4 days in Zermatt

In message , mike
writes

Yes, chairlift not working on Saturday due to "software problems" so I was

Software? Does a chairlift really need a bl**dy computer nowadays?

informed but OK on other days ; incidently the new 6 seater high speed chair
on the Gornergrat (Gifthittli) has the lift pass readers on the exit, after
the lift, so will be interesting to watch the chaos at peak times...

Hails of derisive laughter, Bruce!
Someone's card won't open the gate, the person tries to climb over and
gets stuck, his mates try to help and block the ones either side, the
queue backs up onto the lift ramp, someone falls over, and where do the
people getting off go?
We didn't go up the Gornergrat because there was so little open, but I
reckon that's a must-see for next time!

and "only" 35 minutes queuing because we were a lot more determined than the
Italians and other people faffing about... but would have been quicker using
the T-bars though

Did you see the queue for the draglift? Add a quarter of an hour to
however many hours the ride takes.
--
Sue ];(

In article ,
mike wrote:
More crowded than this time last year possibly due to other resorts' poor
conditions and what appeared to be Italian and Swiss public holidays over
the weekend and Monday - can anyone shed light on this?

Immaculate Conception day.

In article ,
Sue wrote:
In message , mike
writes
Yes, chairlift not working on Saturday due to "software problems" so I was

Software? Does a chairlift really need a bl**dy computer nowadays?

Have you not used the magnetic card lift tickets which you can keep for
as a souvenir for 5 SF extra? A proximity card.
Or some of the insert slider tickets used in other regions?

I gave samples of my cards to our computer museum.

On Thu, 11 Dec 2003, Paul Schofield wrote:


"Ian Spare" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 11 Dec 2003 00:27:17 +0000, Sue
wrote:

Apparently 8th December is some saint's day and is always a local
public holiday, but when it's on Friday or Monday people get a
long weekend and go skiing.

It's the day of Immaculate Conception actually :-)


So Christmas Day is really the day of superfast gestation?



IANARC but the Immaculate Conception marks the conception of Mary and
not Jesus

Robert
--
La grenouille songe..dans son château d'eau

In message , BrritSki
writes
Paul Schofield wrote:

So Christmas Day is really the day of superfast gestation?

Is that a new quad lift ?


In Zermatt? I doubt it.

More likely the rate you can eat lunch on a restaurant terrace where the
froth on your beer has actually frozen into icebergs!
--
Sue ];(

In message 3fd9284a$1@darkstar, Eugene Miya
writes

Software? Does a chairlift really need a bl**dy computer nowadays?

Have you not used the magnetic card lift tickets which you can keep for
as a souvenir for 5 SF extra? A proximity card.
Or some of the insert slider tickets used in other regions?

It's not really clear why that lift even needs a pass check, since
anyone coming from Zermatt has been through at least two already, and
anyone from Cervinia without a Zermatt pass can't get home.
You'd think they could run the lift with the gates open if they weren't
working (also, the card readers aren't really sophisticated enough to
have software problems.)

I gave samples of my cards to our computer museum.

It's certainly prettier than my employer's door card, but I claimed my
five francs.
--
Sue ]|(

In article ,
Sue wrote:
In message 3fd9284a$1@darkstar, Eugene Miya
writes
Software? Does a chairlift really need a bl**dy computer nowadays?

Have you not used the magnetic card lift tickets which you can keep for
as a souvenir for 5 SF extra? A proximity card.
Or some of the insert slider tickets used in other regions?

It's not really clear why that lift even needs a pass check, since
anyone coming from Zermatt has been through at least two already, and
anyone from Cervinia without a Zermatt pass can't get home.
You'd think they could run the lift with the gates open if they weren't
working (also, the card readers aren't really sophisticated enough to
have software problems.)

I have no working knowledge of the firm which makes the cards readers
used in Zermatt.
I had a summer job in college which I helped to design a credit card
reader (my second test card was my student Visa card, and I could read it)
so they should not be too different.

I merely gave the gates as one example of embedded processors, and I
suspect the lifts and trams themselves might have some sort of computer
tensioning on cabling. And there are all kinds of other microprocessors
used everywhere. But I suspect one could ask (maybe even get a
consulting job [I work with one Swiss consulate]).

The lifts need a pass check, because as I witnessed, I think it was
Sunniga (sp) down valley a bit, that a fair number of locals did place
climbing skins on their skis and skied locally up and down hills.
What surprised me were the number of women who skinned, in some cases
alone, up hills to ski. The US needs more women like that. To a degree.

I've spent enough money in the Mattertal, and I want to visit other parts
of the Alps now.


I gave samples of my cards to our computer museum.

It's certainly prettier than my employer's door card, but I claimed my
five francs.

The first time I claimed my 5 SFs, but the second time I kept it.

The British Museum has a collection of money and the most recent entries
are sample Euros and various kinds of credit and debit cards.

In message 3fda41c5$1@darkstar, Eugene Miya
writes

I have no working knowledge of the firm which makes the cards readers
used in Zermatt.
I had a summer job in college which I helped to design a credit card
reader (my second test card was my student Visa card, and I could read it)
so they should not be too different.

