hotel Mont Collon. In 1913, the smart owners even took the initiative of installing their own power plant to generate electricity – a sought-after commodity – for the building. As Arolla was mainly known for its climbing spots, the hotel managed to survive even during hard times. Thanks to the installation of central heating, the establishment was able to remain open for the winter season for the first time in 1968. The hotel has been run by the same family for four generations and became a member of Swiss Historic Hotels in 2006. http://www.hotel-kurhaus.arolla.com/index-en.php3

The “golden age” of mountaineering in the Alps

The race to the summit played a pivotal role in the birth of tourism. A growing interest in the Alps and the people who lived there first brought naturalists and scholars to the Valais, the land of 45 four- thousanders. They were accompanied on their travels by local men known as glacier guides. These sporadic tours began to increase in number in the first half of the 19th century when British mountaineers especially – always aided by locals – discovered the Alps. The people of the Valais turned mountain guiding into a proper occupation, with the village of St. Niklaus playimg a pioneering role in these developments.

Today, St. Niklaus can look back over a mountain-guiding tradition spanning 150 years. Its mountain guides chalked up more than 300 first ascents, both at home and abroad. Thanks to pioneers such as Josef Lochmatter (1833–1882), his best friend Peter Knubel (1832–1919), his brother-in-law Alois Pollinger (1844–1910) and Josef Imboden (1840–1925), St. Niklaus became a school and centre for mountaineering in Switzerland and the starting point for challenging tours.

Leading visitors to the summit was a popular way to earn a living among the local population – one which could be combined with working on the farm, was held in high regard and ultimately offered the opportunity to earn good money. The local mountain guides began taking their sons along with them on tours from an early age, thus handing down the tradition from generation to generation.

In 1858, guides from St. Niklaus and Zermatt came together to form the first mountain guide association. As well as safeguarding the interests of its members, the association’s remit included fending off the influx of foreign guides and creating an orderly training programme. The first examination for mountain guides in the Valais was held in 1882; the book with which they were presented on graduation also served as their diploma. The two sections eventually went their separate ways, but mountain climbers from Zermatt and St. Niklaus have once more been reunited in a single association since 2013.

In 1865, the Matterhorn became the last major peak in Switzerland to be conquered; the tragic nature of this first ascent put Zermatt on the international map, subsequently making it a popular destination for travellers and mountaineers alike.

SAC huts – the conquest of the Alps

With some 140,000 members, the Swiss Alpine Club (SAC) is one of the largest sports associations in Switzerland. It celebrated its 150th anniversary last year. Since it was first founded in 1863, the SAC has played an influential role in shaping the development of both the Alpine region and Alpine tourism. One of the association’s tasks is to maintain around 153 mountain huts throughout Switzerland, many of which are situated in the Valais.

The Cabane de Tracuit in the Valais is one of the newest SAC huts in the country. Following a complete renovation costing 5 million francs, the hut re-opened in June 2013. With more than 6,000 overnight stays a year, this is one of the SAC’s most widely frequented huts.

The new Monte Rosa Hut is a showcase in terms of energy- and resource-efficiency. The hut above Zermatt finally opened in 2009 after some six years of planning. Thanks to an ingenious energy and building technology system, this innovative structure nicknamed the “rock crystal” is more than 90 per cent self- sufficient in energy.

With over 10,000 overnight stays a year, the Britannia Hut above Saas-Fee is one of the most widely visited SAC huts in the Alps. The hut was able to celebrate its centenary back in 2012. What originally began as a wooden cabin able to sleep 34 is now a modern mountain hut with more than 130 beds.

Another establishment renovated in recent years is the Täsch Hut. The waste water disposal and energy recovery systems are now state-of-the-art. The hut is situated in the midst of the Mischabel group of four- thousanders and is the starting point for many high-altitude tours and hikes.

Few mountain huts are as easy to reach as the Cabane des Violettes above Crans-Montana. Situated at 2,200 metres in the middle of the Crans-Montana ski area, it nevertheless represents an oasis of tranquillity and comfort.

Sleeping 155, the Konkordia Hut built in 1877 is the largest of its kind to be run by the Swiss Alpine Club and is situated around 150 metres above the ice masses of the Aletsch Glacier, the centrepiece of the UNESCO Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn World Heritage site.

The Valais and its tourism pioneers

The discovery of the Valais by tourists did not unfold at the same speed and intensity in every region. A look back in time shows that the Valais has repeatedly produced pioneering personalities of its own who were way ahead of their time.

