Our workplace

Now that everything is over, we want to use the time to describe our workplace in more detail. The Klein-Matterhorn is 3883 meters above sea level. It can be reached by a 45 minutes gondola ride. How this looks like can be seen in the hyperlapse video in the photo gallery. A simplified floor plan of the mountain station can also be found there. In the following we will go into the individual places:

• Old gondola station: The old gondola station was replaced by the new one in 2018. However, it is still in operation. The workers use the old gondola to travel daily to the Klein-Matterhorn. We also used it occasionally, as it is the first gondola to go up. In addition, our materials could be transported with it.
• New gondola station: With the new gondola the transport capacity improved to 2000 guests per hour. This is particularly important in the peak season. Usually we went with tourists and skiers. A pleasant extra after a long working day were the heated seats.
• Cinema Lounge: In the Cinema Lounge, tourists and interested people could watch movies from the Swiss Space Center about Igluna and the individual projects in comfortable chairs.
• Lift to the panorama platform: A very popular destination for all tourists is the panorama platform. A lift takes you to the top of the Klein-Matterhorn and from there you have a breathtaking view. Also we did not miss the opportunity and took a group photo there.
• Workshop: At this point a big thank you to the local workers who helped us very often. For example, we were allowed to work in their workshop without restrictions.
• Workers lounge: On the upper floor are several rooms for sleeping and resting and showers, as well as a large lounge. Here we had two rooms at our disposal. One was used as a storage room and the other as a bedroom.
• Restaurant: We found daily refreshments in the restaurant. With a voucher we could take the menu of the day with a drink.
• Glacier Palace: The Glacier Palace is one of the main attractions on the Klein-Matterhorn. It is an underground ice cave - perfect for the Igluna project. In the last two days of the Field Campaign, we were able to drill down there.
• Skiing pist: Outside on the skiing pist a small field was marked for us in which we carried out our experiments with three other projects.

Tomorrow we will continue to help with the dismantling and prepare ourselves for our departure. Although we have already made many hikes in the mountains, we will not miss the opportunity tomorrow and enjoy the mountain air one last time. We wish our three team members, who left earlier, a pleasant and safe journey home. See you Tuesday!