has it that long ago, before the Alps were discovered by climbers and walkers – when mountains were still regarded as the abode of evil spirits and dragons – people believed that a magic valley existed, hidden among the glaciers of Monte Rosa, among the big peaks. It is said that in 1788 a band of men set out from the Valle di Lys in Italy in search of this Eldorado. They climbed over the pass between Monte Rosa and Liskamm (now the Lysjoch) and looked down to the valley below. However, they were disappointed only to find more glaciers, rocks, snowfields and deep ravines. Where were the grassy meadows, the land of milk and honey, which they had been looking for? Perhaps they would not be so disappointed now, seeing how the dawn of mountaineering and the consequent explosion in tourism have made this valley a haven for holidaymakers and a most lucrative place for the inhabitants.
Saastal
The Saas Valley is surrounded by well-known 4000m peaks such as the Dom, Täschhorn, the Allalinhorn, the Strahlhorn, the Rimpfischhorn, the Weissmies, the Lagginhorn…Settlements in the valley go back to the days of the Celts. The inhabitants of the Saas Valley used to form a self-contained community, but in 1392 the area was divided into four politically independent communities. Each settlement retained the basic name ‘Saas’, the origin of the names Saas Almagell, Saas Balen, Saas Grund and Saas Fee.
For centuries merchants and traders roamed through the Saas Valley across the Monte Moro and Antrona mountain passes to Italy. These trade routes were also used by pilgrims. Even the Romans used to cross these cols, attested by the discovery of ancient coins at the Antrona Pass in 1963. Although the villages in the Saastal grew during the early 20th century, Saas Fee was not developed for tourism until much later, perhaps because access to this higher village was more difficult. The first Saas Fee hotel was constructed in 1880. In 1951 the road up from Saas Grund to Saas Fee was finally completed.
Valtournanche
Dominated by the Matterhorn (or rather Monte Cervino, to give it its Italian name), this Italian valley really represents the Valle d’Aosta. Its first language traditionally was French, hence ‘Breuil’ in the name of the village at the head of the Mattertal. The valley has its base down at Chatillon, south of Aosta. The Marmore river runs along the valley, draining the glaciers of the Dent Hérens, Matterhorn and Plateau Rosa peaks, among others.
Ayas Valley
This valley is formed by the Evançon river. Its highest village is St Jacques and it meets the main Aosta Valley at Verrés.
Lys Valley
Often known as the Gressoney Valley this is a long and winding gorge that descends from the slopes of Liskamm following the route of the Lys river all the way to Pont St Martin. It is a valley rich in history with several interesting churches and villages.
Valsesia
With its base away down near Novara, far closer to Milan than Aosta, the Valsesia Valley winds its way up to Varallo where the road splits, then continues up to another junction at Balmuccia. The glacier-fed River Sesia gushes down here, and the valley above this point is known as Upper Valsesia. Alagna Valsesia is the highest village in the valley and is surrounded by mountains. This is the home of the Walsers, emigrés from the north via the Valais (Wallis) region (in what is now Switzerland) from the 10th century. Today you’ll still hear people speaking the old dialect, based on long-extinct Old German.
Anzasca Valley
This is the most eastern valley coming down from the Monte Rosa massif. It is very close to the Swiss frontier and it descends from Macugnaga to meet the Toce river near Domodossala, the main access point for Macugnaga, on the main road and railway from Visp/Brig to Milan. The Toce river flows down into Lake Maggiore, a famous tourist spot.
Macugnaga seen from the summit of Nordend
The main towns
Saas Fee
Saas Fee lies in an idyllic valley surrounded by the highest mountains in the Swiss Alps. No less than 13 peaks of 4000m or more encircle the village, which has christened itself ‘the Pearl of the Alps’.
Saas Fee can be reached by car or bus. No cars are allowed to enter the town (they have to be left in a car park at the entrance to the town); only small electric vehicles operate on the streets (and some petrol-driven refuse trucks). The resort buzzes in both summer and winter, and features the highest underground funicular railway in the world (the Metro-Alpin), which in winter serves the skiing area. It also takes the visitor to the highest revolving restaurant in the world, at 3500m. The campus of the European Graduate School, a university of the Valais canton, is located in Saas Fee.
Traditional costumes in Saas Fee
In old documents Saas is also called Sayxa, Sausa, Solxa and Solze, from the Latin salix meaning pasture. The origins of the word ‘Fee’ have not been established, but it could come from vee (cattle), ves (mountain), fö or föberg (sheep mountain) or fei (fairy).
Although the region was described by S Grunert in his 18th-century travel book as the ‘most abominable wild region of Switzerland’, people started to visit the Saas Valley towards the late 18th century and early 19th century precisely because they were attracted by that sort of landscape. They included authors of travel books, cartographers, mineralogists, botanists and landscape painters. Saas Fee was somewhat cut off from the valley until the main road from Saas Grund was constructed in 1951, resulting in an increase in tourism. Despite the influences of modern life, many traditional customs exist to this day, including home-made costumes (which are worn at various events) and traditional music. There are several costume and music societies which can be seen at festivals and parades.
Zermatt
Zermatt is a town of contrasts. Dominated by the Matterhorn, it is nowadays assured a place high on the list for many people travelling in the Alps. With the advent of European travel in the 18th century the inhabitants of Zermatt quickly became aware that they were sitting on a potential goldmine, and since then the town has developed in line with the huge commercial success of the Matterhorn’s image. However, it still maintains its mountaineering roots and is a Mecca for alpinists.
One way to travel in Zermatt
Zermatt means ‘to the meadows’ (zer being ‘to’ and matt meaning ‘meadow’). However, 500 years ago Zermatt was still called Prato Borno, named by the Romans many years before and meaning ‘cultivated field’. Zermatt has been a settlement since ancient times – apparently there was a scattering of tiny dwellings there as early as AD100 – but until about AD1100 there was no real central settlement. For centuries it was a place of trade and exchange between neighbouring valleys. Zmutt, situated just above Zermatt – today just a small hamlet with a good view and nice restaurants – was in those days the last place en route to the Theodulpass between Italy and Switzerland, and thus an important spot with its customs post, inns and guiding service for the passage to the col.
As the climate began to change (in the 12th century), the Theodulpass gradually became impassable for parts of the year, and the village that had existed there was abandoned. The 16th–18th centuries were particularly cold – the Little Ice Age – and the glaciers advanced right down to the valleys. The passage of the cols became impracticable, even in summer. Life was almost impossible in the high villages, and many people moved away.
On top of the Breithorn, on top of the world!
In the early 1800s climatic conditions began to improve, and for the first time foreign tourists visited the Zermatt Valley. As first they were greeted with hostility and mistrust, but gradually the villagers started to set up inns to accommodate these travellers. Until the carriage road was built from St Niklaus in 1858–60, Zermatt could only be reached