“Cervino the One” Project: Matterhorn Ski Paradise Plans Dramatic Overhaul of the Connection from Cervinia, Italy, to Zermatt, Switzerland

The Italian side of the cross-border ski area Matterhorn Ski Paradise has announced its biggest lift upgrade in decades, aimed at dramatically improving access from Italy to Switzerland. The ski area, which combines Zermatt on the Swiss side and Cervinia on the Italian side, is managed separately but offers a combined ski pass for visitors to the interconnected ski area. Zermatt Bergbahnen GmbH runs lift operations on the Swiss side while Cervino S.p.A runs lift operations on the Italian side.

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On Friday, August 22, Cervino S.p.A. held a public presentation in which the Italian operator introduced its project “Cervino – The One,” a modernization that will improve ease of access and capacity from Breuil-Cervinia to Plateau Rosà. The €200 million package is designed to speed and weather-proof the main Italian approach to Plateau Rosà, where skiers and snowboarders connect to Zermatt and the Matterhorn Alpine Crossing. Under the “Cervino the One” project, the old three-stop connection from Breuil-Cervinia to Plateau Rosa will be changed to a two-stop connection, cutting the travel time down to around 15-20 minutes from the bottom station at 2,050 meters (6,726 feet) to the top at 3,480 meters (11,427 feet) and almost tripling hourly capacity.

At the moment, skiers and snowboarders on the Italian side have to take either a six-person gondola or 85 person cable car from Breuil-Cervinia to Plan Maison at 2,550 meters (8,366 feet), then take a 12-seater gondola from there to Cime Bianche Laghi at 2,814 meters (9,318 feet), and then connect on to the 125-person cable car to the top in order to get to the Theodul Glacier on the Swiss side. There is also a series of chairlifts that can be used to cross to Switzerland, bypassing the Theodul Glacier, but these are often on wind-hold as they are in a rather exposed location, notorious for strong windgusts.

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In the future, this journey will be much less complicated, with two Leitner 3S replacing the currently three-lift-chain, while keeping the bottom and top station altitudes of Breuil-Cervinia, Plan Maison, and Plateau Rosá the same. Leitner’s 3S is a so called tricable gondola lift, which is a cable car system, that combines the benefits of a gondola lift with those of a reversible cable car system.

The system will operate at a speed of 8.0 meters per second and cabins will have a capacity of 30 people in total—24 seated and six standing. The cabins will travel 36 seconds apart, allowing for an hourly capacity of 3,000 people. The first section of the new connection will have a total travel time of 4 minutes and 28 seconds while the second section will take 9 minutes 22 seconds.

In addition, the three old stations will be replaced with brand-new, state-of-the-art buildings, featuring shops, bars, restaurants, day care centers, and warehouses. There will be a fast-track option at the mid-station at Plan Maison for direct connection to the top.

Once on Plateau Rosà, skiers, snowboarders, and sightseers can continue into Switzerland via the Matterhorn Alpine Crossing—the year-round cableway connection completed in 2023 or access the Matterhorn Ski Paradise ski area. Cervino’s upgrades are meant to dovetail with that Swiss investment by removing an Italian-side bottleneck and improving resilience on stormy or high-wind days.

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While “The One” presentation confirmed the lift types, design, and capacities, a detailed construction calendar was not provided. Cervino S.p.A. has tapped a local consortium led by Leitner with construction partners Cogeis and Ivies for design and delivery. Those firms have a long track record in high-alpine ropeways across the Aosta Valley and the Alps, including detachable gondolas and large-span trams comparable to what Cervino plans here. The project now moves into the authorization and procurement stages; phasing is expected to stage works over multiple summer seasons to avoid peak-winter disruption. As of publication, Cervino S.p.A. has not released firm opening dates.

The connection from Italy to Switzerland at the Matterhorn Ski Paradise is a notorious bottleneck, keeping many visitors on the Swiss side. Taking the hourly capacity from only 1,250 people per hour for the Plan Maison-Plateau Rosá cable car to 3,000 people per hour for the new Leitner 3S system will almost triple the capacity, alleviating queues in peak periods and future-proofing the Italian side of the ski area. Budgeted at €200 million, the project now enters permitting and phasing, with detailed capacities and dates to follow from Cervino S.p.A.