The Sunshine Trail from the Gornergrat to the Riffelberg
From the Gornergrat at 3,100 metres above sea level alongside the railway track down to the Riffelberg.
Difficulty: medium | Duration: 1h | Distance: 3.1km
This trail takes about one hour and follows the railway tracks from the Gornergrat down to the Riffelberg, including the pleasure of a continuous view of the Matterhorn and the other twenty-eight 4,000-metre peaks. The trail descends on the right-hand side of the railway (looking towards the valley), first of all over open and stony ground. Just below the Gornergrat you will find the ‘Chalet Bomber’, which is the winter work place of an extremely important person – the points cleaner. His job is to maintain the railway points and keep them free of ice and snow so that the trains run on the correct track.
At the height of Rotenboden station the stony ground turns into alpine meadows and many black-nosed sheep can be seen grazing here. You won’t realise this in summer - but in winter this is the location of the big igloo village where guests can spend a night. After a walk of about one hour you will reach the Riffelberg
