Riederalp () is a municipality in the district of Raron in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It was created in 2003 through the merger of Goppisberg, Greich and Ried-Mörel.Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 19 July 2011
Geography Riederalp has an area, , of . Of this area, 27.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 42.0% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 3.0% is settled (buildings or roads) and 27.3% is unproductive land.
The mid-mountain resort sits on a south-facing terrace, south of the long Aletsch Glacier—Europe's largest, in the Bernese Alps. The altitude of the village () allows good view of the Pennine Alps with some of its highest summits such as the Fletschhorn, Dom and Matterhorn.
Demographics
Riederalp has a population () of . , 10.6% of the population are resident foreign nationals.Swiss Federal Statistical Office – Superweb database – Gemeinde Statistics 1981–2008 accessed 19 June 2010 Over the last 10 years (2000–2010 ) the population has changed at a rate of -3.9%. It has changed at a rate of -3.9% due to migration and at a rate of 3.6% due to births and deaths.Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 5 October 2011
Most of the population () speaks German (95.6%) as their first language, Serbo-Croatian is the second most common (1.9%) and French is the third (0.8%).
, the population was made up of 479 Swiss citizens and 57 non-citizen residents (10.63% of the population). , children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 23.9% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 59.4% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 16.7%.
, the construction rate of new housing units was 9.3 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.33%.
Sights The entire villages of Goppisberg and Greich are designated as part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.
Politics In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the CVP which received 69.21% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (13.12%), the FDP (9.33%) and the SP (6.95%). In the federal election, a total of 290 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 69.4%.Swiss Federal Statistical Office, Nationalratswahlen 2007: Stärke der Parteien und Wahlbeteiligung, nach Gemeinden/Bezirk/Canton accessed 28 May 2010
In the 2009 Conseil d'État/Staatsrat election a total of 269 votes were cast, of which 20 or about 7.4% were invalid. The voter participation was 68.3%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 54.67%.Staatsratswahlen vom 1. März 2009 accessed 24 August 2011 In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election a total of 288 votes were cast, of which 17 or about 5.9% were invalid. The voter participation was 72.9%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 59.88%.Ständeratswahl 2007 accessed 24 August 2011
Economy , Riederalp had an unemployment rate of 2%. , there were 62 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 18 businesses involved in this sector. 9 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 4 businesses in this sector. 239 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 37 businesses in this sector.
the total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 240. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 24, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 8, all of which were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 208. In the tertiary sector; 21 or 10.1% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 11 or 5.3% were in the movement and storage of goods, 131 or 63.0% were in a hotel or restaurant, 1 was the insurance or financial industry, 2 or 1.0% were in education.Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB Betriebszählung: Arbeitsstätten nach Gemeinde und NOGA 2008 (Abschnitte), Sektoren 1-3 accessed 28 January 2011
Of the working population, 28.9% used public transportation to get to work, and 20.9% used a private car.
Education During the 2010–2011 school year there were a total of 21 students in the Riederalp school system. The education system in the Canton of Valais allows young children to attend one year of non-obligatory Kindergarten. During that school year, there was one kindergarten class (KG1 or KG2) and 7 kindergarten students. The canton's school system requires students to attend six years of primary school. In Riederalp there were a total of 2 classes and 21 students in the primary school. The secondary school program consists of three lower, obligatory years of schooling (orientation classes), followed by three to five years of optional, advanced schools. All the lower and upper secondary students from Riederalp attend their school in a neighboring municipality.Obligatorische Schulzeit accessed 24 August 2011
Sport
Beginners and intermediate skiers have the bulk of the of pistes, while expert skiers and snowboarders have a choice of off-piste at the top of the mountain.
Riederalp is a traffic-free village (cable car access) with a small number of permanent residents who are dwarfed by the influx of in-season tourists. Seven ski lifts operate over the of Riederalp and adjoining Bettmeralp's slope. In addition, there are of cross-country trails.
There are about of winter walking paths around the village. There is also a sports centre, and an indoor swimming pool at Bettmeralp.
Skilift system
Riederalp can be reached via two Aerial tramways or Gondola lifts from Mörel. The main Ski lifts are:Interactive map Aletschgebiet Lift info . Visited 16 December 2008Website Riedelalpbahnen Technische Informationen . Viewed 16 December 2008
Name Type ElevationGround Station ElevationMountain Station Slope Length Capacity Persons/Hour Construction Year MörelRied-Mörel Aerial tramway 700 1996 Ried-MörelRiederalp Gondola 700 1987 MörelRiederalp Aerial tramway 500 1974 Moosfluh Gondola 2200 1995 Riederfurka Chairlift 2050 1991 Hohfluh Chairlift 1090 1977 Golmenegg Surface lift 900 1970 Alpenrose 1 Surface lift 1000 1980 Alpenrose 2 Surface lift 720 1980
References
External links
Official Website