Why the Dufourspitze is famous
The Dufourspitze is the roof of Switzerland and of the whole German-speaking world. The Swiss national map gives 4,634.0 m; a joint Italian–Swiss remeasurement in 2000 obtained 4,635.25 m from the Italian side and 4,634.97 m from the Swiss side. It became Switzerland's highest point in 1815, when Valais joined the Confederation. Of all Alpine summits only Mont Blanc is higher, and in the official UIAA list of four-thousanders the Dufourspitze ranks third, because the list counts Mont Blanc de Courmayeur as a separate summit.
The mountain is the culmination of Monte Rosa, the great ice massif of the Pennine Alps (on our site the group is listed as the Monte Rosa Alps). Just 80 m to the east and only 2 m lower stands the Dunantspitze, named in 2014 after Henry Dunant, founder of the Red Cross; a little further east the Grenzgipfel (4,618 m) sits exactly on the border and is the highest point of Italy's share of the massif. To the north, across the Silbersattel, rises the Nordend (4,609 m); to the south-east, beyond the Grenzsattel, the Zumsteinspitze (4,563 m) and the Signalkuppe, in Italian Punta Gnifetti (4,554 m), crowned by the highest building in Europe. Because the summit lies about 160–180 m inside Switzerland, Monte Rosa is shared with Italy, and the highest mountain lying wholly within Switzerland is the Dom (4,546 m) in the neighbouring Mischabel group.
Monte Rosa's topographic prominence of 2,165 m is the fifth greatest in the Alps. The summit stands 4,441 m above Lake Maggiore, Switzerland's lowest point, and on clear days the view reaches across Piedmont as far as Milan. The name Monte Rosa has nothing to do with the colour pink: it comes from the Franco-Provençal dialect word rouése, "glacier".
Where it is and how to get there
The summit lies about 13 km south-east of Zermatt and some 3,000 m above it. Zermatt is car-free: leave the car in Täsch and take the shuttle train, or come by rail from Visp or Brig. From Zermatt (1,604 m) the Gornergrat railway, a rack railway opened in 1898, climbs to Rotenboden (about 2,815 m), the last stop before the Gornergrat. Summer 2026 fares (May–October): CHF 57 one way and CHF 114 return from Zermatt to Rotenboden, half price with the Swiss Half Fare Card, GA or Swiss Travel Pass. Check the last train down if you plan to return the same day.
From Rotenboden a path leads to the Gorner Glacier, which has to be crossed to reach the hut. About 12.4 km long in 2013, it is the third-longest glacier in the Alps, and it is shrinking fast: since 2019 its upper arm no longer joins the Grenzgletscher.
The Monte Rosa Hut
The Monte Rosa Hut of the Swiss Alpine Club (2,883 m) stands on a rock island called Plattje between the Gorner, Grenz and Monte Rosa glaciers, with the Matterhorn in view to the west. The present five-storey wooden building in an aluminium shell, designed at ETH Zurich by Andrea Deplazes and his students, opened in September 2009; solar power covers about 90% of its energy needs. The old hut of 1895, about 100 m lower, was blown up by the Swiss army in 2011.
The hut has 120 places in rooms of six to ten beds; a silk liner is compulsory (one can be rented for CHF 5) and dinner is served at 18:30. Prices per night in 2026, including half board, trail tea and tourist tax: CHF 92 for members of the SAC and other Alpine clubs, CHF 116 for non-members; mountain guides pay CHF 58. Bookings are made online and are free to cancel until 18:00 two days before arrival. The hut is staffed for ski tourers in spring and for climbers in summer; for 2027 the dates are 18 March–17 May and 18 June–18 September, with online booking opening in early November 2026. Out of season a 12-place winter room is open (CHF 38; bring stove and sleeping bag). Camping near the hut is forbidden.
The hut approach
The hut website describes two routes from Rotenboden, both rated T4 on the SAC hiking scale and marked in blue and white, with poles on the ice. Crampons and mountain boots are compulsory; a harness, ice axe and trekking poles are recommended and a rope can be necessary depending on conditions. The upper Panoramaweg (4–4.5 hours) crosses the glacier above an icefall, then moraines and slabs with fixed ropes; the lower Alter Weg (about 4 hours) crosses the Grenzgletscher and climbs steeply past the Gornersee. In October 2026 the hut warned that the Panoramaweg was no longer passable, with its markings and staircase removed, while the Alter Weg remained marked. The glacier sections change every season, so check the hut's news before setting out. Inexperienced hikers should go with a guide; Zermatt's guides offer the approach as a two-day glacier tour.
