COL DU PILLON, SWITZERLAND – Building a restaurant 3,000 metres above sea level was a special challenge, said Swiss star architect Mario Botta. “You only do it once in a lifetime,” said the creator of “Glacier 3000” which is now open to the public.
Diners reach the Botta Restaurant at the top of the Scex Rouge by cable car from the valley station Col du Pillon that ascends more than 1,000 metres at a maximum speed of 10 metres per second, so it takes less than five minutes to reach Cabane station above.
The cabin is enclosed in glass, so passengers have the feeling they are flying weightlessly through the air.
At Cabane station you change to a second large cable car that takes you to the summit of the Scex Rouge at a height so 2,970 metres above sea level.
Since the cable cars were installed in 1999, the whole journey from valley to summit takes a quarter of an hour. The cars can carry 1,200 people per hour.
The second cable car stops directly at the new glacier restaurant complex. And since there is not a single step on the whole trip from the car park to the restaurant, it is also accessible to wheelchair users.
The first floor of the restaurant complex is self-service with seating for 150 people. One floor higher is the new restaurant with waiter service with seating for 110.
Mario Botta’s modern metallic building juts out over the mountain, giving diners a panoramic view over the Bernese, Vaud and French Alps. In clear weather you have clear views of Mont Blanc and the Dents du Midi.
The building presented a special challenge not just for Botta who has built banks, offices, libraries and museums all over the world. Up to 70 skilled workers, as well as materials, had to be transported to the summit on a daily basis. The work often had to be interrupted because of snowfall, storms or the cold.
A total of 77 million Swiss francs (43 million U.S. dollars) have been invested in the modernising the ski district over the last five years. The new mountain station and the Botta restaurant cost seven million francs (four million dollars).
Glacier 3000 belongs to the Alpes Vaudoises ski pass association, which covers 220 kilometres of pistes in winter. But it is possible to ski on the glacier all year round. It closes only in May.
In summer it is especially popular with snowboarders, when four lifts, a half pipe and a ski-jump are in use.
But summer ice-hikes are more gentle. Tour guides take parties on narrow paths over the glacier. If you are lucky, you might see a chamois, an Alpine goat-antelope with short, hooked horns.
As all hobby photographers know, the light in summer is best in the morning. So the district is currently planning to organise dawn trips to the summit to see the sunrise followed by breakfast.
Visitors should also take a snow bus to Teufelskegel (Devil’s Skittle), an imposing rock formation in the shape of a skittle or bowling pin.
But the name is also a reference to the nearby village Les Diablerets (little devils). According to legend, the devil played bowls at this spot on the mountain, but much to his annoyance was never able to knock down one last bowling pin.
Of course, the view from this point, looking 1,000 metres into the depths below, is devilishly good.
A day ticket for both cable cars costs 49 francs (27 dollars) for adults.
