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.

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STAGE 2

Theodulpass to Résy/St Jacques

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Start:   Theodulpass

Access to: cars from Breuil-Cervinia or Zermatt will take you to within 15min–1hr of the pass; then on foot on glacier.

Altitude at start:    3301m

Finish: Résy or St Jacques

Access to finish: St Jacques is reached by road from the main Aosta Valley, taking the Ayas Valley via Verrès, Brusson and Champoluc. Résy is accessed by a steep footpath heading east from the centre of town.

Altitude at finish:    Résy: 2072m; St Jacques: 1689m.

Altitude gain:    To Résy: 351m; to St Jacques 151m.

Altitude loss:    1580m

Distance:    14km to Résy; 14.5km to St Jacques.

Time:    5hrs 

Highpoint:   Theodulpass 3301m

Maps:    1:50,000 IGC 5 Cervino-Matterhorn e Monte Rosa; 1:25,000 IGC 108 Cervino Matterhorn Breuil-Cervinia Champoluc

Facilities:    St Jacques is a small village with just a shop and hotels. Résy consists of two refuges and a few other buildings. You can buy basic snacks. 

Transport options:    Cable car from Testa Grigia to Plan Maison (or Cerie Bianche).

Accommodation:    Breuil-Cervinia has several hotels; Albergo Plan Maison; Rifugio G.B. Ferraro; Rifugio della Guide Frachey; St Jacques has a few hotels; Rifugio Casale.

Variant:   The main alternative for this stage involves taking the cable car rather than walking: you can descend from Testa Grigia to the first station, Cime Bianche, or to Plan Maison, or all the way to Breuil-Cervinia. However, once over the Colle Supérieure della Cime Bianche there is no alternative route until the end of the day when you must decide whether to go up to Résy or down to St Jacques.

Extras:    The route described is the shortest way down from the Theodulpass and to the upper Ayas Valley. It does not take in Breuil-Cervinia. However, there is nothing to stop you descending to the town and then picking up the route again from Plan Maison.
    If there is snow on the slopes above Plan Maison, leading up to the Theodulpass, you are strongly advised not to do this section on foot. Take the lift down from Testa Grigia, at least to the first station, then head across to the Colle Supérieure di Cime Bianche. It should also be noted that as this stage is described in the anti-clockwise direction it is mainly in descent. Clearly if coming the other way it is a long and arduous climb from Résy or St Jacques to reach the Theodulpass, and you will also have to contend with high altitude at the end of the day. Do not underestimate this stage when tackling it in a clockwise direction, and if it is late in the day when you reach the Colle Supérieure di Cime Bianche then consider staying at Plan Maison or Breuil-Cervinia.

Escape route:    You can go down to Breuil-Cervinia, then take a bus downvalley to the main Aosta Valley. From here a long bus route via the Grand St Bernard Tunnel will get you back to Switzerland. Alternatively you could take the lifts back up to Testa Grigia and return to Zermatt by the Klein Matterhorn lift. Bear in mind, however, that you do have to walk a short way uphill between the two lifts. It is easier to descend to Trocknersteg then take the lift.

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The Theodulpass is one of the oldest crossing places in the Alps. Centuries ago it formed a much-used passage from what are now the Italian valleys to Switzerland. Such passes were used by traders, smugglers, immigrants, armies, and farmers, amongst others. Artefacts found here attest to transit during Roman times, and we can only surmise that the terrain was somewhat different from that encountered today. The climate in those days was considerably warmer and hence such passes were not glaciated, rendering travel easier. However, there were many risks associated with endeavouring to cross such high mountains: bad weather, attack, disorientation and fatigue, to mention just a few.

To cross the Theodulpass nowadays is an entirely different experience, but nevertheless one that holds its own challenges. There is a choice of descents from this pass: from the Testa Grigia (Plateau Rosa) a cable car descends in three stages to Breuil-Cervinia. If there is snow on the slopes below the Theodulpass to Plan Maison do not descend on foot. If the snow is fresh it can be difficult to find the path. This is equally the case with névé, with the additional problem that early in the morning the névé will probably be icy, and later in the day it may become slushy.

However, if the slopes are snowfree the descent on foot can be recommended with the following proviso: do not expect to find the wilderness encountered by early travellers. These slopes have been ‘raped and pillaged’ in the interests of skiing: bulldozed ski pistes and lift stations along with associated junk are the order of the day. Nevertheless it’s not too difficult to descend from the pass as the path is relatively easy to discern from above (easier than when coming up), there is the interesting Capelle Bontadini to visit en route, and great views of the Italian face of the Matterhorn (El Cervino).

