St. Niklaus (French: Saint-Nicolas) is a village and a municipality in the Mattertal, part of the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

It was founded in the mid-19th century by: Lochmatter and Knubel were the first well-informed guides of the Matterhorn and were consequently pioneers in the development of modern tourism in the valley of St. Niklaus and particularly in Zermatt.

Moreover, as the first Swiss guide to do so, Knubel climbed a mountain outside the Alps in 1874, the highest European summit, Elbrus in the Caucasus.

Pollinger invented the double-rope system of descent, which he used successfully at the Ridge of Ferpècle.

The initiators of the new school came out of their ranks for the second time, a fact that gave a new input to alpinism and the level of which was not reached again until the 1930s.

They were not satisfied to simply climb a high mountain; they always chose more and more difficult routes.

The three rope teams of St. Niklaus have made the totality of the possible expeditions in this area of the Alps: They were the also first ski-guides and were also pioneers overseas.

Routes and mountains in Switzerland, France, Norway and Canada bear their names, for example In 1995 a monument for all guides of St. Niklaus was built.

St Niklaus sits in the Mattertal, the steep valley that runs from Stalden to Zermatt, and is surrounded by some of the highest summits in the Alps, such as Dom and Weisshorn.

The Bordier hut at the east side can be accessed easily from St Niklaus.

The highest mountain close to St Niklaus is Brunegghorn, reaching almost 4,000 m (13,000 ft).

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Per fess, Azure four Mullets of Five Or three and one, and Or on Coupeaux Vert a Trefoil slipped of the same.

[5] Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks German (2,234 or 97.0%) as their first language, Serbo-Croatian is the second most common (18 or 0.8%) and Italian is the third (17 or 0.7%).

The museum is located at the Meier Turm (Tower) house and has a history of 150 years of mountaineering tradition.

St. Niklaus is closely connected to the village of Grächen, a popular family holiday ski resort in the mountains above.

Sankt Niklaus is also a popular place to stay when visiting both Zermatt and Saas Fee, as it lies between both.

The number of jobs in the primary sector was 58, of which 52 were in agriculture and 7 were in forestry or lumber production.

In the tertiary sector; 43 or 13.9% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 34 or 11.0% were in the movement and storage of goods, 48 or 15.5% were in a hotel or restaurant, 31 or 10.0% were the insurance or financial industry, 12 or 3.9% were technical professionals or scientists, 54 or 17.4% were in education and 38 or 12.3% were in health care.