Saas Valley: a clergyman sets tourism on its way

Travel writers, cartographers, mineralogists, botanists and landscape painters: in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, people came to the Saas Valley who were to spread its fame far and wide through their writings and drawings. The first tourists soon followed, drawn by the fascination of this magical mountain landscape. In Saas-Grund, they found accommodation at the Gasthaus zur Sonne (1833), later at the Pension Monte Rosa (1850) and later still at the Monte Moro hotel (1856). All of these establishments had been built at the instigation of clergyman Johann Josef Imseng, the great pioneer of tourism in the Saas Valley, who even opened a guesthouse himself in Mattmark in 1856. However, the Reverend Imseng was not an hotelier, but a mountain guide who brought tourists to the valley and took them into the mountains. 20 December 1849 marked an important day in the life of the Reverend Imseng. On this day, news reached him that one of his flock lay dying in Saas-Grund and wished the clergyman to attend at his death bed. In order to reach the dying man, Imseng first had to tackle the route down from Saas-Fee to Saas-Grund, which lay under deep snow. Without further ado, the Reverend Imseng attached two boards to his shoes with straps and cords and made the descent at breakneck speed. His trip from Saas-Fee to Saas-Grund was subsequently to enter the history books as the first-ever downhill run on skis in Switzerland. In August and September 2014, an open-air theatre production was staged in honour of Johann Josef Imseng: “Der Kilchherr vo Saas” (“The Clergyman of Saas”). http://www.kilchherrvosaas.ch/

Zermatt: tourism boosted by first ascents

The first naturalists came over the Theodul Pass to Zermatt as early as 1780. At that time, these foreign visitors were still given accommodation by the clergy. It was not until 1820 that tourism slowly began to take off. And so, in 1838, Zermatt surgeon Josef Lauber opened the first guest house, the Hotel Mont Cervie, with six beds. When hotel pioneer Alexander Seiler moved to Zermatt from neighbouring Goms in the early 1850s, he acquired the property from Lauber, renamed it Monte Rosa and set about expanding it step by step. Without doubt, the story of the tragic first ascent of the Matterhorn is closely linked with Zermatt’s rise as a tourist destination. On 14 July 1865, a seven-strong rope party led by Englishman Edward Whymper succeeded in reaching the summit. Alongside Whymper, the group included mountain guide Michel Croz (from Chamonix), Reverend Charles Hudson, Lord Francis Douglas, Douglas Robert Hadow (all British) and the two Zermatt guides, Peter Taugwalder father and son. However, tragedy struck as they made their descent: Croz, Hadow, Hudson and Douglas fell down the north face of the mountain to their death. Only

Whymper and the two Zermatt mountain guides survived. Owing to the death of Lord Francis Douglas, Queen Victoria considered banning any further climbing by her citizens, stating that she did not wish any more valuable blue blood to be spilt on the Matterhorn. However, these intentions fired the curiosity and determination of British travellers and mountaineers, who started flocking to Zermatt in droves, both to see the Matterhorn and to climb it. This was the start of tourism in Zermatt.

Photos: http://www.zermatt.ch/en/Media/Media-corner/Photo-database/Historic

Crans-Montana: hotels, clinics and sports facilities

The development of tourism at Crans-Montana rests on four pillars: the hotel trade, well-being (spas), golf and skiing. The story begins in 1892. The High Plateau of Crans-Montana mainly has two men from the Valais, Louis Antille and Michel Zufferey, to thank for becoming a tourist centre. In 1892, these two pioneers built the first hotel in Crans-Montana, called the Hotel du Parc. The name of Théodore Stephani, a physician from Geneva, is similarly closed linked with the rise of tourism on the High Plateau. This good doctor frequently sent his patients up here to benefit from the beauty of the countryside and the purity of the air. In 1896, he was behind the building of the first road suitable for taking motor vehicles up to the High Plateau. He went on to join forces with Louis Antille and his Hotel du Parc. The sick spent the winter season there, while the healthy came in the summer. This situation did not last long, as Théodore Stephani set up the Beauregard, the first sanatorium in Crans-Montana, three years later. Numerous hotels and health spas were built over the following years. The Beauregard enjoyed a remarkable rise: it became the resort’s first palace following its acquisition by Lunn, a competitor of Thomas Cook in 1904. After the second world war, it reverted to its medical roots in the guise of the Clinique Bernoise. Then it was the turn of sport to put in an appearance. Sir Henry Lunn inaugurated the first winter season in December 1905; several months later, he opened a nine-hole golf course which he enlarged in 1908 to give the High Plateau the highest 18-hole golf course in the world; three years later, his son Arnold organised the first downhill ski race (in the sense of a competition) on the Plaine Morte glacier, the Roberts of Kandahar Challenge Cup. Today Crans- Montana still hosts international skiing and golf competitions.

