The Zermatt gondolas
Red cabins that climb from Zermatt toward the Theodul glacier, facing the Matterhorn.
Long before the cables, people were already crossing here on foot. Near the Theodul Pass, a hoard of Roman coins struck between the 1st and 4th centuries was found; it is on show at the alpine museum in Zermatt, according to Wikipedia. A stone axe from Brittany, found in 1895 and dated to the Neolithic, suggests that walkers were already going over the pass back then, in summer at least.
A pass under the ice
The pass links Zermatt with Breuil-Cervinia, in Italy, at over 3000 m. According to the Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, when the climate turns mild in the Middle Ages, Walser people cross it early in the 13th century to settle in the valleys on the southern side, on partly paved mule tracks whose remains can still be seen. Then the glaciers advance, and from the 16th to the 19th century the crossing grows ever riskier. It takes the name of Theodul, bishop of Sion, at the end of the 17th century; according to Wikipedia, its highest point, held in the ice, melted down by 8 m between 2009 and 2026.
The glacier
Wikipedia describes two linked glaciers that rise on the Breithorn plateau, at about 3800 m. The lower Theodul runs down a valley for some 7 km towards the Gorner glacier; the upper one, 2 km long, spreads out on a gentle slope towards the Plateau Rosa. Around the middle of the 19th century the ice stood so high that the moraines of that time tower nearly 100 m over today’s surface. On the upper glacier, the runs let you ski even in summer.
The lifts
According to Zermatt Tourism, a first lift reaches the Schwarzsee in 1956, and the Trockener Steg is served from 1965. Just before Christmas 1979, a cable car finally reaches the Klein Matterhorn: at 3883 m, that summit has since been the highest point in Europe you can ride a cable car to. According to Wikipedia, a second line to the same peak follows in 2018; up there, the weather allowed building it on only a hundred days each summer. Since July 2023 another one crosses the Theodul without a single pylon and reaches the Testa Grigia, on the Italian side: you can now cross into Italy through the air.
On the map
The map has a single line: red gondolas that go round without stopping and only slow down in the stations. It starts 3 km from the village and climbs for 4 km towards the Theodul and its ice, carried by two pylons. In reality you change several times, and the lifts range from cable cars to gondolas. The vehicles on the map are there for play: they keep to no timetable and don’t show where the real ones are. To travel, check the official timetables; and if you’d like the map to do more, write to us, our links are at the top of the page.
Sources: Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, article “Theodul”; Zermatt Tourism, page “Station de départ du Matterhorn Glacier Paradise”; Wikipedia, articles “Petit Cervin” (French), and “Theodulpass”, “Theodulgletscher” and “Klein Matterhorn” (German).