A new ski descent at the Glacier 3000 ski area above les Diablerets and close to Gstaad in Switzerland is reported to have finally opened.
Accessed via a newly cut tunnel about 200 metres long through the mountainside, the slope, christened 'Black Wall', immediately plummets with a gradient of around 40 degrees once skiers and boarders emerge at the tunnel entrance. There is no way back once you ski through the tunnel, other than down the slope."
"So it is reserved for excellent skiers," a Glacier 3000 statement clarifies.
The new slope was announced last autumn and seemed to be complete before the start of the year so the reason for the opening delay is not certain, however Glacier 3000 did report 1.7 metres (nearly six feet) of snowfall from the storms last week, which closed the centre for several days, so snow conditions now are reported to be optimum.
A 40 degree pitch immediately puts the Black Wall among Europe's 10 steepest and it also opens up a vertical drop of 1,000m+.
It is a groomed and fenced in slope which has led to criticism from some local freeskiers that they have lost exclusive access to previously hike-in freeride terrain.