They're not like credit cards, which have a good deal of information in
the chip. The gate access cards only know their own serial number. The
gate has a modest local processor and a downloaded list of cards
currently valid for its location. (The alternative of a central list
accessed by optical cable is good for a building but too slow for a ski
resort.)
Security is quite good as the serial number of a card can't be changed
and the status information isn't accessible to customers (though one of
our party had hacked his employer's access controls by connecting a
laptop to cabling hidden above a false ceiling!)

The main fraud issue seems to be customers who pass the card back over
the gate for someone else to use.

I merely gave the gates as one example of embedded processors, and I
suspect the lifts and trams themselves might have some sort of computer
tensioning on cabling. And there are all kinds of other microprocessors

That particular lift has the pylons on pivots, held upright by a length
of car-cable to which their tops are clamped, like a gigantic draglift.
However, the arrangements for checking how much it's moved seemed to be
simple mechanical ones (glaciers aren't noted for anything sudden.)
Maybe the software's to stop the lift if it gets too windy, or to detect
chairs arriving with the lid down.

The lifts need a pass check, because as I witnessed, I think it was
Sunniga (sp) down valley a bit, that a fair number of locals did place
climbing skins on their skis and skied locally up and down hills.

Yeeerrss, though whenever there's no snow at resort level they'd need a
pass for the first stage.
Even if it was possible to skin all the way up to Trockener Steg it'd
take so much of your day that you'd hardly be a major problem for the
lift company!

What surprised me were the number of women who skinned, in some cases
alone, up hills to ski. The US needs more women like that. To a degree.


The US has lots of them, the small size of their lift systems compared
with the amount of mountains tends to encourage it. Of course they're
mainly among the one-third of the US population that isn't medically
overweight!

--
Sue ];(

In article ,
Sue wrote:
In message 3fda41c5$1@darkstar, Eugene Miya
writes
I have no working knowledge of the firm which makes the cards readers
used in Zermatt.
I had a summer job in college which I helped to design a credit card
reader (my second test card was my student Visa card, and I could read it)
so they should not be too different.

They're not like credit cards, which have a good deal of information in
the chip.

The older dumb American credit cards are 210 BPI lacking chips.

The gate access cards only know their own serial number. The

I've seen this. The Trockener Steg tram station CRT is visible to watch
this operation.

Security is quite good as the serial number of a card can't be changed
and the status information isn't accessible to customers (though one of
our party had hacked his employer's access controls by connecting a
laptop to cabling hidden above a false ceiling!)

Big topic.

The main fraud issue seems to be customers who pass the card back over
the gate for someone else to use.

Yes, I have noted that.

I merely gave the gates as one example of embedded processors,

Maybe the software's to stop the lift if it gets too windy, or to detect
chairs arriving with the lid down.

Well I have known them to stop service when too cold.

Again, I suggest asking them if you really want to know.
There are colleges in the US which give degrees in ski resort management.


The lifts need a pass check, because as I witnessed, I think it was
Sunniga (sp) down valley a bit, that a fair number of locals did place
climbing skins on their skis and skied locally up and down hills.

Yeeerrss, though whenever there's no snow at resort level they'd need a
pass for the first stage.
Even if it was possible to skin all the way up to Trockener Steg it'd
take so much of your day that you'd hardly be a major problem for the
lift company!

They start early.

I think it's the principle behind it.

What surprised me were the number of women who skinned, in some cases
alone, up hills to ski. The US needs more women like that. To a degree.

The US has lots of them, the small size of their lift systems compared
with the amount of mountains tends to encourage it. Of course they're
mainly among the one-third of the US population that isn't medically
overweight!

Naw, the US has comparatively few women who stick which it.
They complain about the cold more and assert their non-skiing choices.
The heavier women would not really even consider starting.
The vast majority of women would rather do lift service skiing.

The heavier men think they could do it, but they become good targets to
pick up gear used once or twice and discarded.

European women are easy a factor of 4 or more into outdoor activities like
hiking and skiing than American women. It didn't seem to matter whether
it was Switzerland, Freance, Germany and there might be slighty
variance with Italy.

The fine US women who would can be found in Alaska and to a lesser
extent in the mountainous areas of the West, but their M:F ratio is
easily 10:1.

I too skied for four days last weekend (6th onwards). The resort was quiet
for the time of year but there were many Swiss skiers because Monday was a
bank holiday 3-day weekend. I therefore skied Sunnega on Sunday and
Gornergrat on Monday : everyone else only skied Kl Matterhorn which
therefore became busy. I skied Kl Matterhorn on Tuesday when all the
weekenders had gone home: hence I had zero queues on the Matterhorn Express!

For the time of year the pistes were in good condition and I saw no bare
spots anywhere. Both new chairs were fully operational. I did not ski any of
the closed runs (e.g. Furgg to Furri) because I was holding on to my young
daughter (almost three) who was directly skiing in front of me.

OK it is a barren start to the season but the altitude of Zermatt made my
stay very enjoyable. The only bad (open) piste was the one through Findeln
below Sunnega. I put up with it because of the excellent food at Chez Vrony!

Paul Smith


"Sue" wrote in message
...
In message , mike
writes

Queued for Klein Matterhorn cable car for 35 minutes on Saturday midday.
On

That was because Switzerland's First Chairlift on a Glacier wasn't
working, again, Bruce.

You were lucky to get away with 35 minutes.
--
Sue ];(