Virtual International Authority File
The Virtual International Authority File is an international authority file. It is a joint project of national libraries and operated by the Online Computer Library Center. The project was initiated by the US Library of Congress, the German National Library, the National Library of France joined the project on October 5,2007. The project transitions to a service of the OCLC on April 4,2012, the aim is to link the national authority files to a single virtual authority file. In this file, identical records from the different data sets are linked together, a VIAF record receives a standard data number, contains the primary see and see records from the original records, and refers to the original authority records. The data are available online and are available for research and data exchange. Reciprocal updating uses the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting protocol, the file numbers are being added to Wikipedia biographical articles and are incorporated into Wikidata. VIAFs clustering algorithm is run every month, as more data are added from participating libraries, clusters of authority records may coalesce or split, leading to some fluctuation in the VIAF identifier of certain authority records
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic in Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western-Central Europe, and is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2. The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the medieval period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The country has a history of armed neutrality going back to the Reformation, it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815, nevertheless, it pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. In addition to being the birthplace of the Red Cross, Switzerland is home to international organisations.
On the European level, it is a member of the European Free Trade Association. However, it participates in the Schengen Area and the European Single Market through bilateral treaties, spanning the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions, French and Romansh. Due to its diversity, Switzerland is known by a variety of native names, Suisse, Svizzera. On coins and stamps, Latin is used instead of the four living languages, Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product according to the IMF. Zürich and Geneva have each been ranked among the top cities in the world in terms of quality of life, with the former ranked second globally, according to Mercer. The English name Switzerland is a compound containing Switzer, a term for the Swiss. The English adjective Swiss is a loan from French Suisse, in use since the 16th century.
The name Switzer is from the Alemannic Schwiizer, in origin an inhabitant of Schwyz and its associated territory, the Swiss began to adopt the name for themselves after the Swabian War of 1499, used alongside the term for Confederates, used since the 14th century. The data code for Switzerland, CH, is derived from Latin Confoederatio Helvetica. The toponym Schwyz itself was first attested in 972, as Old High German Suittes, ultimately related to swedan ‘to burn’
Theodul Glacier
The Theodul Glacier is a glacier of the Alps, located south of Zermatt in the canton of Valais. It lies on the Swiss side of the Pennine Alps, although its upper basin touches the Italian region of the Aosta Valley, both branches are part of the Rhone basin, through the rivers Gornera and Vispa. Slightly above the glacier splitting is the Theodul Pass, crossing the border between Switzerland and Italy, and connecting Zermatt to Breuil-Cervinia, on the west, the Theodul Glacier is overlooked by the Matterhorn. Until about 1980s the Lower Theodul Glacier was still connected to the Gorner Glacier, the upper section of the Theodul Glacier consists of a flat plateau at around 3,800 metres, named Breithorn Plateau. The plateau lies between the Breithorn, the Gobba di Rollin and the Klein Matterhorn, the Breithorn Pass separates the Breithorn from the Gobba di Rollin. A3,795 m high saddle lies between the Gobba di Rollin and the Klein Matterhorn, between the Klein Matterhorn and the Breithorn is a distinct glacier, named Klein Matterhorn Gletscher, which joins the Lower Theodul Glacier at about 3,000 metres.
The Breithorn Plateau area can be accessed by several cable cars connecting Zermatt to the Klein Matterhorn. At around 3,500 metres is the Plateau Rosa, whose name derives from the Valdôtain patois term Rosà and this area lies between Testa Grigia and the Klein Matterhorn, south of and slightly above the Theodul Pass. Southeast of Testa Grigia is a saddle named Passo di Ventina Nord and this area can be easily accessed by several cable cars connecting Breuil-Cervinia to Testa Grigia. Most of the glacier is part of the ski area marketed as Matterhorn Glacier Paradise. It is the highest in Europe and largest summer ski area in the world, the culminating point is on the summit of Gobba di Rollin and the lowest is above Trockener Steg. The Matterhorn Glacier Paradise links the ski areas of Zermatt and Breuil-Cervina, ski lifts connect Trockener Steg, Theodul Pass, Testa Grigia, Klein Matterhorn and Gobba di Rollin. A chair lift connects Trockener Steg to the Furggsattel, north of the Theodul Pass, several lakes recently formed at the bottom of the Upper Theodul Glacier, west of Trockener Steg.
