The Matterhorn
The pyramid of the Valtournenche
At the head of the Valtournenche, the Matterhorn closes off the horizon. It is 4,478 metres high. The border between Italy and Switzerland runs across its summit: Breuil-Cervinia on one side, Zermatt on the other. The people of the Aosta Valley also call it the Gran Becca, the ‘great peak’.
Four faces, four ridges
Its shape is almost that of a pyramid. Its four faces point roughly towards the four points of the compass. They are separated by four ridges: the Hörnli and the Zmutt on the Swiss side, the Lion and the Furggen on the Italian side. The north face, steep and often icy, was not climbed until 1931.
July 1865: a race between two ropes
For several years the Englishman Edward Whymper tried to climb the Matterhorn from Breuil, often with the Valtournenche guide Jean-Antoine Carrel. The two men eventually parted ways. Carrel wanted to succeed from the Italian side, with men from the Aosta Valley.
On 14 July 1865 Whymper reached the summit first, by the Swiss Hörnli ridge. His party numbered seven men. On the descent, one of them slipped and dragged three companions down the north face. The rope broke: four men died. Three days later, on 17 July, Jean-Antoine Carrel and Jean-Baptiste Bich reached the summit in their turn by the Lion ridge.
Jean-Antoine Carrel, the Matterhorn guide
Carrel climbed the Matterhorn a great many times after 1865. In 1890, at over sixty, he was guiding a client caught in a storm on the Lion ridge. He brought him down safely, then died of exhaustion at the foot of the mountain. A cross marks the spot.
The Italian route
The Lion ridge remains the normal route from the Aosta Valley. It passes the Carrel hut, at 3,830 metres, and uses fixed ropes on the steepest sections. It calls for experience of rock and altitude. Most climbers do it with a Valtournenche guide.
Seeing it without climbing
You do not need to be a mountaineer to admire the Matterhorn. The village of Breuil took the name Cervinia in the 1930s, when the ski resort was developed. From there, lifts go up to the Plateau Rosa, at over 3,400 metres, where you can ski on the glacier even in summer. Lower down, Lac Bleu, near Breuil, reflects the mountain in calm weather.
An image known around the world
The Matterhorn is probably the most photographed mountain in the Alps. Its outline appears on posters, packaging and logos. For the people of the Valtournenche, it is above all the mountain they see from their window every morning.