The normal route: west ridge
From the hut the route climbs south-east over the moraine and rock steps of the Untere and Obere Plattje and a slope of 35–40° onto the Monte Rosa Glacier. Its middle section, around 3,300–3,800 m, is often badly crevassed and parties rope up, keeping to the right of the seracs. Above, broad snow basins lead to a flatter area at about 4,000–4,100 m, where the routes to the Nordend and the Dufourspitze part. The Dufourspitze route turns south up the wide slope of the Satteltole to the "Sattel", a col of about 4,360 m below the west ridge; a bergschrund guards it, and ski tourers leave their skis here.
The west ridge rises about 270 m in four sections: a snow slope, a passage of rock or mixed ground of UIAA II–III, a steep snow slope that may be icy, and a second rocky section, more exposed, ending in a short chimney below the summit, usually equipped with a fixed rope. The rock is well worn by crampons, which makes the line easy to follow. In total there are about 1,750 m of ascent from the hut.
- Grade: AD (SAC ZS-). Turning back at the Sattel makes it a PD/PD+ glacier tour.
- Times: the hut gives 6–8 hours for the ascent. Zermatt guides start around 2 a.m., reach the summit in about 6 hours and are back at the hut after about 5 more, a day of roughly 11 hours. Parties descending to Zermatt on the same day add the walk back across the glacier and about 250–300 m of reascent to Rotenboden.
- Experience: local guides take one or two clients each and expect several four-thousanders behind you, confident use of crampons and ice axe and climbing at UIAA III–IV on exposed ridges. They suggest the Breithorn traverse or the Riffelhorn as preparation.
Other routes
- Via the Silbersattel: from the glacier below the Nordend to the col between the two peaks and up the north side; experienced ski tourers descend this way with six rappels of 15–20 m.
- Cresta Rey: the rocky south spur, first climbed in 1874, graded about AD+.
- From the Margherita Hut: the Italian normal route descends to the Colle Gnifetti, crosses the Zumsteinspitze to the Grenzsattel and climbs the south-east ridge of rock and snow (AD).
- East face: the 2,400 m face above Macugnaga, climbed from the Marinelli Hut (3,036 m) by the Marinelli couloir, is long and exposed to avalanches.
The Capanna Margherita
On the Signalkuppe, south-east of the summit across the Grenzsattel and the Zumsteinspitze, stands the Capanna Regina Margherita (4,554 m) of the Italian Alpine Club, the highest building in Europe. Opened on 18 August 1893 in the presence of Queen Margherita of Italy, it has always been a research station for high-altitude medicine. The present hut of 1980 has 70 beds and is staffed from early June to early September; it is reached only on foot, usually in two days from Alagna Valsesia or from the Monte Rosa Hut. Since 2017 civil weddings can be held there, and its weather station recorded −41 °C in the winter of 1928–29.
When to go and weather
Guided ascents run from June to mid-September, depending on snow on the glacier; the hut's summer season usually lasts from mid-June to mid-September. From March to May the peak is a classic ski tour, with skis left at the Sattel or carried to about 4,500 m. The snow line lies around 3,000 m, so the whole route above the hut is on snow and ice even in August. Air pressure on the summit is only about 56% of sea level, temperatures can fall to −40 °C, and a strong east or north-east wind is common, so warm clothing matters even on a fine summer day. Choose a stable forecast and keep a turnaround time.
Water
There is no water on the route above the hut except snow, which can only be melted with a stove. At the Monte Rosa Hut the tap water is not drinkable: the hut collects meltwater in a reservoir 40 m above the building. Half board includes "Marschtee", tea for the trail, and drinks are sold at the hut. Fill a thermos and a bottle before the start; the climb takes 10–12 hours in dry, thin air, and liquids freeze easily in an uninsulated bottle.
Mobile coverage and emergencies
Zermatt has good mobile coverage, but on the glaciers and in the lee of ridges do not count on a signal. The hut has a landline (+41 27 967 21 15) and the staff can raise the alarm.
- 144: emergency medical number in Valais, answered by the cantonal rescue organisation, which sends Air Zermatt, the Zermatt-based helicopter company.
- 1414: Swiss air rescue Rega, 24 hours a day. 112, the European emergency number, also works.
- The EchoSOS and Rega apps send your position to the dispatchers. Make sure your insurance covers mountain rescue.