The largest, named Theodulgletschersee is 7.76 ha wide and it is the highest lake over 4 ha in Switzerland and the largest lake in the Matter Valley. The second-largest, named Furggsee is 2.57 ha wide and lies at 2,874 metres
Integrated Authority File
The Integrated Authority File or GND is an international authority file for the organisation of personal names, subject headings and corporate bodies from catalogues. It is used mainly for documentation in libraries and increasingly by archives, the GND is managed by the German National Library in cooperation with various regional library networks in German-speaking Europe and other partners. The GND falls under the Creative Commons Zero license, the GND specification provides a hierarchy of high-level entities and sub-classes, useful in library classification, and an approach to unambiguous identification of single elements. It comprises an ontology intended for knowledge representation in the semantic web, available in the RDF format
Zermatt
Zermatt is a municipality in the district of Visp in the German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a population of about 5,800 inhabitants, the town lies at the upper end of Mattertal at an elevation of 1,620 m, at the foot of Switzerlands highest peaks. It lies about 10 km from the over 10,800 ft high Theodul Pass bordering Italy, Zermatt is famed as a mountaineering and ski resort of the Swiss Alps. The year round population is 5,759, though there may be several times as many tourists in Zermatt at any one time. Much of the economy is based on tourism, with about half of the jobs in town in hotels or restaurants. Just over one-third of the permanent population was born in the town, the name of Zermatt, as well as that of the Matterhorn itself, derives from the alpine meadows, or matten, in the valley. The name appeared first as Zur Matte and became Zermatt and it does not appear until 1495 on a map or 1546 in a text, but may have been employed long before. Praborno or Prato Borno are the names of Zermatt, they appear in the ancient maps as early as the thirteenth century.
The Romand-speaking people from the Aosta Valley and from the Romand-speaking part of canton Wallis used this name until about 1860 in the form of Praborne, the reason of this change from Praborno to Zermatt is attributed to the gradual replacement of the Romance-speaking people by German-speaking colony. The town of Zermatt lies at the end of the Matter Valley. Zermatt is almost completely surrounded by the mountains of the Pennine Alps among which Monte Rosa. It is followed by the Dom, Lyskamm and the Matterhorn, most of the Alpine four-thousanders are located around Zermatt or in the neighbouring valleys. The town of Zermatt, while dense, is geographically small, there are three main streets which run along the banks of the river Matter Vispa, and numerous cross-streets, especially around the station and the church which forms the centre of Zermatt. In general anything is at most a thirty-minute walk away, there are several suburbs within Zermatt. Winkelmatten, which was once a hamlet, lies on a hill on the southern side.
Steinmatten is located on the bank of the main river. Many hamlets are located in the valleys above Zermatt, however they are not usually inhabited all year round, zum See lies south of Zermatt on the west bank of the Gorner gorge, near Furi where a cable car station is located. On the side of Zmutt valley lies the hamlet of Zmutt, findeln is located in the eastern valley above the Findelbach river
Aosta Valley
The Aosta Valley is a mountainous semi-autonomous region in northwestern Italy. It is bordered by Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France to the west, Switzerland to the north, covering an area of 3,263 km2 and with a population of about 128,000 it is the smallest, least populous, and least densely populated region of Italy. It is the only Italian region that is not sub-divided into provinces, provincial administrative functions are provided by the regional government. The region is divided into 74 comuni, the Aosta Valley is an Alpine valley which with its tributary valleys includes the Italian slopes of Mont Blanc, Monte Rosa, Gran Paradiso and the Matterhorn, its highest peak is Mont Blanc. The region is cold in the winter, especially when compared with other places in the Western Alps. Winter temperatures average around −3 °C or −4 °C, and summers between 13 °C and 15 °C, the snow season starts in November and lasts until March. Mist is common during the morning from April until October, the main communities in this area are Gressoney-Saint-Jean and Gressoney-La-Trinité.
