There's no doubt that a lot of people will associate the Alps, and mountaineering in general, with this glorious rock pyramid called Matterhorn. Every climber's dream is to summit it at least once in a lifetime, to identify himself with this iconic mountain.
Working as snow and ice guide in Switzerland in Summer 2003 at KISC, in Berner Oberland, gave me the opportunity for an attempt on Hörnli Ridge in August, roping up with guide Steinthor Nielsson (IS).
The best time to climb Matterhorn is from mid June to beginning of September, when the weather is more forgiving, but many times it was snowing even on this interval, making the ascent more difficult, along the frequent rockfalls and the fact that the route is overcrowded.
As the mountain is a true maze, a very smart idea would be a short scouting ascent a day before the climb to inspect the beginning of the route and the way it leads to the Solvay Hut (4003 m), a shelter to be used in emergency, owned by the Swiss Alpine Club.
Steinthor Nielsson (IS) by Solvay Hut
We've reached the summit in 4 and a half hours, but it tooked 7 hours to descent to Hörnli Hutte, due to many teams still on the way up, waiting for them to climb on steep sections.
Guides Ciprian Moruzan (RO) and Steinthor Nielsson (IS) on Matterhorn Summit
Ciprian Moruzan (RO) on Matterhorn Summit
Climbing on Matterhorn is not very difficult, but good visibility would be a huge plus to your ascent. Small cam devices and various slings would be very helpful, along with a serious hydratation kit, cos you'll be spending at least 10 hours on the mountain. On our attempt we had only the basic gear: helmet and lamp, harness, a couple of binners, two fat locking binners so you can clip the thick ropes along the ridge, an icescrew, classic axe and lightweight crampons. Leather gloves can be a smart ideea to have too. We had a single 50 m rope, but twin ropes would make the difference on descent when rapelling.
Timing is essential if you want to descent to Zermatt in time to catch one of the last trains in the evening (cos we've missed the last one so we spent the night in the station); if not, you can relax with a beer on the Hornli Hut terrace enjoying the fantastic view.
There are several routes to ascent on Matterhorn, but I can say that most people will choose Hörnli Ridge, following Edward Whimper's route on his way up to the summit, few days before the italians, on the 14th of July 1865.
There's a lot of info on internet about climbing Matterhorn following various routes, and, on top of that, you can ask for advice on Matterhorn Summit Log.
You'll find below few pages from "The Alpine 4000m Peaks by the Classic Routes", by Richard Goedeke, describing the classic routes to the summit.
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