Why the Matterhorn is famous
Four steep faces — north, east, south and west — meet in four ridges: the Hörnli (north-east), Furggen (south-east), Lion (south-west) and Zmutt (north-west). The faces are 1,000–1,400 m high, the west face being the tallest. Because the peak stands alone, wind flowing around it often forms a banner cloud trailing from the summit like smoke.
It was one of the last great Alpine peaks to be climbed, and the triumph and disaster of 1865 are usually taken as the end of the "golden age of alpinism". Its north face, first climbed in 1931, counts among the three great north faces of the Alps together with the Eiger and the Grandes Jorasses. It is also the Swiss mountain with the most climbing deaths.
The summit itself is a short horizontal ridge with two tops: the Swiss summit (4,478 m; surveys give 4,477.5–4,477.8 m) and the Italian summit about 1.1 m lower. The border follows the watershed over both, as fixed by a Swiss-Italian convention of 1941. An iron cross was placed on the summit ridge in September 1901.
Where it is and how to get there
The Matterhorn rises in the Pennine Alps between Zermatt (1,608 m) in Switzerland and Breuil-Cervinia (about 2,050 m) in the Italian municipality of Valtournenche. Zermatt is car-free: drivers leave their cars in Täsch and take the shuttle train, and the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn runs up the valley from Visp and Brig on the main Swiss rail network. Geneva and Zurich airports are each about 250 km away. Cervinia is reached by road up the Valtournenche valley from Châtillon in the Aosta Valley.
Since 1 July 2023 the two resorts have been linked by the Matterhorn Alpine Crossing: a chain of cable cars from Zermatt via Furi, Trockener Steg and the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise station on the Klein Matterhorn (3,883 m), across the border at Testa Grigia / Plateau Rosa (nearly 3,500 m) and down to Cervinia, in about 90 minutes one way. The Klein Matterhorn is the highest point in Europe reached by cable car, with a viewing platform, an ice grotto and Europe's highest summer ski area. The Gornergrat rack railway, opened in 1898, climbs from Zermatt to 3,089 m in 29 minutes and gives the classic view of the east and north faces.
The Hörnli ridge from Zermatt
About 70% of climbers take the Hörnli ridge, the route of the first ascent. It is graded AD (ZS+ in Swiss and German guidebooks) with rock climbing up to UIAA III+, and about 1,200 m of height gain from the hut. What makes it serious is the length, loose rock, route-finding in the dark and the descent when tired.
- Approach. A cable car from Zermatt reaches Schwarzsee (2,583 m) with its small chapel. Trail no. 27 climbs 4.3 km and 693 m to the hut in about 2 h 15 min (back in about 1.5 h). It is graded T4, a demanding alpine path with metal stairs and gratings over exposed ground.
- Hörnli hut (3,260 m). The original hut dates from 1880; it was demolished and rebuilt and the new hut opened on 14 July 2015, 150 years to the day after the first ascent. It has 130 beds in rooms of two to eight and was the first hut in Europe to limit its beds on purpose to reduce crowding on the ridge. Camping around it is forbidden.
- The climb. Parties leave before dawn and scramble and climb up the ridge and the east face beside it. At 4,003 m stands the Solvay hut, a tiny Swiss Alpine Club shelter with ten emergency bunks and an emergency telephone; it was built in 1917 with money from the Belgian industrialist Ernest Solvay and is for emergencies only. Above it the ridge steepens to the Shoulder, where fixed ropes help on the steepest steps, and the final snow and ice slope leads to the summit. Crampons and ice axe are needed on the upper part.
- Times. Guidebooks give 5–6 hours from the hut to the summit; fit guided parties often take about 4 hours. The descent takes nearly as long, and most accidents happen on the way down.
The Lion ridge from Italy and other routes
The Italian normal route follows the Lion ridge (Cresta del Leone), climbed by Carrel three days after Whymper. It is harder and more sustained than the Hörnli: Italian sources grade it D, German ones ZS+ with III+ rock, and it is protected by many fixed ropes. From Breuil-Cervinia (2,025 m by the Italian count) the route climbs past the Rifugio Duca degli Abruzzi all'Oriondé (2,802 m; 22 beds, staffed July–September, about 2.5 hours on foot from Cervinia or 1 h 10 min from Plan Maison) to the Rifugio Jean-Antoine Carrel (3,830 m), about four hours further on via the Croce Carrel and steep ground with fixed ropes. The Carrel hut belongs to the Società delle Guide del Cervino, has about 50 beds and is unstaffed. Next day the route passes the Cheminée, crosses Pic Tyndall (4,241 m) and climbs the rope ladder called the Scala Jordan to the Italian summit, 4–5 hours from the hut. In total the route has about 2,451 m of gain from Cervinia and around 12 hours of climbing over two days.
