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Hörnligrat Route
5.4 V2- PG13,
Trad, Boulder, Alpine, 3600 ft (1091 m), Grade III,
Avg: 3.9 from 60
votes
FA: Edward Whymper, Lord Francis Douglas, Charles Hudson, Douglas Hadow, Michel Croz, Peter Taugwalder and his son of the same name
International
> Europe
> Switzerland
> Oberwallis (Upp…
> Zermatt area
> Matterhorn
Description
See an excellent overview of the route at SummitPost.
[Hide Photo] A sick and rare phenomenon called brocken spectre, where a magnified shadow appears in the clouds opposite the sun. Lucky here to have it on the summit of the Matterhorn.
[Hide Comment] If you happen to get caught in a snowstorm at the top of the mountain and are reluctant to downclimb snow-covered rocks as slick as snot, you can descend from the top cliff (just below the snow field) to the Solvay Hut by 24 rappels (using a 60 m rope) with only three short sections of easy (class 2) downclimbing and one short traverse (class 2) to climber's right. Just follow the anchors and you shouldn't get lost.
Jul 15, 2019
[Hide Comment] The difficulty of this route is finding it in dry enough conditions. The weather in the Swiss Alps is quite fickle.
The route itself is quite easy. It's mostly "blocky" 3rd or 4th class. It felt similar to the Upper Kieners bit on Longs Peak where you scramble up a "staircase" to the summit of Longs. Except of course the route is 4,000ft long. Blocky, easy, but with a good number of loose rocks around. There are 2-3 sections of maybe 5.4 climbing. If you're uncomfortable soloing easy terrain with a few loose blocks, consider rapping these bits with a 40-50m rope.
You stay generally left of the ridge proper on the lower part of the route, then once you reach the Solvay Hut you begin climbing the ridge proper. The "prow" would be cruxy, except it's fixed with 1-inch sailing rope like a via ferrata. This was snowy for us but with the sailing rope we soloed it in approach shoes just grabbing onto the fixed ropes. You are usually on crampon-scratched, polished rock. If you are not, you're off route.
Once on the upper section above the fixed lines, it seems there is almost always a good bit of snow. This is the only spot where we used crampons, and we didn't even use the ice axes we brought. It is generally very easy, like 3rd class, above the upper fixed lines to the summit. In snowier years you'll probably appreciate having axes on the summit ridge. I would recommend steel crampons to almost anyone, and I'm quite experienced with mixed climbing.
If you are comfortable doing easy soloing, for example around Boulder's flatirons, then most of the Hornli should be pretty easy without a rope as well.
THE HORNLI HUT: Approach 1: Take the lift from Zermatt to Schwarzee, then hike 2,300 vertical feet to the hut(you save 1,000 meters of hiking and it costs about 60 CHF round trip as of August 2022) Approach 2: Hike from Zermatt, a little over 5,000 vert, took us 3 hours moving steadily but not super fast, in approach shoes.
- A night at the hut costs about 155 CHF as of August 2022. - You cannot get any natural water around or inside the hut, there is NO TAP WATER, and you'll spend about 10 CHF for a 1.5 liter bottle of water. - You're expected to bring a sleeping bag liner, or buy one for 25 CHF.
If you stay at the hut and don't hire a guide: -Swiss guides and their clients begin first, at 4:00am usually -International guides and their clients begin second -Independent climbers begin last, around 4:20am
It's annoying, but that's how it is. Many independent climbers over the decades(centuries) have gotten off-route early in the morning and knocked rocks down on guided parties, so they implement a strict schedule. We decided to skip the whole red tape thing and did it Zermatt to Zermatt in about 12 hours, only stopping at the Hornli as a nice spot to stop and eat, and also for a beer on the way down.
Our party was pretty good at soloing easy terrain, and it was mostly dry, so we soloed the entire route(plus yarding on fixed lines) in approach shoes.
I think if I didn't want to solo, or I had to bring a less experienced parter, this is what I'd bring: - 50m fairly skinny rope - Lightest 3-season mountaineering boots you can find, or real heavy approach shoes - STEEL crampons(aluminum would be awful on the rocks, it's dense Gneiss), strap-on is fine - 2-3 double length slings - 2-3 single length runners - A very small set of nuts - 2-3 cams
Most of the route is littered with all sorts of bolts, rap anchors, etc. If you are placing pro everywhere, you'll be really slow since the route is 4,000ft tall. Most independent parties will probably feel good rapping just 2-4 sections and using the fixed lines.
Aug 5, 2022
[Hide Comment] Climbed yesterday. Summit in 4 hr, decent in 6hr more. Followed Swiss guided groups, so we know we were on route.
