This summer, despite extreme weather conditions and high altitudes, Zermatt Ski Resort added five LED panorama walls to its site.
The cable car operator has raised the bar when it comes to visitor guidance and can now provide live panoramic maps, webcams, weather updates and information about the status of pistes and facilities in four languages. To ensure the safety of visitors, the site can also manually update the walls with warnings and announcements.
Our guests really appreciate being up to date at all times and being able to access the most important information quickly and easily”
Weighing in at 3,000kg, the 3.4m x 2.4m walls consist of high-resolution LED panels with a pixel pitch of 1.9mm, operating at a bright 3,000-nit brightness.
Equipped with SiliconCore Technology, Swiss firm Richnerstutz oversaw the installation which came with many challenges. Due to the location of the installation, the team were faced with extreme temperatures, humidity, wind, and the logistical challenge of transporting the signage at an altitude of 4000m.
The team used helicopters for part of the installation, however due to windy and foggy conditions, this was not always possible. The weather changed from sweltering heat to a wintery storm which brought with it 50cm of snow in the space of a week.
An LED wall at the Zermatt valley site
Working in tune with the weather conditions, Richnerstutz completed the mechanical installation of the wall enclosures in one day, with the mechanical installation of the LED taking two days, and another two days for the alignment of the LED.
Over six weeks, the team worked in two locations at Zermatt with two installations in the valley and three in the mountains at an altitude of around 3000m.
...this is a very unique way to use this LED and the usual specifications don’t work in this case due to higher ultraviolet and infrared influence in the mountain and extreme weather changes”
Peter Ellensohn, head of digital experience at Richnerstutz, reflects on the challenges: “Problem one was the physical part because we needed to make sure there was an easy way to access the LED for maintenance. Therefore, we mounted the LED in three rows on a door we can open from the back. This sounds easy, but it is not because of the LED when you close the system.
“We developed a special opening system so we didn’t disturb the fragile LED at its border. Problem two is that this is a very unique way to use this LED and the usual specifications don’t work in this case due to higher ultraviolet and infrared influence in the mountain and extreme weather changes. So the developer built in air conditioning and fan systems controlled by a special software from a mini server placed inside.”
LED walls were installed 3,000m up the mountains
Mathias Imoberdorf, communications and media manager for Zermatt Bergbahnen, adds: “Our guests really appreciate being up to date at all times and being able to access the most important information quickly and easily. We are proud to be able to advance information technology in the ski area together with Richnerstutz and to be the first in the world to offer this service to our guests.”
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