Monte Rosa Peaks Traverse
Hut-to-hut traverse of the heavily glaciated Monte Rosa Range. Climb 10 peaks over 4000 m in five days. Also known as the spaghetti trip.
Trip Dates
Difficulty:
Accomodation:
simple: Hut / bunks
The Monte Rosa Massif on the border between Switzerland and Italy features the highest density of 4000 Meter peaks in the Alps. Although heavily glaciated, most of the summits are of rather moderate difficulty. Among the more difficult and also the highest ones are the 2 kilometer knife-edge ridgeline of Liskamm (4527 m) and the mighty Dufourspitze (4634 m). According to the official list, you will have the opportunity to climb 5 of the 10 highest alpine summits in 5 days! A must-do for all serious peak baggers!
We'll start and end our trip in Zermatt, the Swiss mountaineering capital. The following five days will be spent permanently over 3500 meters, travelling impressive glaciers and exposed ridgelines. The charming huts are located on the Italian side of the range, which offer us the benefits of real coffee, good wine and tasty food. One special culinary feature is the starter being a massive pile of tasty pasta! This is why the Monte Rosa Traverse is also commonly referred to as "Spaghetti Trip".
Since you'll climb well above 4000 Meters right away from the Klein Matterhorn cable car, a good prior acclimatization and fitness level is essential!
We additionally offer a slim 3 day programme to climb Liskamm and Dufourspitze.
If you'd like more time to enjoy the stunning glaciers and views, we recommend our 5 day version of the Monte Rosa Peaks Traverse; whereas, if you like going fast and head for the best lines, you might opt for the short program.
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Itinerary
Day 1: Cablecar ride to Klein Matterhorn (3800 m). We'll traverse the Breithorn Central- and Principal Summits (4165 m) and descent to Rifugio Guide d' Ayas (3425 m), where we'll spend the night. Pasta No. 1 Vertical ↑ 400 ↓ 800 m
Day 2: We'll climb Pollux (4091 m) and traverse Castor (4221 m) to get to Rifugio Quintino Sella (3585 m). Pasta No. 2 Vertical ↑ 1000 ↓ 1200 m
Day 3: Today on the menu: of course pasta No. 3 and the first Monte Rosa Traverse highlight and one of the biggest summits in the Alps: Liskamm (4527m). We'll reach the highest point the East Summit via a mixed snow and rock arete. From the summit head spinning views into the huge Liskamm eastface are guaranteed. The night is spent on Capanna Gnifetti (3620 m). Vertical ↑ 1000 ↓ 900 m
Day 4: A rather relaxed day giving the nerves a bit of rest. We'll collect a couple of easy 4000 Meter peaks on the way to Capanna Magherita (4554 m), the highest guarded hut in Europe. Time to enjoy the awesome scenery and of course pasta no. 4! Vertical ↑ 1100 ↓ 300 m
Day 5: We'll climb the third highest point of the Alps, the Dufourspitze (4634 m), via interesting mixed terrain of moderate difficulty. On the way we'll "accidentally" climb Zumsteinspitze (4563 m) — peak bagging made easy! We'll then tackle the long descent to Monte Rosa Hut where we stop for lunch and then continue the long way to Zermatt to Rösti No. 1. Vertical ↑ 700 ↓ 2300 m
Prerequisites
- excellent physical fitness: stamina for 5 hours of ascent (up to 1400 meters vertical), overall time of exercise 8-10 hours;
- good technical skills: good crampon — technique; confidence in frontpointing; climbing skills up to the French grade 3a (D UK 5.3 US) with crampons.
- good pre-acclimatisation required. We recommend staying on a hut above 3000 m at least one night or hike a couple of 3000 meter peaks around Zermatt prior to the trip.
Getting There
The nearest Airports are Geneva, Bern and Zürich. We will most probably be able to pick you up at the Airport or a nearby town that can easily be reached by train from your inbound Airport. We'll discuss the details of transportation with you.
Accommodation & Food
You will stay on typical alpine mountain huts. They have a big dining room and dormitories with usually 4 – 12 bunks. Sometimes the dormitories have up to 20 bunks. The sanitary conditions are basic with common toilets, washing rooms and only rare showers. On very high huts there is sometimes not even running water.
We typically have half board on the hut. A lean breakfast with bread, jam, butter and, depending on the region, cereals are served along with coffee or tea. Dinner consists of 3 to 4 courses: starter (soup, pasta in Italy), sometimes salad, main course with some meat, desert. Vegetarian or other dietary requirements are accounted for.
You can order non-alcoholic drinks, beer and wine. Likewise, snacks and lunch can be purchased. On the higher huts there is no potable water and you will have to buy bottled water.
Please don't hesitate to contact us in case of questions.
Gear
Full glacier travel kit.
Included
- Organization and guiding by a IFMGA licensed Mountain Guide
- Rental gear
- All guide's expenses
Excluded
- 5 x Night/Half board on mountain huts approx. 65 €/Night (alpine club members)
- Cablecar about 120 €
- Lunch and drinks on the huts. (lunch for take away can be ordered the day before)
- personal insurance covering mountain rescue
Specials
for this trip
Flexibility: joint risk of bad (weather) conditions.
Flexibility is our working method - not a slick marketing slogan. We budget 1-2 extra days in the planning of many of our trips to factor in adverse weather conditions. The days can for example be used to move the trip a day or two as to use the best weather window for the summit bid.
Of course you only pay the actual guiding days. We'd rather achieve your goal than insist on doing a poor alternative.
Personal communication rather than follower and likes.
Lets face it: social media is a mere marketing tool for many businesses. To us this way of connecting with the audience is somewhat superficial. That's not our style. We prefer the direct contact to our clients - even beyond 'business'.
What does that mean for you? If you are planning a trip to the mountains on your own, get in touch, we are happy to recommend on a summit, region or provide information on the conditions. You need advice on gear? Need a second opinion on the avalanche situation? We are fostering a long term exchange, often on a very personal level, with many of our clients. We are taking the time, because its fun to chat or talk shop with like-minded people!
Fairness first.
The job of mountain guides is demanding and highly responsible. Clearly, this work has to be appropriately remunerated. Yet we are climbers, not tough business men. That's why our emphasis is on dealing fairly with our clients.
We block dates for your trip. Sometimes the arranged climb still doesn't work out. We then appreciate your understanding that we cannot bear the cancellation risk alone. On the other hand we do understand that you don't want to pay the summit rate of a prestigious goal for an alternative destination. With open communication and consideration for each other's situation, we will find a good solution. The summit rate only applies if the conditions are right and we make a summit bid.
Climate protection: less babble.
Environmental protection must not be misused for mere image cultivation. Businesses who earn their money with air travel should not pat themselves on the back because they use recycled paper and green electricity. This is not credible. We clearly acknowledge the undeniable environmental damage our activities cause, and we try to at least partly offset them by the following actions, without too many words:
We encourage you to travel by train. If possible we give you a lift from the train station. We help to reduce your luggage by providing you all the technical gear required for your trip. Given a sufficient number of participants, we cover up to 50% of your train ticket.
We compensate our own as well as the CO2 emissions of our clients travelling by car without any additional cost in a transparent and comprehensive way. Of course, you are also invited to contribute. Get in touch if there are any questions!
Additional Info
and links
Liskamm extension:
If you are interested in the full traverse of the Liskamm from west- to east summit we'd like to refer you to our speed version of the Monte Rosa Peaks Traverse. For safety reasons we are guiding the traverse at a 1:1 ratio.