The valleys above 1600 metres usually have a Cold Continental Climate, in this climate the snow season is very long, as long as 8 or 9 months at the highest points. During the summer, mist occurs almost every day and these areas are the wettest in the western Alps. Temperatures are low, between −7 °C and −3 °C in January, and in July between 10 °C and 13 °C. In this area is the town of Rhêmes-Notre-Dame. which may be the coldest town in the Western Alps, areas between 2000 metres and 3500 metres usually have a Tundra Climate, where every month has an average temperature below 10 °C. Temperature averages in Pian Rosà, at 3400 metres high, are −11.6 °C in January and 1.4 °C in July and it is the coldest place in Italy where the climate is verifiable. In the past, above 3500 metres, all months were having a temperature below freezing. In recent years there was a rise in temperatures. See as an example the data for Pian Rosà, the first inhabitants of the Aosta Valley were Celts and Ligures, whose language heritage remains in some local placenames.
Thus, the name Valle dAosta literally means Valley of Augustus, saint Anselm of Canterbury was born in Aosta in 1033 or 1034. In the mid-13th century Emperor Frederick II made the County of Aosta a duchy, the region remained part of Savoy lands, with the exceptions of French occupations from 1539 to 1563, in 1691, between 1704 and 1706. As part of the Kingdom of Sardinia it joined the new Kingdom of Italy in 1861 and it was ruled by the First French Empire between 1800 and 1814
Ski resort
A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes, ski trails, the ski industry has identified advancing generations of ski resorts, First generation Developed around a well-established summer resort or village. Second generation Created from a non-tourist village or pasture, third generation or integrated Designed from scratch on virgin territory to be a purpose-built ski resort, all the amenities and services nearby. Fourth generation or village resorts Created from virgin territory or around an existing village, the term ski station is used, particularly in Europe, for a skiing facility which is not located in or near a town or village. A ski resort which is open for summer activities is often referred to as a mountain resort. Ski areas have marked paths for skiing known as runs, trails or pistes, Ski areas typically have one or more chairlifts for moving skiers rapidly to the top of hills, and to interconnect the various trails.
Rope tows can be used on short slopes, larger ski areas may use gondolas or aerial trams for transportation across longer distances within the ski area. Ski areas usually have at least a basic first aid facility, the ski patrol is usually responsible for rule enforcement, marking hazards, closing individual runs, and removing dangerous participants from the area. Some ski resorts offer lodging options on the slopes themselves, with ski-in, après-ski is a term for entertainment, nightlife or social events that occur specifically at ski resorts. These add to the enjoyment of resort-goers and provide something to do besides skiing and snowboarding, the culture originated in the Alps, where it is most popular and where skiers often stop at bars on their last run of the day while still wearing all their ski gear. People that browse ski resort & hotel websites will commonly seek mention of the quality of après-ski in the area and it is therefore seen as an important factor for skiers to consider before booking a holiday.
The concept is similar to the hole in golf. The process of development have progressed since the birth of the skiing industry. Amenities and infrastructure such as buildings, ski-lifts, access roads, parking lots. In recent years, the use of snow cannons have increased due to the fall in the volume of snow, in order to obtain good quality snow, dust or bacteria is mixed with the water in the process of snow making to form better snowflakes. Not only that the manufacture of artificial snow is costly and uses large amounts of water, snow cannons redistributes a large amount of water unnaturally over the land and freezes the ground vegetation late into spring, preventing growth and leaving pistes bare. With enough amount of water, and the likelihood of landslides and avalanches would be drastically higher. The required space for hotels and secondary residences has increased the amount of space occupied by roads, while a large amount of people requires special water and electricity systems, a great deal of construction work is needed
Ski lift
A ski lift is a mechanism for transporting skiers up a hill. Ski lifts are typically a paid service at ski resorts, the first ski lift was built in 1908 by German Robert Winterhalder in Schollach/Eisenbach, Hochschwarzwald. Types of lifts are, Aerial lifts transport skiers while suspended off the ground, cable railways, including funiculars Helicopters are used for heliskiing and snowcats for snowcat skiing. This is backcountry skiing or boarding accessed by a snowcat or helicopter instead of a lift, cat skiing is less than half the cost of heliskiing, more expensive than a lift ticket but is easier than ski touring. Skiing at select, extreme resorts, like Silverton Mountain, is guided, even when skiing just off the lift
Klein Matterhorn
The Klein Matterhorn is a peak of the Pennine Alps, overlooking Zermatt in the Swiss canton of Valais. At 3,883 metres above sea level, it is the highest place in Europe that can be reached by aerial tramway, as well as by any other means of transport. The Klein Matterhorn is part of the Breithorn massif and overlooks on its side the almost equally high flat glacier named Breithorn Plateau. The name Klein Matterhorn is a reference to its larger neighbour, the Matterhorn. Even before the license application was filed, the building promoter had to negotiate with the Swiss Alpine Club. These discussions resulted in two large natural reserve zones, the third area was designated as a tourist zone. Licensing was further delayed until 1969 by the citizens of Zermatt filing a complaint to the council of the Canton of Valais. In December 1970, the Swiss government finally gave permission for the cable way, eventually, on 17 December 1973, the Federal Council rejected objections and granted a construction license.
