Trip Reports

Italian Haute Route - August 2025

Italian Haute Route - August 2025
Trip Report

Written by Leader, August 2025

Thank you to Mick Peakman for sending us this report.

For a self-declared spaghetti hater, choosing a trek which is commonly known as the 'Spaghetti Tour' would, on the face of it, seem rather odd, however, spaghetti only featured once in the entire trip and ironically, it was in the hotel in Zermatt!

The tour itself starts and finishes in Zermatt and is known as the Italian Haute Route, so as not to confuse it with the Chamonix to Zermatt Haute Route. This Haute Route circumnavigates the Monte Rosa Massif and spends a considerable time above 3,000m and a decent amount of time above 4,000m.

Getting to Zermatt is pretty straightforward. I flew to Geneva and hopped on a train - the station is part of the airport - which took me all the way to Visp. There was a change there to the funicular that winds its way up to Zermatt itself. The marvellous Hotel Aristella is a ten minute walk. Wheelie suitcases strongly advised. Swiss trains do not seem to have a trolly or buffet service and the journey is over four hours, so go prepared. Also, I'd strongly recommend purchasing a Swiss half price travel card. In 2025 it cost £113 but I calculated I saved over £250 on cable car and train fares so it more than paid for itself.

I'd chosen to arrive a couple of days early to get some acclimatisation done. Day one was an easy walk around 2,700m which happened to coincide with the Swiss National Day - free beer was being handed out at the cable car station! Well, it would have been rude not to. Day two, slightly higher with a walk to the Hornlihut, which is at the foot of the Matterhorn at 3,260m.

On Saturday evening, Paul, our guide met us in the hotel and we discussed the week ahead, collected what gear we needed from the JG stash at the hotel and chatted about gear choices in general.

Sunday morning saw us heading off, having left our suitcases with stuff we didn't need at the hotel. Our first cable car ride was up to the Trockner Steg. From there it was 4km up to the Teodulo hut at 3,300m. It only took 1 hour and 40 minutes so after sorting our room and bed, we had lunch, then spent some time practising rope crevasse rescue on the terrace, and finally went down onto the glacier for some more practice including crampons and taking rope loops - something I had done in the past but needed the refresher.

The Teodulo hut is in Italy and it is noticeably cheaper for drinks and food.

Meals at all of the huts follow a similar pattern. Breakfast is 'continental' help yourself. Lunch picnics if you buy them comprise a huge sandwich, some fruit and a bottle of water. Dinner is a three course affair with soup or pasta to start, a meat and potato based main and a mousse style dessert. All of the food in all of the huts was of a consistently high standard. You won't go hungry.

Day two saw us back down to the cable car station, then taking a higher one to the Klein Matterhorn station, the highest point achievable by cable car in Europe at 3,883m. We put on crampons, harnesses and what clothing we thought we needed but as soon as we walked outside it was obvious it wouldn't be enough as it was quite cold so on went the Gore Tex and gloves. Our objective, the Breithorn (4,160m) was in view, described as 'easy' but it's a good hard climb on quite steep snow. There are a couple of turns on a zig zag climb - it would be severe if attempted direct. We went roped up in case of falls. Occasionally the wind picked up which made it really cold.

The final summit ridge was soon upon us and we crested the rise. The wind was howling and there was zero view so we didn't stay more than a few minutes before heading off. Our route took us under the twin peaks of Castor and Pollox and it was a long walk across the snow slope before we could turn and descent. The Ayas Hut, our destination was visible below to our right, but we couldn't drop straight down as it was the other side of a huge crevasse field which became more apparent as we passed below it.

The next day we walked to the Gabiet Hut which was a challenge. Initially very steep down from the Ayas Hut on bouldery ground, followed by a short section of high pasture and then a huge three hour climb and scramble over boulders and scree to finally gain the ridge. From there, another, better section on path down to the cable car station that would take us down to the valley of Stafal and back up the other side to within ten minutes’ walk of the Gabiet hut.

This hut is magnificent, showers are available, toilets are just a few steps from the room and beer is both available and reasonably priced. What's not to love?

It was soon to end though and after breakfast we headed off to the cable car station which took us up to the start of our day. At the top we then had about 1 1/2 hours walk over mixed terrain including one section requiring crampons. Another very rocky section was tough going but eventually the Mantova hut came into view. A coffee and mars bar stoked me up for the days climb. The hut was a jumping off point for a couple of 4,000m peaks and there were boxes to leave gear, so out went everything we didn't need for the climb.

Pyramid Vincent at 4,215m was our first mountain of the day. It was long climb, requiring crampons, poles and being roped up, but eventually we crested and were rewarded with awesome views all around. Our next destination was the Balmenhorn (4,167m) which was a descent, a traverse across a col, and a small climb, which felt huge, up to the base of the rocks. From there, we dumped packs, poles and crampons and ascended the final vertical section via a rope and staples. There is a Jesus statue and a small bivvy hut at the top. It was just over an hour back to the hut.

