The boundary line runs along a drainage divide—the point at which meltwater will flow from either side of the mountain to one country or the other. But the Theodul glacier’s retreat means the catchment has been creeping towards the Guide Rifugio del Cervino, a visitor refuge near the 3,480-metre (11,417ft) Testa Grigia peak – and is gradually sweeping under the building. On a recent visit to the lodge’s restaurant, Frederick, a 59-year-old tourist, asked: “So – are we in Switzerland?” It was a question worth asking. The response was the subject of diplomatic negotiations that began in 2018 and ended with a compromise last year, but the details remain secret. When the shelter was built on a rocky outcrop in 1984, the 40 beds and long wooden tables were entirely on Italian soil. But now two-thirds of the refuge, including most of the beds and the restaurant, is technically perched in southern Switzerland. The issue has come to the fore because the tourism-based area sits atop one of the world’s biggest ski resorts, with major new development, including a cable car station being built just meters away. An agreement was signed in Florence in November 2021, but the outcome will only be revealed after it is sealed by the Swiss government, which will not happen before 2023. “We agreed to split the difference,” said Alain Wicht, the chief border official at Switzerland’s national mapping service Swisstopo. His job includes looking after the 7,000 borders along Switzerland’s 1,200 miles (1,935 km) of borders with Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Liechtenstein. Wicht attended the negotiations, where both sides made concessions to find a solution. “Even if neither side emerged victorious, at least nobody lost,” he said. Where the Italian-Swiss border crosses the Alpine glaciers, the border follows the watershed line. But Theodul Glacier lost almost a quarter of its mass between 1973 and 2010. This exposed the rock below to the ice, changing the drainage divide and forcing the two neighbors to redraw a 100-metre section of their border. Wicht said such adjustments were common and generally settled by comparing the readings of inspectors from bordering countries, without involving politicians. “We’re arguing over an area that’s not worth much,” he said. But he added that this “is the only place where suddenly a building is involved”, giving “economic value” to the land. His Italian counterparts declined to comment “due to the complicated international situation.” Jean-Philippe Amstein, former head of Swisstopo, said such disputes were usually resolved by exchanging parcels of equivalent area and value. In this case, “Switzerland is not interested in getting a piece of glacier,” he said, and “the Italians are not in a position to compensate for the loss of the Swiss surface.” While the outcome remains secret, the shelter’s caretaker, 51-year-old Lucio Trucco, has been told he will remain on Italian soil. “The shelter remains Italian because we have always been Italian,” he said. The menu is Italian, the wine is Italian and the taxes are Italian. Years of negotiations have delayed the refuge’s renovation – villages on either side of the border have been unable to issue a building permit. The works will therefore not be completed in time for the planned opening of a new cable car on the Italian side of the Klein Matterhorn mountain in late 2023. The slopes are only accessible from the Swiss ski resort of Zermatt. Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST While some mid-altitude resorts are preparing for the end of alpine skiing due to global warming, skiing is possible all summer on the slopes of Zermatt-Cervinia, even if such activities contribute to the retreat of the glacier. “That’s why we have to improve the area here, because it will definitely be the last to die,” Trucco said. For now, on Swisstopo maps, the solid pink zone of the Swiss border remains a dotted line as it passes through the refuge.
