Magazine summer 2022

A MOATED CASTLE AND TRUE POWERHOUSE
The Mattmark Dam has a turbulent history.
It not only serves guests and locals as a place
of power – but also supplies thousands
households with electricity.
Text: Patrick Gasser
Images: levin.studio / Alberto @swiss
1965 – disaster strikes
Studies in the 1950s showed that the enormous power of
the water mass in the Mattmark area could also be beneficial.
Kraftwerke Mattmark AG began construction of the present
dam in 1958. Today, the dammed water uses its power
to drive turbines for electricity production and supplies thousands
of households with electricity. Before the dam was
completed seven years after construction began, the ‘dragon’
struck again: on 30 August 1965, part of the glacier tongue
of the Allalin glacier broke off. Two million cubic metres of
ice and debris thundered down onto the workers’ shelters at
the construction site on the dam. 88 workers, the majority of
them Italian guest workers, died. Recovering the dead took
months. Today, a memorial not far from the site of the accident
commemorates the victims. The Mattmark Half-Marathon,
launched five years ago, is also held in memory of the
deceased.
They called it the ‘dragon in the valley floor
of Mattmark’. The Allalin glacier. It has now
receded far from the dam wall, which was
completed in 1967. During the ‘Little Ice
Age’, i.e. between the 15th and the early
20th century, it took over the task of a
dam. The Allalin glacier was unpredictable
in its function as a weir: time and again,
the glacial lake burst and flooded the hamlets
and meadows further down the valley.
Sand and debris turned the farmland into
barren deserts for years. Quite a few of the
valley inhabitants packed up their belongings
and migrated – for example, over the
Monte Moro Pass to the Walser settlement
of today’s Macugnaga.
A true powerhouse
Today, the lake fills and empties as the power plant operators
intend. In spring, the meltwater is fed into the lake through a
system of pipelines. As the snow melts, the lake level rises.
The constant change of the seasons is felt particularly strongly
here. In winter, hikers pass the top of the dam on their descent
from the Fluchthorn. It gets busier in the summer. Then
the restaurant is also open. The bus service takes families to
the starting point of the approximately eight-kilometre hike
around the lake. Everywhere the water tumbles via falls and
streams and onto the lake surface. The power of nature is thus
particularly palpable. And it seems to pass over to you when
you feel the cold spray of the waterfalls on your skin.
Only a few steps away from the dam, the last signal
bar on your smartphone disappears. Sparse network coverage
helps visitors to slow down. However, it is also important
to bear this in mind when hiking into the deserted ‘Ofental’
valley or towards the Monte Moro Pass. The smartphone only
picks up the next mobile network later from the Italian side of
the border. Here in the moated castle of the Upper Valais, the
weather can suddenly change even in summer: not only does
the network coverage here increasingly come from Italy, but
also thunderstorms.
Along the lakefront, you will find another elemental
force in the form of the Eringer cows. These animals of ancient
decent have been grazing in the region here for centuries.
With the retreat of the Allalin glacier, their summer pasture
gradually increases in size.
8
Discover the adventure worlds on p. 10
More about the Mattmark area
saas-fee.ch/mattmark
Hiking tip
The approximately eight-kilometre circuit around
Lake Mattmark is also ideal for families. If you
take a good two hours, you can let the power of
nature unleash its wonderful effect on you. The
trail is relatively even and, with only a good 100
metres of ascent and descent, slightly elevated
along the lakefront. At the same time, the Mattmark
Dam, which is accessible by bus, is also
the starting point for more challenging hikes in
the direction of the Monte Moro Pass, Ofental
or Jazzilücke. However, these hikes should be
planned well and started early. In summer, spring
clouds often form in the region around the Monte
Moro Pass, which can envelop the area in fog.
Turquoise water and mystical mist: the region around
today’s Lake Mattmark looks back on an eventful history.
28 29