“Zermatt” is name name of a municipality in Switzerland.

Is is also the code name of a Microsoft framework for implementing claims-based identity. There is a nice white paper describing it, authored by Keith Brown.

Currently, “Zermatt” is composed by a managed assembly (Microsoft.IdentityModel.dll) that includes:

• A set of classes implementing a new model for claims, claims-based identities and claims-based principals.
• The infrastructure necessary to use the above model on relying parties, namely:
• WCF-based services
• ASP.NET based web applications.
• A framework for the construction of security token services, supporting both the active (WS-Trust) and passive (WS-Federation) profiles.
• A set of classes for handling information cards.
• A set of ASP.NET controls for signing-in based on information cards or on a “passive” federation.

The package also contains a very interesting set of samples.