Day 3 & 4 ski touring around Matterhorn and Monte Rosa

May 18

catalin pobegaClimbing in Alps matterhorn, Monte Rosa, ski touring No Comments

Period: 08-11 May 2017

Participants: Gareth Hughes, Jack Doyle, Daniel Catalin.

Day 1: Zermatt – Kl. Matterhorn – Breithorn (4164 m) – Guide D’Ayas Hut

Day 2: Guide D’Ayas Hut – Mezzalama Hut – Passo del Naso (4100 m)- Gnifetti Hut

Day 3: Gnifetti Hut – Zumstein Sp (4563 m) – Margherita (4554 m) – Monte Rosa Hut

Day 4: Monte Rosa Hut – Stockhornpass (3387 m) – Findelgletscher – Zermatt

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Day 3: Gnifetti Hut (3647 m) – Zumstein Sp (4563 m) – Margherita (4554 m) – Monte Rosa Hut

Woke up at 06:00 in the morning and did some pictures with sun rise. Left the hut at 07:45 am and start skinning up the same way as we came for 400 m. As we got higher, we had amazing views with Gran Paradiso and Mont Blanc towards South and SW. Liskamm (4527 m) on the West, Parrot (4432 m) on the Est and Zumstein Sp (4563 m) and Dufourspitze (4633 m) towards North.

: Day 3

: Liskamm

Decided to climb 2 peaks of the Monte Rosa massif today: Zumstein Sp (4563 m) and Gnifetti Spitze (4554 m) which has the Margherita Refuge on it’s top.

: Zumstein Sp

: Dufourspitze

: Margherita

Skiing down from 4452 m to 2883 m (Monte Rosa hut) was perfect: we had powder all the way and amazing views towards the wild Liskamm ridge and towards Matterhorn.

: Monte Rosa

: Matterhorn

: Alike

Monte Rosa hut (2883 m) is a a hi-tech, energy-wise almost self-sufficient, environmentally friendly mountain hut based on wood with an aluminum shell.

The guardian that works there with his family is very nice and helpful. Did I forget to mention that the cat looks alike Matterhorn peak from profile?!

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Day 4: Monte Rosa Hut – Stockhornpass (3387 m) – Findelgletscher – Zermatt

Next day started with strong winds and bad visibility. We decided to stick with our initial plan: skinning up from Monte Rosa Hut (2883 m) to Sockhornpass (3387 m) and from there to ski down all the way to Zermatt.

The adventure was there and we almost had some epic once Gareth’s ski binding decided to brake. But Gareth fixed it with some wires and could go on.

: Day 4

Once in Sockhornpass (3387 m), the sky cleared for a moment and we had a view towards Adlerpass. From here, I was at home. I perfectly remembered my ski tour from Zermatt to Saas Fee I did in one day with Silvia back in 2014 (see here).

So, the ski descend on Findelgletscher went smooth though the visibility was far from great.

At some point down the glacier, we found a toilet in the middle of nowhere and Jack went to try it.

From 2150 m, we had to take the skis on the backpacks and descend another hour to Zermatt.