The Tour of Monte Rosa - A Trekker's Guide

The Tour of Monte Rosa is a challenging and very varied adventure, taking a high route around the massif, which has ten summits over 4000m. Italy and Switzerland meet here, and the contrast between these two countries, their different culture, food and languages, give this trek its originality.

The Tour of Monte Rosa

The Monte Rosa massif has inspired not only mountaineers but also poets, writers, visitors and explorers for generations. This mountain range is a visual bastion, dominating viewpoints from valleys on all sides. As Leonardo da Vinci wrote in his Milanese memoirs at the end of the 15th century, the Monte Rosa ‘is so high that it seems almost to overtake the clouds’.

The Tour of Monte Rosa is a journey of dreams, an adventure that goes way beyond a hike or trek, a voyage of discovery in one of the most fascinating Alpine regions. To treat it as a mere walking tour would be to miss out on so much: the varied culture of the Swiss and Italian valleys and mountain villages; the gastronomic specialities which change from one valley to the next; the people encountered; the rich history of the area; the wealth and diversity of flora and fauna.

This is a trek to be savoured. If you do not have time to complete it in a leisurely fashion you may be well advised to do a section one year and leave the rest for another visit, rather than miss out on the chance to fully immerse yourself in the experience.

Monte Rosa is far from being a single summit. This is the biggest massif in Western Europe, consisting of 10 defined summits which surpass the magical 4000m mark. Its highest peak, the Dufourspitze, is the second highest in this part of Europe. The name Monte Rosa conjures up images of rose-tinted rays on glistening snowy summits. Whilst this wonderful spectacle does occur when the first and last light of day hits the different faces of the massif, the name ‘Rosa’ is said to come from roises, the ancient local name for ‘glaciers’ And indeed glaciers there are, many of them.

Monte Rosa has seen many visitors, from first-class mountaineers to royalty. All have left their mark. Although now surrounded on all sides by resorts and mechanical uplift, the ascent of the Monte Rosa peaks remains a challenging undertaking, not to be underestimated. Winter and summer the nearby slopes are home to skiers and tourists, but to reach a Monte Rosa summit you need to be fit and acclimatised. All around are glaciers, seracs and crevasses, and whilst in good sunny conditions deep snow tracks lead to the summits and give a sense of security, as soon as the fog comes down or the snow starts to fall this area becomes a very serious proposition indeed.

To walk around the Monte Rosa massif is to enjoy all the views and the incredible scenery with none of the dangers and perils associated with ascending the peaks. The tour flirts just a little with the glaciers as it passes from Italy to Switzerland via the Theodulpass, but although this pass is glaciated there are far more demanding ascents on the Tour. However, this col does lead the hiker into the high mountain world of ice and snow. 

Apart from that short section this is a trek on non-glaciated ground. It is a wonderful route that climbs from valley villages up through meadows, past summer farms and grazing cows, onto the higher rocky slopes where only the hardiest animals live, and over passes tucked up against the slopes of the glaciated mountains, then descends into a new valley, different from the previous one in both character and scenery.

THE REGION

The Monte Rosa massif forms part of the Pennine Alps (a mountain range in the western part of the Alps), and borders southern Switzerland and northern Italy. The Pennine Alps are located in France (Haute-Savoie), Switzerland (Valais) and Italy (Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta). The Petit Saint Bernard Pass and the Dora Baltea Valley separate them from the Graian Alps; the Simplon Pass separates them from the Lepontine Alps; the Rhône Valley separates them from the Bernese Alps; the Col de Coux and the Arly Valley separate them from the French Prealps (Aravis and Chablais). The Pennine Alps range contains the largest concentration of peaks over 4000m in Europe. The Swiss–Italian frontier forms the Alpine watershed and it is here that the most grandiose summits are to be found, their huge glaciers snaking down into the adjacent valleys: on the Swiss side flowing down to the Rhône, on the Italian draining to the Po.

The enormous barrier of the Pennine Alps represents the pressure zone created when the African tectonic plate collided with the Continental plate. Mountains were forced up and subsequent erosion has produced the spectacular scenery seen today. Whilst slightly less lofty than their famous neighbour Mont Blanc, peaks such as Liskamm, the 10 summits of Monte Rosa, the Täschhorn and Dom and the Weisshorn, to mention just a few, are at least equal in grandeur and splendour.

The Tour of Monte Rosa visits two countries, Italy and Switzerland. These are mountain regions, initially inhabited by people who probably approached from other mountain valleys. To some extent cut off from life down on the plains, these regions have maintained their traditions and culture. Life was naturally harsh and rude, especially during the long winter months. A common thread runs through the villages and valleys encountered on the trek – that of surviving on whatever was available locally, regardless of which side of the range you lived.

The Italian region is that of the Valle d’Aosta, and Piedmont. A close look at a map will reveal that whilst it is only a day’s walk to get over from Switzerland to Macugnaga or Alagna, for example, it’s a very long drive from the main Italian valleys. On the Italian side the trek passes through some villages incorporating a Walser settlement. These people have Germanic origins, their ancestors having made the journey to the mountains around ad1000. They have settled in many Alpine regions, notably around Alagna and Macugnaga, and still preserve the basics of their original culture.

The Swiss part of the trek is exclusively in the Wallis canton, staying high above the Saas and Matter valleys. The relatively new Europaweg (established 2000) links with the long-existing Höhenweg to make the World’s Longest Balcony Path (at least that’s how it feels) all the way from Saas Fee to Zermatt. This trail is a visual joy, but it does keep the hiker away from some of the charming villages in the valley. However Zermatt and Saas Fee – along with Grächen, which sits between these high-traversing trails – provide a good insight into life in this German-speaking part of Switzerland.

HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE

This guide to the Tour of Monte Rosa is the result of several years’ walking in the region. However, there will no doubt be things that have changed since it was written. Do let me know about these (care of the publishers) and they will be incorporated in a future edition. Use this book as a tool to plan your trip. Once on the Tour a map, compass and willingness to adapt to conditions are all essential; the book is not enough on its own. 

For this guide the 134km-long Tour has been divided into eight stages. These are not necessarily one-day stages, and some may be more comfortably achieved over two days or more. I have described the route this way so as to give the individual the choice of how to plan the trek (although most of the stages could be completed in a day, given good conditions). Sometimes there is a wide choice of accommodation, at other times hardly any choice at all. Realistically you should allow 9–10 days to complete the Tour, so it is a suitable option for a two-week break.

Each stage has an introduction, followed by the details for the stage:
•    starting and finishing points
•    altitudes, highpoint and distance in kilometres
•    time
•    maps needed
•    transport options
•    accommodation
•    extra information that may be pertinent.

Variants are also noted: this is a trek with many alternative ways and I have only noted a very few. Each stage also has escape routes briefly described, along with transport options to regain the starting point. The accommodation is noted by name in the stage description, but details (phone numbers, fax numbers and Internet sites) are given in Appendix 2.

Time for each stage is calculated roughly on the basis of climbing 300m every hour; the ascent time is halved for descent; where there are long flat sections these are calculated on a rate of 4km/hr. These times are given as a rough guide but should not be taken as anything other than that – they are not a challenge! Times are often noted on signposts in Switzerland and may vary from mine. Equally you may find your own times do not match mine (faster or slower) – after a day or so you’ll have figured out your own rate of progress so adjust your planning accordingly.

The distance of a stage is difficult to calculate as there are often many zigzags on the ground that are not shown on the map. The distances given are the nearest I can get, but do not take the figures as being exact.

Sketch maps accompany each stage. These are designed to show where the route goes and are based on the 1:50,000 map. Relevant details have been noted on the map but these are not a substitute for the real thing. When walking this route you need to take the relevant maps, and a compass, and know how to use them.

Route profiles are provided to give an impression of the ups and downs encountered along the way.

The section Shorter Options (see page 75) suggests short variations of the Tour, as well as some good walks from the main bases of Zermatt, Breuil-Cervinia, Saas Fee and Alagna. You will find guidebooks to local walks in these centres, and the tourist offices are always good sources for information on pleasant rest-day strolls or interesting explorations.

This book contains a fair amount of information that is not strictly necessary to do the trek. It’s interesting to know a little about the region you’re visiting, and my particular interests lie in the local history and nature. You may only choose to read these sections when stuck in a hut on a wet afternoon with nothing else to read but a dog-eared out-of-date Alpine Club magazines in a language you don’t understand!

Safety and rescue and glacier travel (see Appendix 5) are all covered in the guide, although the glacier encountered on this trek is relatively innocuous. You do need to rope up, and you may need crampons, but this is not major mountaineering.

The Appendices contain a glossary of phrases and terms and additional information on: accommodation details; tourist office and Guides’ office; and glacier travel techniques. Do please appreciate that these numbers and Internet details were correct at the time of writing, but that details do change. If a number doesn’t work, or an email comes flying back ‘undeliverable’ from cyber space, get on Google and do a search.

WHICH DIRECTION TO GO?

Being a circular tour, this trek can be started anywhere along the way and can be done in either direction. I have described it here in an anti-clockwise direction and starting in Zermatt. This is certainly not the only way to do this trek, and not even the most common way. My reasons for describing the trek in this manner are summed up below, perhaps not very convincingly!

Starting in Zermatt means that the first day gets you close to Monte Rosa and you can see parts of the massif and also the other high peaks surrounding it. You are immediately acquainted with the glacial world that is dictating your route. However, the downside of this plan is that your first day takes you to the highest altitude encountered on the tour. Many people start the Tour of Monte Rosa in Saas Fee, which is logical in terms of having a relatively easy first day and getting used to the altitude over the first three days to Zermatt. To my mind, however, it seems that you spend a long time trekking around a mountain that you haven’t seen.

One answer to this is to go clockwise from Saas Fee, straight up to Monte Moro and, given good weather, you’ll be on intimate terms with Monte Rosa from the start. I have done the tour many times like this.

So why describe it anti-clockwise? One very good reason is a problem that can occur at Macugnaga where it can be difficult to get a one- night reservation in a hotel in high season. If you find that in advance you are unable to get a booking you can plan to arrive there from the Colle del Turlo at the end of the afternoon and then take the cable car to Monte Moro Pass and stay at the Rifugio Oberto Gaspare. Coming from Saas Fee, if you stay at this hut then the next day would be terribly long to Rifugio Pastore or Alagna, if you walked all the way, but to use the lift you have to wait until about 9am for the first car down to Macugnaga.

Another argument for this direction is that the section from the Theodulpass to Cime Bianche is easier done in descent than ascent (although in snowy conditions it’s far wiser to take the cable car).

Some people argue that the paths are nicest walked in this anti-clockwise direction, that it gives more options for variations… who knows? There is no right way to do this trek and I am quite undecided myself the best way to do it. Look closely at the map and make your own decision. At least you can be sure that all the other trekkers on the trail will have their own ideas. �

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