Magazine summer 2022

THE TRAILBLAZER
When the traces of winter clear, their work begins:
a team of the Saas-Fee Guides takes care of an
extensive network of hiking trails in Saas-Fee. Behind
the beautifully kept hiking trails, hundreds of
hours of hard manual labour have been invested.
Text: Patrick Gasser
Images: Puzzle Media / Switzerland Tourism / Lorenz Richard
‘You are standing at the end of the world
and yet at the same time at its origin, at its
beginning and in its centre.’ Carl Zuckmayer
fell in love with Saas-Fee back in 1938.
20 years later, the writer moved here and
stayed until his death in 1977. At the origin,
in the middle and at the end: the men who
maintain the network of hiking trails in the
Saas Valley can often be found. Hoes and
rakes carry them for kilometres at a time.
When the snow melts away in spring, the
work begins for the two mountain guides
Marc Derivaz and Michi Schwarzl, as well
as Félicien Pépin and Patrick Gracey. They
and the other teams from the municipalities
in the Saas Valley are the first to hit
the trails in spring. And in autumn, the last.
As a team, they clear away the remnants of
winter on the network of hiking trails in the
Saas-Fee/Saastal holiday region.
Over 350 kilometres of trails wind through the Saas Valley.
Along mountain streams, glaciers and four-thousand-metre
peaks. It doesn’t matter whether you are looking for a personal
challenge or just peace and quiet: there are great prospects
for everyone. Countless challenges also await the team that
handles the maintenance of this network of hiking trails. ‘You
have to see the problems, in order to recognise them’, says
Marc Derivaz, who is starting his third season in trail maintenance.
He is part of the team of the local outdoor service
Saas-Fee Guides, which is responsible for maintaining the
trail network in Saas-Fee for the municipality.
Bridge transport complete with helicopter
The storms in the winter months knock down trees. Avalanches
wash wood and debris onto the hiking trails. In spring, meltwater
erodes sections of the paths in some places. In summer,
heavy thundershowers batter the paths. Then the men behind
Marc Derivaz rebuild the damaged sections of path, step
by step. ‘Our job is mainly manual labour’, Marc explains. On
foot, we follow the hiking trails. Meanwhile, they also reach
some sections with e-mountain bikes – and rarely with an
off-road vehicle. Marc Derivaz’s team is also responsible for 17
bridges. Six of them will be taken to their destination by helicopter
in spring. And taken away again in autumn. Otherwise,
they would become damaged in winter by the huge masses of
snow – or washed away completely by avalanches.
As extensive as the hiking trail network in the Saas
Valley is, so is the team around Marc Derivaz versatile: some
are mountain guides, while others work as ski instructors in
winter. Marc and his team can sense the change happening
on the mountain. Less snow in winter. More hot days in summer.
Work with the guests on the mountain is becoming more
demanding. Marc doesn’t like to complain about it. He learned
early on to work with and not against nature. ‘Our boss is nature‘,
Marc says pragmatically. ‘She sets the pace.’
A back-breaking job
And in any case: Marc Derivaz does not like to put himself
in the foreground: ‘I’m more the quiet creator.’ There is the
temptation to romanticise his job as a trailblazer for the hikers:
At dawn, the teams make their way through the larch forests.
This view, this peace before the hiking season. But Marc
warns: ‘It’s a back-breaking job. ’ They carry their equipment
for up to twelve kilometres on the longest section of the Höhenweg
Grächen. With the motorised trimmer, they climb up
to the forest line to mow bushes and scrub. Rake, trimmer
and a canister with five litres of petrol weigh heavily on the
shoulders. A working day in the field can then last a good ten
hours. In spring, they clean and repair after the melting snow
has disappeared. In autumn, they clear away signposts, cables
and benches along the paths before the first big winter
storm renders the paths impassable in October.
Maintaining the hiking trail network is hard work.
But the work is not done there: throughout the summer, a
team of Saas-Fee Guides is out and about. ‘No sooner are
the hiking trails ready for the season than the mowing work
begins’, says Marc. If there is a threat of heavy thunderstorms,
the trailblazers make sure that the rain gutters on the paths
are free of debris: ‘Scraping the drains free is tedious. But it
is much worse when the water literally eats away the paths
because it cannot run off’.
The joy of hikers
Nevertheless, Marc appreciates his job. Working in a team
where everyone can rely on each other is what he likes best.
And what is more: ‘It does us good to see how hikers enjoy
our network of trails.’ Marc’s experience as a mountain guide
comes in handy in his work maintaining the trail network: He
knows how to move in rough terrain. Where hiking trails are
not yet open to hikers, dangers such as falling rocks or wet
snow avalanches lurk. ‘It is important to always find out if the
trail is open or closed before you go hiking’, says Marc.
More on the subject of hiking:
saas-fee.ch/wandern
Mountain guide Marc Derivaz and his team are responsible
for maintaining the hiking trails in Saas-Fee.
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