Snow gentians open for two months a year and close for the rest of it.
Marmot trail
The marmots' whistle carries before their bodies show themselves.
The trail runs from Blauherd, at 2,571 metres, down past the Stellisee to Sunnegga, a route of roughly 3.8 kilometres that the Zermatt lift company built specifically around one animal. Five observation posts line the path, each positioned where alpine marmots are known to gather on the sun-warmed slopes of the Rothorn area. Their alarm call, a sharp, repeated whistle, usually arrives before any sighting does.
Wooden sculptures and information boards along the way explain marmot behaviour: hibernation lasting up to six months, colonies that dig connected burrow systems, sentries posted to watch for eagles. Walking the reverse direction, uphill from Sunnegga, takes about ninety minutes and is markedly steeper. The trail is open only from June to September, when the animals are active and not sleeping through the cold.