The Zmutt ridge (grade D, UIAA IV) and the Furggen ridge (TD, up to UIAA V+) are serious routes for experienced alpinists. The faces are big-wall terrain: the north face was first climbed by the Munich brothers Franz and Toni Schmid on 31 July – 1 August 1931, and the west face was first climbed completely on 13 August 1962 by Renato Daguin and Giovanni Ottin.
Guides, costs and rules
No permit or fee is needed to climb the Matterhorn and a guide is not compulsory, but most climbers go with a certified local mountain guide (IFMGA), usually one client per guide. Guiding offices in Zermatt expect very good fitness, solid experience on rock and mixed ground with crampons, and prior training tours to check pace and acclimatisation; guides turn back with clients who are too slow. Guiding prices are set by each office and change every season, so ask the Zermatt or Cervinia guide offices directly.
Hut places are the real bottleneck. The Hörnli hut, owned by the municipality of Zermatt, takes bookings only online, opening on 1 April for the coming summer; it is usually open from late June to mid-September. As of 2026 a dormitory bed with dinner, breakfast and tea for the climb costs CHF 150 per person; a sleeping-bag liner is compulsory (one can be bought at the hut for CHF 43), there are showers on each floor and no towels. Check-in is from 14:00, check-out by 09:00.
When to go and weather
The climbing season on the Hörnli ridge is roughly July to mid-September, when the hut is staffed and the ridge is mostly free of snow; Zermatt's tourist office names August and September as the best months to watch climbers from the hut path. Fresh snow or verglas can stop ascents at any time, and in hot dry summers rockfall increases as the permafrost that holds the ridge together thaws: on 13 June 2023 a free-standing rock pillar of about 20 cubic metres collapsed on the Hörnli ridge. Thunderstorms often build in the afternoon, which is one more reason for the pre-dawn starts. In winter the mountain is climbed only rarely.
Water
There is no water on any of the ridges. On the Hörnli route the hut provides dinner and breakfast and fills a flask with tea for the climb as part of the half-board price, and drinks are sold; carry about 1–1.5 litres for the 8–11 hour round trip, ideally warm in a thermos, since bottles can freeze near the summit. The Oriondé hut on the Italian side is staffed in summer, but the Carrel hut is not: there you depend on what you carry up and on melting snow, so bring a stove and fuel. The Solvay hut has no supplies.
Mobile coverage and internet
The Hörnli hut offers Wi-Fi to guests. Around Zermatt and the lift stations mobile coverage is generally good, and on the open upper ridge a signal is often available, but do not rely on it on the faces or in gullies, and keep your phone warm and charged. The Solvay hut has an emergency radiotelephone. In Switzerland call 144 for medical and mountain rescue (or 112); rescue helicopters fly about 80 missions on the Matterhorn each year. On the Italian side call 112.
Dangers and safety
More than 500 people have died on the Matterhorn since 1865; recent sources put the figure at nearly or over 600, with several deaths in a typical year. The main causes are falls on the descent, rockfall (often set off by parties above), getting lost on the broad lower part of the Hörnli ridge in the dark, sudden changes of weather and exhaustion. On peak days more than 100 climbers can be on the mountain, and the queues at the fixed ropes add to the risk. The summit is high enough for altitude sickness; climbers usually acclimatise first on easier 4,000 m peaks such as the Breithorn above the Klein Matterhorn.
History and name
The German name comes from Matte (meadow) and Horn (peak) — the peak above the meadows of Zermatt. The French Cervin and Italian Cervino are thought to come from the Latin Mons Silvanus, "forest mountain". In the local Arpitan dialect of the Aosta Valley it is Gran Bèca, "the big peak", and the Walser people of Zermatt call it simply Horu.
