Scientific Opportunities and Environmental Impacts Related to Ski Run Construction, Zermatt, Swiss Alps

• Main Authors: Oliver Wild, Isabelle Roer, Stephan Gruber, Barbara May, Dietmar Wagenbach
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: Ice; permafrost
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.568.2072

The building of ski runs and their associated installations are likely to influence the alpine environment and the permafrost present at many of those sites. Therefore, it is important to have a good understanding of the impacts of this construction. As it is impossible to restore the normal environment once the work is finished, the present state should be documented, and information about how the formation of the area and its periglacial landforms took place in the past (e.g., with ice samples) should be gained. During the years after the construction, further research must be conducted to evaluate the degree of change. The research within this article contributes to this knowledge, and preliminary results are presented.