Climbing Routes
| Routes | Start | Time of ascent | Difficulty | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ridges | Hörnli | Hörnli Hut | 6 hours | AD+/III+ |
| Zmutt | Hörnli Hut (or Schönbiel Hut) | 7 hours (10 hours) | D/IV | |
| Lion | Carrel Hut | 5 hours | AD+/III | |
| Furggen | Bivacco Bossi | 7 hours | TD/V+ | |
| Faces | North | Hörnli Hut | 14 hours | TD/V |
| West | Schönbiel Hut | 12 hours | TD/V+ | |
| South | Rifugio Duca degli Abruzzi | 15 hours | TD+/V+ | |
| East | Hörnli Hut | 14 hours | TD |
Today, all ridges and faces of the Matterhorn have been ascended in all seasons, and mountain guides take a large number of people up the northeast Hörnli route each summer. By modern standards, the climb is fairly difficult (AD Difficulty rating), but not hard for skilled mountaineers according to French climbing grades. There are fixed ropes on parts of the route to help. Still, several climbers die each year due to a number of factors including the scale of the climb and its inherent dangers, inexperience, falling rocks, and overcrowded routes.
The usual pattern of ascent is to take the Schwarzsee cable car up from Zermatt, hike up to the Hörnli Hut elev. 3,260 m (10,700 ft), a large stone building at the base of the main ridge, and spend the night. The next day, climbers rise at 3:30 am so as to reach the summit and descend before the regular afternoon clouds and storms come in. The Solvay Hut located on the ridge at 4,003 m (13,133 ft) can be used only in a case of emergency.
Other routes on the mountain include the Italian (Lion) ridge (AD Difficulty rating), the Zmutt ridge (D Difficulty rating) and the north face route, one of the six great north faces of the Alps (TD+ Difficulty rating).
Read more about this topic: Matterhorn
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