Unterwasser () is a village in the

Toggenburg Toggenburg is a region of Switzerland. It corresponds to the upper valley of the River Thur (Switzerland), Thur and that of the Necker (river), Necker, one of its afluents. Since 1 January 2003, Toggenburg has been a constituency (''Wahlkreis ...

region of the canton of St. Gallen,

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, situated at the confluence of the two streams forming the upper Thur (known as ''Säntisthur'' and ''Wildhausthur''). Formerly part of Wildhaus municipality, it has since 2010 been part of Wildhaus-Alt St. Johann by merger of Wildhaus and Alt St. Johann. It is a relatively small

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, 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) and a ski lift system. In North Am ...

, and many of its trails are shared with nearby Alt st. Johan. Iltiosbahn, a

funicular A funicular ( ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep grade (slope), slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to ...

leads to Iltios and the aerial cableway to Chäserrugg. The toponym was first recorded in the 15th century as ''under dem Wasser '', or "below the water"."below" as in "downhill of", in spite of the fact that the name in modern German translates to "below water; underwater". Its population was 685 as of 2010 (down from 751 in 1990; historical population: 81 in 1827). The village was owned by the

counts of Montfort Count of Montfort may refer to: * Counts of Montfort (Swabia) * Count of Montfort-l'Amaury, France {{dab ...

in the earlier Middle Ages, later by St. Johann Abbey, and after 1555 by St. Gall Abbey.

Ski jumper Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the fin ...

Simon Ammann Simon Ammann (; born 25 June 1981) is a Swiss ski jumper. He is one of the most successful athletes in the history of the sport, having won four individual Winter Olympic gold medals in 2002 Winter Olympics, 2002 and 2010 Winter Olympics, 2010. ...

— winner of four gold medals in the

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

and

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

, and World Champion 2007 — comes from Unterwasser.

Notable sights

* Thur waterfalls

References

* Villages in Switzerland Geography of the canton of St. Gallen Ski areas and resorts in Switzerland {{StGallen-geo-stub