Google Street View: snowmobile goes to the Matterhorn
Zermatt wins the "Street View Piste Prize" launched by Switzerland Tourism and Google. The slopes of the Valais ski resort are the first in Switzerland to be photographed for Street View.
In the competition, over 31,500 Swiss voted in around two weeks. From 30 destinations, they chose the most popular ski resort in Switzerland. It was a neck-and-neck race between Zermatt with 2'800 votes, Flims 2,300 and Grindelwald 2,100. Lenk and Saas-Fee followed in fourth and fifth place.
Since the launch of Street View in Switzerland in August 2009, Google has photographed various Swiss cities. Last summer, a specially equipped bicycle was used to take pictures of places of tourist and historical interest, such as the Aletsch region and Château Chillon. This winter, Google will send a snowmobile to the Matterhorn. The photographs will be used to create 360-degree images that will enable Internet users on Google Maps to experience a virtual descent of the slopes at the foot of the Matterhorn. The snowmobile rides in Zermatt are to be followed by shots in other Swiss ski resorts, Google announced on Tuesday.