Dangers and safety
The danger here comes less from technical difficulty than from altitude, sudden weather changes and crevasses. The main hazards are hidden crevasses on the Monte Rosa Glacier, especially on the descent in soft afternoon snow; altitude sickness, since the climb goes from 2,883 m to 4,634 m in one day; cold and wind on the exposed ridge; and exhaustion on a very long day. Climb a lower four-thousander such as the Breithorn beforehand, travel roped on the glacier and turn back if the ridge is iced or the weather turns. Many climbers who died on Monte Rosa lie in the cemetery of the old church at Macugnaga.
History and name
In 1778 seven men from Gressoney looking for a legendary "lost valley" reached the Lysjoch at 4,178 m and saw the Zermatt glaciers. The Zumsteinspitze was climbed on 1 August 1820, but the highest summit held out for 35 more years. From 1848 parties reached the eastern summit, today's Dunantspitze, or perhaps only the Grenzgipfel.
On 1 August 1855 the Zermatt guides Johann and Matthäus Zumtaugwald and Ulrich Lauener from Lauterbrunnen led Charles Hudson, John Birkbeck, Edward Stephenson and the brothers Christopher and James G. Smyth up the glacier and the west ridge. They left at 1 a.m. and stood on top at 10 a.m. The date had no special meaning yet: 1 August was first celebrated as the Swiss national day in 1891. Ten years later Hudson died on the descent from the first ascent of the Matterhorn. A second party reached the summit by the same route on 13 August 1855.
The Federal Council named the peak after Guillaume-Henri Dufour (1787–1875) on 28 January 1863. Dufour led the federal army in the brief Sonderbund war of 1847, founded the Federal Office of Topography and directed it from 1838 to 1865, publishing the Dufour Map, on which the summit still appeared in 1862 as "Höchste Spitze". In 1864 he presided over the conference that adopted the first Geneva Convention, so the two neighbouring summits now honour the two founders of the Red Cross. Zermatt's Walser people had called it Gornerhorn, a name that survives in the Gornergrat.
The east face was climbed on 22 July 1872 by Richard and William Pendlebury and Charles Taylor with the guides Ferdinand Imseng, Gabriel Spechtenhauser and Giovanni Oberto. Imseng died there in 1881 with Damiano Marinelli in an avalanche, and the couloir bears Marinelli's name.
Interesting facts
- John Tyndall made the first solo ascent on 17 August 1858, setting out with a ham sandwich and a small bottle of tea.
- Achille Ratti, the future Pope Pius XI, climbed the Dufourspitze from Macugnaga in 1889 and spent a night on the summit with his companions.
- In 1894 the young Winston Churchill chose Monte Rosa over the Matterhorn, partly because it was higher and partly because the guides were cheaper.
- On 1 August 2005, 150 years after the first ascent, Federal Councillor Joseph Deiss climbed the peak with a Swiss, British and Italian party, and a commemorative plaque was fixed near the summit.
FAQ
How high is the Dufourspitze? 4,634 m (15,203 ft) on the Swiss national map; a 2000 survey gave about 4,635 m. It is the highest mountain in Switzerland and the second-highest in the Alps after Mont Blanc.
How long does it take to climb the Dufourspitze? Usually two days from Zermatt: about 4 hours from Rotenboden to the Monte Rosa Hut, then a summit day of 10–12 hours (6–8 hours up, about 5 back to the hut). It is wise to acclimatise on a lower four-thousander first.
How difficult is it? The normal route is graded AD (SAC ZS-): a long, crevassed glacier, then an exposed ridge with rock and mixed climbing of UIAA II–III and a short chimney with a fixed rope, all above 4,300 m.
Do I need a guide, and what does it cost? No permit is required, but without glacier and ridge experience take a local IFMGA guide (one or two clients per guide). Add the hut (CHF 116 per night with half board for non-members in 2026) and the train to Rotenboden (CHF 114 return in summer 2026, half price with Swiss rail passes).
Is there water on the route? No. The hut's tap water is not drinkable; trail tea is included in half board and drinks are sold. Carry a thermos and a bottle for the whole summit day.
Is there mobile coverage on the Dufourspitze? Zermatt is well covered, but a signal on the glaciers is not reliable. In an emergency dial 144 (Valais rescue and Air Zermatt), 1414 (Rega) or 112.
When is the best time to climb it? From late June to mid-September, when the Monte Rosa Hut is staffed; ski ascents are made from March to May.