Myths: "If it's chossy, you're off route" It was chossy, and the guides loosed several blocks including a microwave. "Just follow crampon marks" Because of volume, someone has been lost everywhere, so there's crampon marks all over the bottom.
We roped up 30m below solvay. This was the first section that felt 5th class. Everything below was either batman up a fixed line or scrambling that felt like an approach. From there, the path is rather clear, because you follow the fixed post anchors every 20m. We brought a 50m, but 20m would have been fine. The rappels aren't contiguous, and 10m gets you back to walkable terrain. Most times the rope was more hassle than value. No cams, nuts, or screws placed or needed, a couple 60cm slings can be handy. B type ice tool is fine. We put on crampons on a narrow ridge traverse about an hour from the summit when we hit the glacier, everything below was better in boot. Wore sportiva nepali and feet were very warm. Wore shirt and thin fleece, almost too warm. Recommend leather gloves, as you'll be touching a lot of cold rock and pulling up fixed lines.
For reference: Casual route on the diamond is a bigger day Climbing sections felt like the approach to south face of Pingora or the down scrambles into SOB and cruise gulley at the Black. Walking with high consequences.
Jul 5, 2023
Fly into Zurich and take train to Zermatt via Visp. From Zermatt you want the Schwarszee lift, which leaves from town, and runs 8a-5p. Tickets sold online and onsite, accepts card. All of Zermatt is car-free and very walkable; 15min end to end.
Hike ~2hr (3mi, 4km) from Schwarszee following very clear signs to hornli, and a congo line of hikers.
Hornlihutte has outlets for devices, coin showers, and wifi. Water is comically expensive and not included with meals. Breakfast and dinner is included with stay. Hut accepts card payment on site. You need a sleeping bag liner; there's a pillow, mattress, and blanket, but they aren't washed and climbers are expected to use a liner for hygiene. Check in is 2p and check out is 8a. We stayed the night before and after the climb, to reduce stress of getting back to Schwarszee before the last ride down. Would do the same again, despite cost.
Breakfast is 3:30a for climbers and 7a for everyone else Guided groups get to leave at 3:50a Us independent second-class citizens leave 4:10a. If you hustle, and there's a lot of guided parties, you can catch the guided parties at the first fixed lines and follow them up the route.
When you walk out hornli, hard right down steps. Around the building, up wood steps, left at top, follow the trail 100m, and you're at the first fixed ropes.
Jul 5, 2023
[Hide Comment] Beta for not staying in the hut (I was also solo): - 5.5 mi to Schwarzsee, very fast trail: smooth, only a few steep setions. (My time for reference: 1:41) - 2.5 mi to Hornlihut. Two steep sections, several flat, goes fast. (My time for reference 1:07) - Get to hut at 340am to refill water, change into warmer climbing clothes, harness on, food up (16 min). It will be non-stop for next 3-4 hrs. - Since you didn't stay in hut, you can start whenever, I left at 355am to get onto the route and go as far as I could with routefinding. It truly is the crux, especially onsight in the dark. - After about 20min I no longer wanted to play the guessing game and waited for the first swiss guide to catch me, let them pass, briefly chatted, and said I'd give his client plenty of space, and followed them all the way up. He said I was really lucky to be following a Swiss Guide and #2 in line. They were fast, next party way WAY below us. It was awesome. - I opted to not bring crampons or an axe to keep it light, and to keep my decision making conservative. I turned around about 300 vf from summit (at sunrise!). Time from leaving hut for reference: 2:38. - Onsighting the descent in the daylight was casual, and with all the parties still coming up it was easy to find the right way, and give partes coming up right-of-way. - Downclimbing the two crux (5.4) sections was also no big deal, big holds, positive feet, totally comfortable. I was worried about this, but it was chill. - Time to descend to hut: 2:38. Some waiting around, but not much. - Amazingly, for the nerds out there: my up and down times were only 13 seconds different (longer going up), BUT the HR going up was only 93 vs HR going down of 115. - 30 minutes at the hut to get the warm gear off, buy overly expensive water, re-pack, debate the gondola vs trail running out ... - I chose the gondola (15min, price = 40, accept credit cards) - Back in town for brunch at McDonalds and a nap. - Incredible route, probably Top 5 I've ever done. - downloadable topo here ($10): bentibbetts.com/routes/matt… - Mediocre Amateur also had a pretty helpful youtube video of the route
Aug 23, 2024
[Hide Comment] A few key notes from my recent ascent for those looking to do this without a guide. I had a good weather forecast and didn't want to stay in the hut or try to stay on route in the dark.
