Amadé Perrig

Official Biography
(Source: Amadé Perrig Travel)

from: "Switzerland My Way" Tour

Amadé Perrig was born on January 29th, 1946 near Zermatt (Matterhorn) in the Swiss mountains. He spent his youth on skis during the winters and in the summer he took care of the family cows and goats in the high mountains of Switzerland. He began mountain climbing at the age of 14. During his student years, he climbed the most difficult mountains in the Alps, but he also had several accidents.

When he was 16 he fell into a crevasse and four years later an avalanche pulled him down the mountain for around 800 feet. In 1968 he fell approximately 80 ft. while he was climbing in the Berner Oberland, Switzerland. He broke his legs, knees and back and spent many weeks in the hospital in Bern. His legs were set in a cast for a half a year.

He has climbed the Matterhorn over 15 times. 1995 he climbed his "home mountain" for the last time. That day he led the American astronaut, Jeff Hoffman and the Swiss astronaut, Claude Nicollier to the top of the Matterhorn. In addition to mountaineering, he played soccer and ice hockey, did hiking and bicycling. But skiing was his favourite sport. However, while ski racing, he broke his legs so often, it became impossible to succeed in international ski races.

After finishing primary school and college in his home mountain State of Valais, he studied economics at the University in Bern, Switzerland. After completing his business economy study at the University, he worked in a tourism planning office, specializing in the planning of ski resorts in Switzerland. From 1972 – 1974, he taught skiing in the United States and was a Tourism Consultant for the planning of ski areas in the USA. He was based in Lake Tahoe and visited most ski areas in United States.

In 1972 he met his future wife, Gina, in Mammoth Lakes, California. They were married in California and in 1974 returned to Switzerland. Gina adjusted rapidly to her new home and picked up the local language (a German dialect) in less than a year! She became a real "Swiss miss" in record time! They have three grown children.

From 1974 - 1999, he was the President of Tourism in Saas-Fee (Switzerland) and Zermatt (Switzerland). Zermatt and "his" Matterhorn is one of the largest summer and winter sports resorts of Europe. As a CEO of Zermatt, he was in charge of the entire resort, which includes over 70 cable cars, 118 hotels, over 7’000 apartments, over 300 restaurants and many sports facilities, such as tennis, golf, swimming, hiking, biking, etc. All of these facilities, hotels, apartments, and lift companies are privately owned, but operate under the umbrella organization, which he managed.

In 1999, he quit his full time job in Zermatt and became semi-retired. He and his wife are still living in Zermatt, but they spend several months in Arizona, USA. He still works part time for his home resort, Zermatt, and has also been involved in projects for WTO (World Tourism Organisation) in various countries in Asia.

Amadé Perrig is a Certified Ski Instructor and a member in various regional, state and international commissions for tourism. He is the founder and was also the President of the European marketing organization; "Best of the Alps", which includes the following best known summer and winter resorts of Europe: Garmisch-Partenkirchen (D), Lech (A), Seefeld (A), St. Anton (A), Kitzbühel (A), Cortina d’Ampezzo (I), Chamonix (F), Mégève (F), Davos (CH), Grindelwald (CH), St. Moritz (CH) and Zermatt (CH).

Amadé Perrig speaks his native Swiss dialect, and German, French and English. Due to the versatility of his work in Zermatt, he had the opportunity to acquaint himself with many celebrities ranging from royalties (King of Spain) to politicians, top sports athletes (Chris Everett), industrialists and people in the entertainment business (such as Roger Moore, Michael Douglas, etc.). He showed these VIPs "his" Zermatt and the region and took them skiing/sightseeing, dining, etc.

In the last 30 years he has organized many trips through Switzerland, Europe, Asia and America. He was also the designated tour guide for these groups. And now he is itching to personally show you his home country, Switzerland.

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