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The Monte Rosa Hut () is a
mountain hut A mountain hut is a building located at high elevation, in mountainous terrain, generally accessible only by foot, intended to provide food and shelter to mountaineering, mountaineers, climbing, climbers and Hiking, hikers. Mountain huts are us ...
located near
Zermatt Zermatt (, ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Visp (district), Visp in the German language, German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a year-round population of about 5,800 and is cl ...
on the
Monte Rosa massif Monte Rosa (; ; ; or ; ) is a mountain massif in the eastern part of the Pennine Alps, on the border between Italy (Piedmont and Aosta Valley) and Switzerland (Valais). The highest peak of the massif, amongst several peaks of over , is the D ...
(up to ) and above the Grenzgletscher (Border Glacier) sitting on a glacier-free rocky part called ''Untere Platte'' at an altitude of . It is owned by the
Swiss Alpine Club The Swiss Alpine Club (, , , ) is the largest mountaineering club in Switzerland. It was founded in 1863 in Olten and it is now composed of 110 sections with 174,726 members (2023). These include the Association of British Members of the Swiss ...
. The hut is the start of the
normal route A normal route or normal way (; ) is the most frequently used climbing route for ascending and descending a given mountain peak; it is usually the easiest and often the most straightforward route. Other generic names include the ''Tourism, tourist ...
to the summit and other mountains in the area. The first hut was built in 1894–1895 just next to the then still much higher Border Glacier at an altitude of . A completely new building was inaugurated in 2009, a hi-tech, energy-wise almost self-sufficient, environmentally friendly mountain hut based on wood with an aluminium shell.


Location

The Monte Rosa Hut lies on the western side of
Monte Rosa massif Monte Rosa (; ; ; or ; ) is a mountain massif in the eastern part of the Pennine Alps, on the border between Italy (Piedmont and Aosta Valley) and Switzerland (Valais). The highest peak of the massif, amongst several peaks of over , is the D ...
, on the place named ''Untere Plattje''. It dominates the Grenzgletscher (Border Glacier) to the south and west, and further down the
Gorner Glacier The Gorner Glacier () is a valley glacier found on the west side of the Monte Rosa massif close to Zermatt in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. It is about long (2014) and wide. The entire glacial area of the glacier related to Gorner Glacier ...
, and is surrounded by many four-thousanders, such as
Nordend Nordend (meaning ''north end'' in German) is a northern peak of the Monte Rosa Massif. Nordend is the fourth highest peak of the massif, after the Dufourspitze (4,634 m), the Dunantspitze (4,632 m) and the Grenzgipfel (4,618 m). See also *L ...
,
Dufourspitze The Dufourspitze is the highest peak of Monte Rosa, an ice-covered mountain massif in the Alps. Dufourspitze is the List of mountains of Switzerland, highest mountain of both Switzerland and the Pennine Alps and is also the List of mountains of th ...
,
Liskamm Lyskamm (, formerly ''Lyskamm'', literally "crest of the Lys"), also known as Silberbast (literally "silver bast"), is a mountain () in the Pennine Alps lying on the border between Switzerland and Italy. It consists of a five-kilometre-long ridge ...
, Castor, Pollux,
Roccia Nera The Roccia Nera (Italian language, Italian for ''Black Rock'', , ...
and the
Breithorn The Breithorn ( German for literally "broad horn"; 13,661 ft. or 4,160 m) is a mountain range of the Pennine Alps with its highest peak of the same name (but also called ''Breithorn (Western Summit)''), located on the border between Switze ...
. The hut can be reached using the Gornergratbahn; from the station '' Rotenboden'' a trail leads to the Gorner Glacier (blue and white paint markings). Then the Gornergletscher has to be crossed (route usually marked with poles), then over the lower end of the Grenzgletscher, finally at around 2,600 m the trail continues directly to the hut (blue and white paint markings).


History


The first hut from 1895

The first hut, known under the name ''Bétemps hut'' after a family sponsoring the construction, was originally built between 1894 and 1895. It had 25 beds and was owned by the
Swiss Alpine Club The Swiss Alpine Club (, , , ) is the largest mountaineering club in Switzerland. It was founded in 1863 in Olten and it is now composed of 110 sections with 174,726 members (2023). These include the Association of British Members of the Swiss ...
central committee. The hut was enlarged in 1918 to host 20 more people. The Bétemps hut was offered to the Monte Rosa section in 1929 then transformed and renamed ''Monte Rosa hut''. Between 1939-1940 a new hut with 86 beds was built. The capacity was raised up to 146 in 1972 and 160 in 1984. After the new hut was opened in September 2009, the old hut was disassembled for 100,000
Swiss franc The Swiss franc, or simply the franc, is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is also legal tender in the Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia which is surrounded by Swiss territory. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) iss ...
sRüdiger Sinn: ''Alpine Moderne. Neue Monte Rosa-Hütte in Zermatt (CH)'', in: deutsche bauzeitung. Zeitschrift für Architekten und Bauingenieure, 11/2009, S. 54–57, and was demolished on 14 July 2011 by a unit of the
Swiss Armed Forces The Swiss Armed Forces (; ; ; ; ) are the military and security force of Switzerland, consisting of land and air service branches. Under the country's militia system, regular soldiers constitute a small part of the military and the rest are ...
using more than 100 kg of military
plastic explosive Plastic explosive is a soft and hand-moldable solid form of explosive material. Within the field of explosives engineering, plastic explosives are also known as putty explosives or blastics. Plastic explosives are especially suited for explos ...
. The demolition was a condition for the allowance to build the new hut close by.


The new hut

A new hi-tech environmentally friendly mountain hut was designed by architect Andrea Deplazes of
ETH Zurich ETH Zurich (; ) is a public university in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the university focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. ETH Zurich ran ...
and inaugurated in September 2009. The project of the Swiss Alpine Club, to mark the 150th anniversary of ETH Zurich, was launched in 2003. The construction materials prefabricated elements were transported by train to Zermatt and 3,000 helicopter trips were needed to take 35 workers and materials up to the glacier. The five-story polygonal building was built on stainless steel foundations with a spiral interior made out of wood, the exterior being covered with an aluminum shell. The building is designed to obtain 90 percent of its power needs from the sun. Excess energy was originally stored in valve-regulated lead-acid battery cells, which supply power when it is overcast. These batteries were replaced by Lithium-phosphate batteries in 2020. Water is collected from melting glaciers and stored in a large reservoir 40 metres above the hut. Bands of windows allow the sun to heat air inside the spiral building with the redistribution of thermal energy produced by visitors. The hut has capacity for 120 guests (as of July 2024). Over the next few years the hut will become a research station for the students from the ETH Zurich. They will use it to investigate how to use energy and resources efficiently.


Bibliography

*ETH Zurich, ed. (2010) ''New Monte Rosa Hut SAC. Self-Sufficient Building in the High Alps'' Zurich, gta, 2010.


References


Futuristic eco-hut opens doors above Zermatt, swissinfo


External links


Photos
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