A rescue for Wengen and the entrance of Zermatt: this is how Switzerland could have two descents

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The policy intervenes to protect the Lauberhorn, but in November 2022 a spectacular and very long descent from the Klein Matterhorn to the Aosta Valley could also arrive.

Friday 22 May 2020 6 minutes reading time

The project is already well underway and could lead Switzerland to host two World Cup descents, the longest on the circuit, even if the situation linked to Wengen is very critical. Regardless of the outcome of the dispute between Swiss Ski and the organizers of the Lauberhorn, there are those who are working to host what would become the "marathon" race of the white circus: as the president of the company has revealed to "Neue Zuercher Zeitung" which manages the ski lifts of Zermatt, Franz Julen, just in the canton of Valais could bring the World Cup to the Matterhorn starting from the 2022/23 season. It would be a trans national descent, starting from the Swiss border to arrive in Valle d'Aosta; in fact, the plan foresees the start at an altitude of 3990 meters from the Klein Matterhorn, the "Little Matterhorn", to unravel almost 5 km (the Lauberhorn of Wengen measures 4480 meters). The idea would be to race in the first or second week of November, since there would not be too many snow problems in the glacier even in that period. The collaboration with Cervinia is total and the Piccolo Cervino-Testa Grigia cableway is expected to be completed by autumn 2021: “We want this race and we will do everything we can to get it, also it is not necessary to make major structural changes or to fell trees, this it's pure winter landscape, ”said Julen, also stressing the possibility of having a female test in the future, but without going to“ war ”with Wengen. "We have no interest in damaging them, the World Cup without Wengen would be a sensational own goal for the whole world of skiing." And the same president of FIS (who will give up the chair in the next autumn congress), the Swiss Gianfranco Kasper, sees Zermatt as "a project to be supported for a descent that in November would fit perfectly into the calendar", in addition to the director of Swiss Ski, Bernhard Aregger, who considers it "a great opportunity to enrich the Cup". THE POLICY FOR WENGEN To save a classic like Wengen, guaranteed with its men's three days only in the 2020/21 World Cup calendar and not inserted from the following year, politics has also taken the field. Once the news came out of Swiss Ski's decision to ask FIS to exclude the historic stage of the red-cross ski (in addition of course to Adelboden), the national councilor of the canton of Bern, Lars Guggisberg, explained on the columns of the "Blick" to be very worried about the situation of the historic Lauberhorn races, heritage for the whole territory. An open letter addressed to Urs Lehmann and Urs Napflin, respectively president of the rossocrociata federsci and the head of the organizing committee of Wengen, in which Guggisberg speaks of "thousands of jobs in danger in the Bernese Oberland. Letting an event that has existed since 1930 die would be fatal for all of Switzerland and an entire region. We urge you to sit back at the table and find a solution to ensure that the Lauberhorn races can also take place in the future. We ask to do everything possible to ensure that the unthinkable does not happen, offering all our support to mediate between the parties ". How can you blame him?

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