- Took the first Schwarzsee lift at 8am and started to see fast parties descending pretty early on to use as routefinding help. - Climbed it in soft TX2 approach shoes. I was a bit worried because so many people climb this in bigger mountain boots but I would do it this way again. The snow sections in early August were so well packed out my feet never really got snowy/wet. Light strap-on crampons and an axe were ideal. - Carried a lightweight rope, but never used it. Passed about 15 parties on my descent that were very slow and (imo) doing too many rappels
I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. If you like moving fast through a lot of 4th and easy 5th class terrain it's a pretty fun day.
Aug 26, 2024
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Seattle, WA
youtu.be/akpFp2EnRCI Aug 28, 2016
Portland, Oregon
Boulder, CO
The route itself is quite easy. It's mostly "blocky" 3rd or 4th class. It felt similar to the Upper Kieners bit on Longs Peak where you scramble up a "staircase" to the summit of Longs. Except of course the route is 4,000ft long. Blocky, easy, but with a good number of loose rocks around. There are 2-3 sections of maybe 5.4 climbing. If you're uncomfortable soloing easy terrain with a few loose blocks, consider rapping these bits with a 40-50m rope.
You stay generally left of the ridge proper on the lower part of the route, then once you reach the Solvay Hut you begin climbing the ridge proper. The "prow" would be cruxy, except it's fixed with 1-inch sailing rope like a via ferrata. This was snowy for us but with the sailing rope we soloed it in approach shoes just grabbing onto the fixed ropes. You are usually on crampon-scratched, polished rock. If you are not, you're off route.
Once on the upper section above the fixed lines, it seems there is almost always a good bit of snow. This is the only spot where we used crampons, and we didn't even use the ice axes we brought. It is generally very easy, like 3rd class, above the upper fixed lines to the summit. In snowier years you'll probably appreciate having axes on the summit ridge. I would recommend steel crampons to almost anyone, and I'm quite experienced with mixed climbing.
If you are comfortable doing easy soloing, for example around Boulder's flatirons, then most of the Hornli should be pretty easy without a rope as well.
THE HORNLI HUT:
Approach 1: Take the lift from Zermatt to Schwarzee, then hike 2,300 vertical feet to the hut(you save 1,000 meters of hiking and it costs about 60 CHF round trip as of August 2022)
Approach 2: Hike from Zermatt, a little over 5,000 vert, took us 3 hours moving steadily but not super fast, in approach shoes.
- A night at the hut costs about 155 CHF as of August 2022.
- You cannot get any natural water around or inside the hut, there is NO TAP WATER, and you'll spend about 10 CHF for a 1.5 liter bottle of water.
- You're expected to bring a sleeping bag liner, or buy one for 25 CHF.
If you stay at the hut and don't hire a guide:
-Swiss guides and their clients begin first, at 4:00am usually
-International guides and their clients begin second
-Independent climbers begin last, around 4:20am
It's annoying, but that's how it is. Many independent climbers over the decades(centuries) have gotten off-route early in the morning and knocked rocks down on guided parties, so they implement a strict schedule. We decided to skip the whole red tape thing and did it Zermatt to Zermatt in about 12 hours, only stopping at the Hornli as a nice spot to stop and eat, and also for a beer on the way down.
Our party was pretty good at soloing easy terrain, and it was mostly dry, so we soloed the entire route(plus yarding on fixed lines) in approach shoes.
I think if I didn't want to solo, or I had to bring a less experienced parter, this is what I'd bring:
- 50m fairly skinny rope
- Lightest 3-season mountaineering boots you can find, or real heavy approach shoes
- STEEL crampons(aluminum would be awful on the rocks, it's dense Gneiss), strap-on is fine
- 2-3 double length slings
- 2-3 single length runners
- A very small set of nuts
- 2-3 cams
Most of the route is littered with all sorts of bolts, rap anchors, etc. If you are placing pro everywhere, you'll be really slow since the route is 4,000ft tall. Most independent parties will probably feel good rapping just 2-4 sections and using the fixed lines. Aug 5, 2022
Big Bear Lake
Denver, CO
Myths: "If it's chossy, you're off route" It was chossy, and the guides loosed several blocks including a microwave.
"Just follow crampon marks" Because of volume, someone has been lost everywhere, so there's crampon marks all over the bottom.
