Tour du Cervin Jay 5: Zermatt - Europahutte

Locate the Tour du Cervin trail in Zermatt, head east and rapidly gain the forest (S). The trail gently weaves through to the ski area and the lower station at the place called Patrullarve (1).

Leave the station to the left heading down a trail due east then north. Once you get to Tufternhutte you'll come to a joint trail "Tour du Cervin - Europaweg" (2). Stick to this level trail all the way to Ottafe Village (3).

Before the village, cross the stream and head north-west, first flat, then slightly downhill then through a forest (4) above Tasch Village. A scree splits the forest up: you can cross easily through the tunnel, a headlamp is useful at this stage. Shortly after, the slope gets steeper and once you get out of the forest the huge himalayan footbridge (5) comes into sight, crossing the valley stretching from two summits, Gross Haupt and Chli Haupt.

Cross it, start a short hike down, then another uphill, reaching Europahutte (6) and that's it for today.

Water supplies at the Ottafe fountains.

Watch out the Himalayan footbridge that we crossed was put in service in 2010. It replaces the tunnels that were used to cross this area where landslides are frequent. There are rumours of a landslide which may have damaged the footbridge, therefore having to cross using the downstream trail.
If you have any recent information regarding this, please let me know.

Zermatt and other villages in the valley:
- Tasch where atmospheric engine cars stop,
- Randa, where a huge landslide isolated the upper valley for several months.