Messages posted by : SwingBeep
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How good are your language skills? You really need to be able to speak at least the host country language as well as English to stand a real chance of getting a job that requires customer contact. There are plenty of tech jobs on offer in Zermatt at the moment, but language skills are a must http://www.jobszermatt.ch/jobs_in_zermatt.html look under "Verkauf/ Dienstleistung Administration".
Do you have any boot fitting skills? There is a severe shortage of good boot fitters in the alps. |
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Gressoney is one of the villages in what is now Italy that were settled by the Walser people in the 13th century, they migrated over Theodul Pass from Zermatt when it was ice free, the other German speaking skiing villages are Alagna, Macugnaga and Formazza. They don't speak German as we know it, but an ancient German dialect called "Titsch" the locals here speak "Walliser Ditsch" they are still very similar even after several hundred years of separation.
http://www.walser-alps.eu/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walser It's not really known what triggered these migrations, but they coincided with a time of glacial retreat, the way things are going the Theodul Pass will be ice free again by the middle of this century at the latest. There are plans to link Zermatt to Gressoney, Alagna to Macugnaga and Macugnaga to Saas Fee. A feasibility study for a link between Zermatt and Gressoney via a lift from Champoluc to Cime Bianche has already been carried out, there has been some movement regarding a link between Macugnaga and Saas Fee this summer but nothing concrete as yet. After they have been linked the next step would be to link Alagna to Macugnaga and then Saas Fee to Zermatt. |
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It was annexed by Italy after the WW1. In 1915 a deal was done to get Italy to enter the war, in return for supporting the allies it was agreed that they would get the land to the south of the alpine watershed at the end of the war. Before then South Tyrol was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Fascists under Mussolini tried to Italianise the region in the 1920's, today about 60% of the population still speak German as their first language.
There are also few other German speaking enclaves on the Italian side of the Swiss border, Gressoney in the Monterosa ski area is one of them. |
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This is all pretty misleading Iainm. Le Snow Factory is actually called "L'Atelier de la Neige" (The Snow Workshop). They don't make any snow there, it's a pumping / compressor station that supplies the snow cannons on the mountain with water and compressed air, there are hundreds of these in the alps. The building also houses the computer control system that controls the operation of the snowmaking equipment and a workshop.
You can go on a guided tour round it with Pierre Mattis who is head of snowmaking at Val d'Isère http://www.radiovaldisere.com/index.php?p=vids&year=2015&month=01 just click on the photo of the pumps on the left. As you can see in the video the machinery is not housed in a "hanger", but in reinforced concrete machine rooms that are located underground. If this is a new build €3 million would be very cheap, I think it's more likely that they have upgraded the existing facilities. The amount of snow produced will vary according to temperature, under optimal conditions the pumping station is said to be capable of providing enough air and water to make 2000³m of artificial snow per hour. In order to reduce the operating costs they have installed ABB variable speed motors to drive the high pressure pumps that feed the snow canons, these use up to 50% less electricity than conventional motors, 80% of the cost (€360, 000) was covered by a grant. If you want to see a 'snow factory' you will have to go to either the Pitztal glacier or Zermatt where they have installed IDE all weather snowmakers http://www.ropeways.net/aktuell/ide3/index.htm Or visit the TechnoAlpin factory, they make one that fits in a shipping container http://www.technoalpin.com/en/snow-guns/snowfactory.html |
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A bit more information on when you are going and from where you are setting off from would have been useful, Milan is a very big place with 3 airports.
Assuming you are flying to either Milan Bergarmo or Verona airport, details of the bus services can be found on the official Madonna di Campiglio website http://www.campigliodolomiti.it/lang/EN/pagine/dettaglio/trasportation,119/flyski_shuttle_transfer_from_airports,696.html If you are not travelling on a Saturday or Sunday or are not arriving at one of the above airports try http://www.rome2rio.com/ but bear in mind that any results you get at the moment will be based on summer timetables. |
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I was thinking of buying a 'follow me' drone a while ago, but decided it was a non starter as the operation of a drone without direct eye contact is prohibited unless you have a permit here http://www.bazl.admin.ch/dienstleistungen/02658/03845/index.html?lang=en The authorities also seem to be tightening the regulations on a regular basis http://www.delacruzberanek.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Im_Fokus/150710_Focus_Drone_Law_In_Switzerland_Charlene_Kramer.pdf
Most other European countries are now legislating on the use of drones http://www.riot.ch/en/legal-information-about-flying-multicopter-drones-commercial/ |
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The new lift will run parallel to the existing cable car from Trockener Steg to Klein Matterhorn. A 3S gondola http://www.doppelmayr.com/en/products/3s-gondola-lift/ is not the same as a Funitel http://www.doppelmayr.com/en/products/funitel/
One of the cabins is currently being exhibited at the Interalpin trade fair, according to Pininfarina they are capable of carrying 35 people, 28 seated + 7 standing http://www.pininfarina.com/en/symphony/?category_nav=transportation This summer they are going to replace the Hörnli T-bar (locally known as Hirli) with a 6 seater detachable chair lift; see page 9 for further details http://inside.zermatt.ch/pdf/ZermattInside-2015-2.pdf In the near future they are also planning to build a 100 person cable car from Testa Grigia to Klein Matterhorn, a 4 seater detachable chair lift from Breitboden to Rosenritz, an upgrade of the Gornergrat railway rolling stock and a connection to the Monterosa ski area via Cime Bianche. |
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The photos in these posts on one of the German forums should give you a good idea of the snow conditions and terrain in the Chamonix area.
La Flégère, Le Brévent http://www.alpinforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=251711#251711 Aiguille du Midi http://www.alpinforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=251709#251709 Les grands Montets http://www.alpinforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=251708#251708 |
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