You only need to descend to the first station of the Testa Grigia Plateau Rosa cable car (unless you are planning to go to Breuil-Cervinia). From here a trail heads straight across to the Colle Supérieure della Cime Bianche. Once over this pass (in total contrast to the ski area) you enter one of the most beautiful and wild valleys imaginable. This valley is reached by a well-made path which leads down under the hanging seracs of the Ventina Glacier to the icy blue Gran Lago. From there the trail once again descends, with limestone cliffs on the far side of the valley, to the rustic Alpe Mase. Babbling streams wind down through the meadows into the forest near Fiery, a hamlet which used to be a military post.

Soon after a decision must be made as there are two possible routes for the next day (Stage 3), depending on where you finish Stage 2.

• The regular TMR route finishes Stage 2 by going uphill for about 20min to the hamlet of Résy where there is excellent lodging: the Rifugio G.B. Ferraro and the Rifugio della Guide Frachey. Stage 3 then crosses the Bettaforca Pass and continues directly down to Stafal/Gressoney la Trinité.

• The alternative route is to go down to the village of St Jacques and spend the night there (from where you could reascend to Résy). From St Jacques there is an alternative longer route (Stage 3 variant), which takes in the beautiful and wild Colle di Pinter.

ROUTE

From the Theodulpass the path heads off down westwards, soon passing an iron cross. There are waymarks from time to time of varying colours; occasionally the TMR is marked in reassuring yellow diamonds.

After descending for about 15min pick up a trail heading right (northwest). There are numerous tracks and bulldozed pistes so it seems confusing, but in good visibility your objective will be clear: the first station of the cable car which descends from Testa Grigia. However, the trail does not go there directly. It heads across to the winter ski lift which serves the Theodulpass. Here at 3044m you’ll find a cluster of lift buildings and the Capelle Bontadini. Bontadini was an Italian Alpinist and there is a memorial plaque for him in the tiny chapel sandwiched between the lift buildings – a delightful juxtaposition of old and new. An information board here states ‘The landscape in front of you wasn’t always as you see it today…’ Too true! Presumably travellers stopped at the chapel to pray for protection before tackling the final climb to the pass; now it’s a storehouse for rescue equipment. Try hard and you might get an inkling of how those travellers of old felt…

From here the TMR is signposted across the hillside heading south. Unless you wish to go to Plan Maison be sure not to miss the route. Take the narrow flat trail across shaly slopes to the Cime Bianche station of the Testa Grigia (Plateau Rosa) cable car (2831m) next to the Cime Bianche lake. This is all pretty straightforward in good snowfree weather conditions. In fog it would be a different story as there are few features in this area except man-made ski tracks and associated shacks and cables. The path is signed with yellow flashes, notably on pylons, and goes around the slopes heading for the Colle Supérieure della Cime Bianche. Enjoy the views of the Matterhorn – you won’t see it again until you return to Zermatt. At 2882m the col really is a fine vantagepoint: from the summits above Breuil-Cervinia to the hanging ice field of the Ventina Glacier to the unusual pale orange limestone formations which form the Cime Bianche ridge. 

The mechanics of the ski resorts are now left behind as you enter the wonderful Ventina or Rollin Valley (the map does not give a precise name). It’s like a different world: rarely will you see more than a handful of walkers here, the slopes are flowery and lush, the lakes deep azure, sometimes frozen, sometimes home to birds.

Take your time as you descend steeply via well-made zigzags to the Gran Lago, a good place for a break as you acclimatise to the wild and silent surroundings. The way is now fairly gentle and you can enjoy the views. To the west are the impressive multi-coloured cliffs of Monte Roisetta, and soon the basic but lived-in farm at Alpe Mase (2400m) is reached. Making a living here, albeit just for the summer, must be a fairly harsh business. Below the path ambles along next to the grassy-banked stream, weaving in and out of boulders. The map shows a choice of paths here but there seems to be one main one, well signed with yellow paint flashes. Cotton grass, orchids, gentians, hawksbeard and many other flowers abound according to the season. Eventually a ruin is passed and the trail starts to descend to the forests around Fiery (1878m). A large run-down hotel here suggests a more illustrious past, but now it seems more or less abandoned.

A good mule trail takes you down to a forest road. Turn right, and a few metres further along you’ll meet a path on the left going into the forest. To get to St Jacques continue down the road, but for Résy take this path. It takes a rising traverse in the woods to another junction with a trail coming in from the right. This trail also descends to St Jacques, but for Résy you must go left and climb up for a few minutes to the hamlet.

At Résy there are two refuges: the Rifugio del Guide Frachey and, just above, the Rifugio G.B. Ferraro, named after a local Alpinist who died in the mountains in 1931. The refuge opened the year after his death.

Résy is in a fabulous position high above the valley on south-facing slopes. At 2072m this was once one of the highest villages to be inhabited year-round. The slopes were previously glaciated and the moraine deposits make for a very fertile soil; the main crops were cereals (rye and barley), beans, cabbage and turnips. Later potatoes were grown. Now farming is practised far less as tourism has provided an easier way to make a living, and Résy is just inhabited in the summer. An evening spent here watching the sun set over the far-distant Aosta Valley is an unforgettable experience.