Matterhorn / Cervin

4,478 m

German Matter-horn, 'horn of the meadow' — Matt refers to the flat valley pastures of Zermatt (originally Zer Matt, 'at the meadow'), and Horn is the standard Swiss-German term for a sharp peak. The French name Cervin (Italian Cervino) is unrelated, deriving via Latin Mons Silvinus or Mons Cervinus ('mountain of stags') from the Roman name for the surrounding range.

Card

Coordinates45.9763° N · 7.6586° E

UIAA rank№ 12 / 82

CountriesSwitzerland · Italy

Normal grade

AD · assez difficile

First ascent1865 · Edward Whymper, Charles Hudson, Lord Francis Douglas, Douglas Hadow, Michel Croz, Peter Taugwalder & son

Typical seasonJuly to September

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Photo of Matterhorn / Cervin — Photo: Photo: chil, on Camptocamp.org Derivative work:Zacharie Grossen · CC BY-SA 3.0

Iconic pyramidal peak above Zermatt and Cervinia.

History

Edward Whymper, after seven failed attempts on the southwest (Italian) ridge, switched sides and climbed the Matterhorn from Zermatt by the Hörnli ridge on 14 July 1865 with Lord Francis Douglas, the Reverend Charles Hudson, Douglas Hadow, the Chamonix guide Michel Croz, and the Zermatt father-and-son Peter Taugwalder. Three days behind them, Jean-Antoine Carrel — Whymper's old Italian partner — reached the top by the Lion ridge. The Whymper party's triumph turned to disaster on the descent: Hadow slipped, pulling Croz, Hudson and Douglas off the upper face, and the rope between Douglas and the elder Taugwalder broke. The four men fell more than a thousand metres to the Matterhorn glacier; Whymper and the Taugwalders survived. The accident scandalised Victorian Britain, prompted a Zermatt inquiry into the broken rope, and is conventionally taken to mark the end of the Golden Age of alpinism.

Location & routes

Major routes

Hörnli ridge (NE ridge, Swiss normal)

AD · assez difficileTopo ↗

Vertical / summit day1,220 m gain · 10h

The original 1865 line and the most-climbed route on the Matterhorn. Sustained scrambling and easy mixed climbing up the NE ridge from the Hörnli hut at 3260 m, with fixed ropes on the harder steps (Moseley slab, Roof, upper shoulder). Notorious for long route-finding queues and rockfall.

Sections

Schwarzsee (2583 m)→Hörnlihütte (3260 m)+680 m2h

Hörnlihütte→Summit (4478 m)+1,220 m5h

Summit→Hörnlihütte (descent)−1,220 m4h

Nearby huts

HörnlihütteSAC · late June to mid-September3,260 m SchönbielhütteSAC · late June to mid-October2,694 m Rifugio Duca degli AbruzziCAI · mid-June to mid-September2,802 m Rifugio Jean-Antoine CarrelCAI · unguarded (always open)3,829 m

← Liskamm — Western summit · 4,479 m · № 11

12 / 82

Picco Luigi Amedeo · 4,470 m · № 13 →

Hörnli ridge (NE ridge, Swiss normal)Lion ridge (SW ridge, Italian normal)

Route lines are approximate — drawn from guidebook waypoints, not GPS tracks. Don't navigate by them.

Huts on this route

Hörnlihütte3,260 m

Lion ridge (SW ridge, Italian normal)

AD · assez difficileTopo ↗

Vertical / summit day1,250 m gain · 8h

The Italian-side normal from Cervinia. From the Rifugio Carrel at 3829 m (not in our hut directory yet) the route weaves fixed ropes and short rock pitches up the SW ridge over the Pic Tyndall to the Italian summit, then a short ridge traverse to the main summit.

Sections

Plan Maison (2555 m)→Rifugio Carrel (3829 m)+1,275 m5h

Rifugio Carrel→Summit (4478 m)+650 m5h