Serious attempts began from the Italian side, where the Valtournenche guide Jean-Antoine Carrel tried the Lion ridge from 1857. Whymper joined the race in 1861, but in his first seven attempts he got no higher than about 4,100 m. In July 1865 he switched to the Swiss side and the Hörnli ridge, which looks frighteningly steep from Zermatt but is easier than it appears. With him were the Chamonix guide Michel Croz, the Zermatt guides Peter Taugwalder father and son, the Reverend Charles Hudson, the young Lord Francis Douglas and the inexperienced Douglas Hadow. Whymper and Croz reached the summit at 1:40 p.m. on 14 July 1865 and saw Carrel's party some 200 m below on the Italian ridge; it turned back.
On the descent Hadow slipped and knocked Croz off his feet; Hudson and Douglas were pulled after them. The rope between Douglas and the elder Taugwalder broke, and the four fell about 1,200 m to the Matterhorn Glacier. The broken rope turned out to be the oldest and weakest one in the party. Three bodies were recovered; Lord Douglas was never found. A cantonal inquiry acquitted Taugwalder, but rumours that he had cut the rope followed him for life. On 17 July Carrel and Jean-Baptiste Bich reached the summit by the Lion ridge.
Later milestones: the first woman, Lucy Walker, on 22 August 1871; the first ascent without guides in 1876; the north face in 1931. In 2013 Kilian Jornet ran from Breuil-Cervinia to the summit and back in 1 h 56 min.
The Matterhorn Museum and the mountain as a symbol
The Matterhorn Museum – Zermatlantis on the church square in Zermatt opened in 2006 and receives about 40,000 visitors a year. Most of it lies underground, around a reconstructed mountain village of 14 buildings, from the guides' house to the reception of the old Hotel Monte Rosa where Whymper stayed. Its best-known exhibit is the rope that broke in 1865, displayed with belongings of the climbers who died.
The mountain's shape travels far beyond the Alps. It is commonly believed to have inspired the triangular shape of Toblerone chocolate, created in Bern in 1908, and its silhouette was on the packaging for decades until 2023, when part of production moved to Slovakia and Swiss rules on national symbols forced a change to a generic mountain. Disneyland in California opened its Matterhorn Bobsleds ride inside a 1:100 replica in 1959.
Interesting facts
- Geologically the top of the Matterhorn is "African": its upper rocks belong to the Austroalpine nappes of the Apulian plate, a fragment that broke away from Africa before the Alps were pushed up.
- The Solvay hut at 4,003 m is the highest hut owned by the Swiss Alpine Club.
- Zermatt received nearly 2 million visitors a year by 2015.
FAQ
How high is the Matterhorn? 4,478 m at the Swiss summit (survey figures 4,477.5–4,477.8 m); the Italian summit is about 1 m lower, at 4,476 m.
How long does it take to climb the Matterhorn? Usually two days: 2 h 15 min from Schwarzsee to the Hörnli hut on the first day, then 4–6 hours from the hut to the summit and nearly as long back down. The Italian route takes about 12 hours of climbing over two days.
How difficult is it? The Hörnli ridge is graded AD/ZS+ with rock up to UIAA III+ and fixed ropes near the top; the Lion ridge is harder (D). It needs real climbing experience, crampon skills and very good fitness, not just hiking.
Do I need a guide or a permit? No permit is required and guides are not compulsory, but most climbers hire a certified local guide. Book the Hörnli hut online from 1 April; as of 2026 a bed with half board costs CHF 150.
Is there water on the route? No. Drink and fill up at the Hörnli hut, which includes tea for the climb in its half board, and carry 1–1.5 litres. At the unstaffed Carrel hut you need to melt snow.
Is there mobile phone coverage? Often on the upper ridge and generally around Zermatt's lifts, and the Hörnli hut has Wi-Fi, but coverage on the faces is unreliable. Emergency numbers: 144 or 112 in Switzerland, 112 in Italy.
When is the best time to climb the Matterhorn? From July to mid-September, when the Hörnli hut is open and the ridge is mostly dry. August and early September are often the most reliable.
Can non-climbers get close to the Matterhorn? Yes. Hike from Schwarzsee to the Hörnli hut (T4, exposed in places), ride the Gornergrat railway to 3,089 m or take the cable car to Matterhorn Glacier Paradise at 3,883 m and on across the border to Cervinia.