We roped up 30m below solvay. This was the first section that felt 5th class. Everything below was either batman up a fixed line or scrambling that felt like an approach. From there, the path is rather clear, because you follow the fixed post anchors every 20m. We brought a 50m, but 20m would have been fine. The rappels aren't contiguous, and 10m gets you back to walkable terrain. Most times the rope was more hassle than value. No cams, nuts, or screws placed or needed, a couple 60cm slings can be handy. B type ice tool is fine. We put on crampons on a narrow ridge traverse about an hour from the summit when we hit the glacier, everything below was better in boot. Wore sportiva nepali and feet were very warm. Wore shirt and thin fleece, almost too warm. Recommend leather gloves, as you'll be touching a lot of cold rock and pulling up fixed lines.
For reference:
Casual route on the diamond is a bigger day
Climbing sections felt like the approach to south face of Pingora or the down scrambles into SOB and cruise gulley at the Black. Walking with high consequences. Jul 5, 2023
Denver, CO
Fly into Zurich and take train to Zermatt via Visp. From Zermatt you want the Schwarszee lift, which leaves from town, and runs 8a-5p. Tickets sold online and onsite, accepts card. All of Zermatt is car-free and very walkable; 15min end to end.
Hike ~2hr (3mi, 4km) from Schwarszee following very clear signs to hornli, and a congo line of hikers.
Hornlihutte has outlets for devices, coin showers, and wifi. Water is comically expensive and not included with meals. Breakfast and dinner is included with stay. Hut accepts card payment on site. You need a sleeping bag liner; there's a pillow, mattress, and blanket, but they aren't washed and climbers are expected to use a liner for hygiene. Check in is 2p and check out is 8a. We stayed the night before and after the climb, to reduce stress of getting back to Schwarszee before the last ride down. Would do the same again, despite cost.
Breakfast is 3:30a for climbers and 7a for everyone else
Guided groups get to leave at 3:50a
Us independent second-class citizens leave 4:10a. If you hustle, and there's a lot of guided parties, you can catch the guided parties at the first fixed lines and follow them up the route.
When you walk out hornli, hard right down steps. Around the building, up wood steps, left at top, follow the trail 100m, and you're at the first fixed ropes. Jul 5, 2023
Quantico, VA
- 5.5 mi to Schwarzsee, very fast trail: smooth, only a few steep setions. (My time for reference: 1:41)
- 2.5 mi to Hornlihut. Two steep sections, several flat, goes fast. (My time for reference 1:07)
- Get to hut at 340am to refill water, change into warmer climbing clothes, harness on, food up (16 min). It will be non-stop for next 3-4 hrs.
- Since you didn't stay in hut, you can start whenever, I left at 355am to get onto the route and go as far as I could with routefinding. It truly is the crux, especially onsight in the dark.
- After about 20min I no longer wanted to play the guessing game and waited for the first swiss guide to catch me, let them pass, briefly chatted, and said I'd give his client plenty of space, and followed them all the way up. He said I was really lucky to be following a Swiss Guide and #2 in line. They were fast, next party way WAY below us. It was awesome.
- I opted to not bring crampons or an axe to keep it light, and to keep my decision making conservative. I turned around about 300 vf from summit (at sunrise!). Time from leaving hut for reference: 2:38.
- Onsighting the descent in the daylight was casual, and with all the parties still coming up it was easy to find the right way, and give partes coming up right-of-way.
- Downclimbing the two crux (5.4) sections was also no big deal, big holds, positive feet, totally comfortable. I was worried about this, but it was chill.
- Time to descend to hut: 2:38. Some waiting around, but not much.
- Amazingly, for the nerds out there: my up and down times were only 13 seconds different (longer going up), BUT the HR going up was only 93 vs HR going down of 115.
- 30 minutes at the hut to get the warm gear off, buy overly expensive water, re-pack, debate the gondola vs trail running out ...
- I chose the gondola (15min, price = 40, accept credit cards)
- Back in town for brunch at McDonalds and a nap.
- Incredible route, probably Top 5 I've ever done.
- downloadable topo here ($10): bentibbetts.com/routes/matt…
- Mediocre Amateur also had a pretty helpful youtube video of the route Aug 23, 2024
Boulder, CO
- Took the first Schwarzsee lift at 8am and started to see fast parties descending pretty early on to use as routefinding help.
- Climbed it in soft TX2 approach shoes. I was a bit worried because so many people climb this in bigger mountain boots but I would do it this way again. The snow sections in early August were so well packed out my feet never really got snowy/wet. Light strap-on crampons and an axe were ideal.
- Carried a lightweight rope, but never used it. Passed about 15 parties on my descent that were very slow and (imo) doing too many rappels
I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. If you like moving fast through a lot of 4th and easy 5th class terrain it's a pretty fun day. Aug 26, 2024