Salvan: by stagecoach to Chamonix

A journey from the Valais to Chamonix, the famous mountain village at the foot of Mont Blanc, was a firm fixture of the Grand Tour of Europe undertaken by – mostly British – travellers in the early 19th century. There were a number of routes they could take. However, the lowest and most direct connection, via Salvan-Finhaut, was no more than a mule path in poor condition. This was to change with the arrival of the railway through the Rhone Valley in the 1850s when a station opened at Vernayaz. The communities in the Trient Valley decided to build a proper road via Salvan-Finhaut-Le Châtelard, to attract the tourists travelling to and from Chamonix to their part of the world. And so, in the period from 1855 to 1867, the "Route des diligences" which was only passable by stagecoach was built, with (at that time) 43 hairpin bends between Vernayaz and Salvan and another eight between le Trétien and Finhaut. Success was not long in coming: more than 60 hotels appeared in the former mountain farming communities and an international clientele sojourned here. The enthusiasm for special natural features (gorges, waterfalls and glaciers), together with the enchantment of the mountain peaks, to be found in abundance in the Trient Valley, attracted ever more visitors. With the opening of the Mont Blanc Express railway line, later followed by new roads from Martinach, the stagecoach route slowly began to wane in significance. The Trient Valley remains a stunning natural paradise to this day, famous for its wild gorges, grottoes and glaciers.

The tourist resorts – fertile ground for innovation

From their beginnings, the tourist resorts have been a source of innovation aimed at allowing an urbane clientele to enjoy all modern comforts. Indeed, the whole canton has benefited from these major developments.

Sierre and Montana, the telephone pioneers in the Valais

In 1896, the first telephone line in the Valais linked the Hotel Bellevue in Sierre with the Hotel du Parc in Montana, both owned by Michel Zufferey. This made it possible to announce the imminent arrival of tourists who had detrained in Sierre and taken the mule track for the High Plateau. It is said that the postal administrator from Sion lost his composure upon sighting the telephone during his inspection at Montana. This functionary was highly intrigued by this device that he was seeing for the first time, so the story goes. He took great delight in transmitting his voice by means of a connection that the agent had set up with the hotel in Crans and declared that not even the post office in Sion had such a contraption at its disposal. The capital of the canton had been upstaged by an infant resort!

Salvan enters the telecommunications history books

Salvan is the subject of an interesting story: a new technology was tested there before entering use. At the end of the 19th century, Guglielmo Marconi, future winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, stayed at the Valais spa resort where his first wireless transmissions were successful over a kilometre and a half. This was a key step in a process that would end with the wireless telegraph, an invention that opened up the way for media like radio, television and even the internet to be developed. In 2008, the International Telecommunication Union recognised the invaluable contribution of Salvan to the development of telecommunications by setting up a commemorative plaque in the town.

Transport links extended to the main tourist centres

Most of the secondary railway lines in the Valais were built with tourism in mind. They made it possible to promote the development of resorts like Zermatt. In 1892, one year after the opening of the Visp– Zermatt line, 38,000 passengers were counted in six months of operation. This success encouraged construction of the Gornergrat line which, when it opened in 1898, was the first electric rack railway in Switzerland and the second in the world. The technical innovation was made all the more impressive by the ability to run a train at over 3,000m above sea level for the first time in Europe in order to allow the greatest number of people to enjoy a fantastic panorama: “Nowhere else is there such an exhibition of size and beauty as can be seen from the summit of the Gornergrat” (Mark Twain, 1878).

(Sources: Paul PERRIN, Le chemin de fer en Valais (1850-1963); http://www.zermatt.ch/en/Media/Zermatt-inside-stories/111-years-gornergrat-bahn)

Skiing reaches the Valais

Great Saint Bernard: monks take up skiing

The stories recount how the hospice on the Great Saint Bernard Pass received five pairs of skis from Norwegian well-wishers in 1877. Starting in 1893, the clerics decided to make their own skis using the wood readily available to them: pine, larch and hazel. As a result, every monk had his own skis at the start of the 20th century. A single long stick rounded out the equipment, making it possible to stay balanced and stop. At the time, skiing was not considered a leisure activity, although it did enable the access routes to the hospice to be kept open, which was essential for the establishment to carry out its mission of hospitality. The first skiing visitors reached the pass in the 1890s.

The Great Saint Bernard skis were not kept solely for the clerics; in 1893, a pair were given to a local guide. Even Maurice Crettex, a well-known guide in the Valais and the first to climb the Grand Combin on skis in 1916, started to ski on the planks from the Great Saint Bernard.

Zermatt: the first skiing lesson in Switzerland

Hermann Seiler, president of the Monte Rosa section of the Swiss Alpine Club (SAC), ran the first skiing course in Switzerland on January 9–14, 1902, with 12 guides and keen amateurs attending the lessons in Zermatt. Seiler’s goal was to get the guides excited about this novelty and promote its development in the Valais.

The start was chaotic, with the students practising on easy slopes close to the village where numerous spectators watched them, laughing at their efforts. But the guides quickly mastered the use of their skis and the long stick so well that, on the fifth day, they set off from the Cima di Jazzi for a descent of over 2,000 metres down to the resort. Seiler achieved his objective: all the participants gained their qualifications and learnt to love skiing. This experience demonstrated the advantage of taking lessons from experts and the possibility of learning quickly. That same year, the Norwegians Heyerdahl and Smith introduced the use of two poles to Switzerland.