Glacier 3000's New Trail Classified As One Of Three Steepest In The World
With a maximum gradient of 46° (104%) the new "Black Wall" run joins the ranks of the steepest groomed slopes in the world. Thanks to a 265-metre tunnel cut through the mountain, this 3-kilometre descent links the resort’s summit (3,000 m) to the valley station in Col du Pillon (1,546 m).
A steeper run than the Streif or the Lauberhorn: the village of Les Diablerets is one of the Big Players. With the inauguration of the Black Wall, the Glacier 3000 ski resort now has one of the steepest black runs in the world. With a steepest part at 46°, the slope has this particularity of being groomed, making it all the more demanding. "Only the expert skiers will be able to tackle this run," explains Bernhard Tschannen, CEO of Glacier 3000. For its operators, preparing the run is no small feat; they ultimately opted to park a snow groomer using a 1,400-metre-long which at the top, in order to groom the upper part of the run without having to unhook the cable.
The longest ski tunnel in Switzerland
Digging a tunnel instead of building a new lift... While this might seem like a crazy idea, it really does make sense. Skiers going up and down have used the cable car linking the Col du Pillon to the middle station of Cabane for the past 20 years. Now – and thanks to the tunnel having been built – this installation serves both a black run and a ski route. It is 265 metres long, 2.50 metres wide, and 3 meters high, has a 14% steep, and is equipped with an indoor magic carpet enabling skiers to cross the cliff in less than one minute. "It is now possible, therefore, to ski down from the top of the resort at over 3,000 metres to the Col du Pillon car park, the gateway to the ski area," says the manager.
A responsibly created run
The new run is located on the Pierres Pointes area – already used for skiing from 1963 to 1999. At the time, this northern slope had a gondola lift which was dismantled when the facilities were refurbished. This, then, is essentially a reallocation of an area the inhabitants of the Ormonts Valley hold dear, albeit with very little impact on the landscape itself, as the tunnel’s footprint is practically zero. What’s more, during the 6 months it took to build the tunnel, most of the material was transported using the existing cable cars as well as a worksite cable car installed for the project. The goal? To keep helicopter use to a minimum.
While skiing in the Tzanfleuron glacier area is uncertain for the next few decades due to ice melt, the Glacier 3000 ski area now has a competitive offer, with three major flagship runs, namely the: Combe d'Audon (7 km), Red Run (8 km), and Black Wall (6 km, combined with the upper part of Red Run) – all three of which are located on northern slopes, and with ski-run starts at over 3,000 metres above sea level, thus guaranteeing natural snow-cover for 5 months out of the year.
