At the end of July we climbed the Matterhorn via the Lion Ridge from Cervinia, taking on the whole route in a single day – church to church.
Steve was on his first alpine climbing trip, but we had put in some useful preparation beforehand. We climbed the Grand Paradiso in a day to get some altitude and time in the legs, followed by a technical training day in the Aiguilles Rouges above Chamonix.
The plan for the Matterhorn was always to climb it in a day rather than stay at the Carrel Refuge. Fortunately, both the weather and mountain conditions lined up perfectly.
Ready for the off outside the church in Cervinia.
We left Cervinia just after 4am. Looking high above the village, we could already see the head torches of climbers who had spent the night at the Carrel Refuge making their way up the ridge.
Conditions were exceptionally dry, with virtually no snow on the route. This meant we could leave the axes, crampons and mountaineering boots behind and travel as light as possible. After a couple of hours we collected some water that I had cached the previous day, put on helmets and harnesses and continued towards the Carrel Refuge and the main difficulties of the Lion Ridge.
Steep fixed ropes on the upper ridge of the Matterhorn.
The ladder pitch, the steepest on the mountain, quite near the summit.
We passed several teams along the way, most of whom had either stayed at the hut or bivouacked. The climbing went well, although the combination of more than 2,500 metres of ascent and a lot of time above 4,000m inevitably began to make itself felt towards the top.
A little over seven hours after leaving Cervinia, we reached the summit cross at 4,478m.
Then we had to do the whole thing in reverse.
After descending the Lion Ridge, we stopped for a well-earned coffee and cake at the lower Abruzzi Refuge before continuing all the way back down to Cervinia.
We eventually arrived back in the village after 14 hours 43 minutes, having covered 19km and 2,524m of ascent.
A big mountain day by any measure – and a brilliant effort from Steve to climb one of the most iconic mountains in the Alps on his first alpine climbing trip.
Interested in climbing the Matterhorn?
Vertical Frontiers offers guided Matterhorn ascents from both the Italian and Swiss sides of the mountain. For fit and experienced climbers, we can also climb the Matterhorn in a single day from either Cervinia via the Lion Ridge or Zermatt via the Hörnli Ridge.
Get in touch to discuss your experience, preparation and the best option for your Matterhorn ascent.
More steep ground just beneath the rifugio carrel.
Back on flatter ground, and enjoying views of the mountains and wildlife.
A well deserved post climb reward. Dinner number 1 of 2. A pretty good calorie deficit after a long day on the mountain.