The next major obstacle proved to be the recruitment of a force to build the lift system. At altitudes of 3000 to 4000m above sea level, worker productivity would be reduced by up to 50% compared to normal levels, and workers would be required to live for weeks on end within the camps. The construction of cable car started in August 1976 at all three construction sites, the valley terminal, the three tower sites and the mountain terminal. Creation of the terminal was a difficult undertaking. Some 2000 cubic metres of concrete were used in the station, all of which had to be transported there by helicopter in specially insulated tanks, mixed with warm water. Weather conditions at the site in high mountain terrain were extreme, temperatures falling to minus 40 °C, snowfalls. It took several weeks to cover the distance of 3,600 meters, with an altitude of almost 1,000 meters. On December 1978, all four track cables were installed, the Cable car was built by Von Roll LTD Bern Switzerland. The Klein Matterhorn is at the end of a cable car journey from Zermatt, via Furi.
The last station lies at a height of 3,820 metres, a tunnel connects it with the Breithorn Plateau on the south side
Matterhorn
The Matterhorn is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a huge and near-symmetrical pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the Pennine Alps, whose summit is 4,478 metres high, making it one of the highest summits in the Alps and Europe. The four steep faces, rising above the glaciers, face the four compass points and are split by the Hörnli, Leone. The mountain overlooks the Swiss town of Zermatt in the canton of Valais to the north-east, just east of the Matterhorn is Theodul Pass, the main passage between the two valleys on its north and south sides and a trade route since the Roman Era. The Matterhorn was studied by Horace-Bénédict de Saussure in the eighteenth century. It remained unclimbed after most of the other great Alpine peaks had been attained, the first ascent of the Matterhorn was finally made in 1865 from Zermatt by a party led by Edward Whymper but ended disastrously when four of its members fell to their deaths on the descent.
That climb and disaster, portrayed in films, marked the end of the golden age of alpinism. The north face was not climbed until 1931, and is amongst the three biggest north faces of the Alps, known as the ‘The Trilogy’, the west face, which is the highest of the four, was completely climbed only in 1962. It is estimated that over 500 alpinists have died on the Matterhorn since the first climb in 1865, making it one of the deadliest peaks in the world. The current shape of the mountain is the result of erosion due to multiple glaciers diverging from the peak, such as the Matterhorn Glacier at the base of the north face. Sometimes referred to as the Mountain of Mountains, the Matterhorn has become an emblem of the Swiss Alps. Since the end of the 19th century, when railways were built in the area, each year a large number of mountaineers try to climb the Matterhorn from the Hörnli Hut via the northeast Hörnli ridge, the most popular route to the summit. Many trekkers undertake the 10-day-long circuit around the mountain, the Matterhorn is part of the Swiss Federal Inventory of Natural Monuments since 1983.
Decomposing Matterhorn yields Matter and Horn, here Matter is Matte in the case. Commonly, prepositions related to Zermatt are dropped as in Matterhorn, Mattertal, in Sebastian Münsters Cosmography, published in 1543, the name Matter is given to the Theodul Pass, which seems to be the origin of the present German name of the mountain. On Münsters topographical map this group is marked under the names of Augstalberg, the French name Cervin, from which the Italian term Cervino derives, stems from the Latin Mons Silvanus where silva, means forest which was corrupted to Selvin and Servin. The change of the first letter s to c is attributed to Horace Bénédict de Saussure, servius Galba, in order to carry out Caesars orders, came with his legions from Allobroges to Octodurum in the Valais, and pitched his camp there. It is unknown when the new name of Servin, or Cervin, replaced the old, the Matterhorn is named Gran Becca by the Valdôtains and Horu by the local Walliser German speaking people