We had an early start at 6am and it was tough uphill from the get-go. Following the route we did yesterday, we passed underneath the Balmenhorn towards our first 4,000m peak of the day, the Ludwigshohe at 4,341m. From there, we descended into a col and began the big slog up to the Parrotspitze (4,434m). It is a proper knife-edge summit which felt quite intimidating so it was good to get off, although it was a steep and very thin descent. The ascent to the Margherita hut is very gradual, but in some ways, better for tired legs. It does qualify as a 4,000m peak, called the Signalkuppe, and in fact, the hut is the highest building in Europe at 4,552m.

The following morning, the walk to the Monte Rosa Hut is all downhill, but mostly on the Grenz glacier so cannot be taken for granted. We had crampons on and were roped up for safety the entire time and judging by some of the crevasses we saw, it was definitely necessary. Off the glacier, it is still tough, there being a huge boulder field to negotiate.

The Monte Rosa hut is huge! Very well equipped with proper toilets, not holes in the ground, showers, comfy beds and an excellent dining room, probably the best hut of the entire trip. Rooms sorted, we headed down for lunch. I decided to have an omelette as I'd felt quite hungry coming down and felt like I could eat something. I did and very nice it was too. Of course, being now back in Switzerland, the prices had shot up again. The afternoon was spent relaxing, reading, drinking coffee and generally chilling out, admiring the views - the Matterhorn was directly ahead of us, and looking very impressive.

The final day was described as a walk down to the Gornergrat station. In my head, that meant downhill all the way. How wrong can you be? Out of the hut around 6:45am we did indeed step down onto a rocky moraine. We then spent the next hour or more hopping from rock to rock slowly making our way across it, and in fact when we came to the end of it we were higher than when we started! From there, we had a significant glacier to cross which required crampons and poles. It was safe enough that we didn't need to be roped so could move at our own speed. As with most glaciers, it was far from straightforward and we weaved our way across up and down looking for the best route. Eventually we got to the far side, still no lower than the hut. Crampons off, we followed a good track that, far from heading down, was trending upwards. This was not the plan!

We'd agreed that, being reasonably experienced mountaineers, we could all follow a simple path to the railway station. There were no objective dangers, we could take our time, stop for photos or to just admire the view, essentially enjoy the day. It didn't quite work out like that. Due to a few stops, some to chat to walkers who were clearly out for the day, we lost sight of our guide. No problem, we'd agreed to meet at the station. Eventually we came to an area signposted as a 'Station Garden' and saw a sign pointing up the hill to Gornergrat station. That must be it. The next 20 minutes or more was a real slog uphill with the station nowhere to be seen. Finally it appeared and we climbed the last 100m of ascent.

We'd finished, it was around 11:30am and we were 200m higher than our starting point of the day. My watch claimed over 700m of ascent! Our guide was nowhere to be seen so we phoned him. It transpired that he'd waited for about half an hour at the lower 'Station Garden' then continued down, assuming, correctly, as it happened, that we'd gone to the wrong one. We hadn't needed to climb the last 200m of ascent! Tickets purchased we got on the next train and enjoyed the trip down, reuniting with Paul in Zermatt.

We said our 'thank yous' and 'goodbyes' then Dave and I headed for the hotel. It was only lunchtime but with typical Swiss efficiency, our rooms were ready and our suitcases already installed. Before going up, we enjoyed a celebratory beer in the lobby, our journey finished.

Travelling home the following day was straightforward. I decided I’d treat myself to a First Class train ticket, using man-logic to argue that, with my half-fare card, I’d save even more money, so it was well worth it. Loaded up with food and drink, it was a very pleasant way to travel back to the airport.

After a few days at home, I reflected on my trip. Did I enjoy it? Yes, but it is relentless, with tough days pretty much every day and a considerable amount of time spent at altitude which did nothing for my appetite. Having to walk down three flights of stairs to the loo in the night was a low point, but looking out over and climbing some of the awesome mountains every day was a high point. Adding six 4,000m peaks to my collection was a reward in itself. Apart from the first day, we had superb weather, sometimes cold, but no colder than expected, sometimes hot, but not so hot it was unbearable. The huts were a mixture, some excellent, others functional but overall good. Did I take the right gear? I think so. There was nothing, other than my waterproof over trousers that I didn't use at some point, and there was nothing that I wished I'd taken. The JG list is a good place to start, tailoring it to your specific requirements. Of course, every day in the mountains is different but for most of the trip, I wore a base summer weight T-shirt and a mid-layer with Spring/Autumn weight trousers and it was enough. I had a thermal top, Gore Tex and over trousers for colder days, although I never wore the trousers.

Thanks as always to the JG team for their help and immaculate organisation, making it yet another trip where all I really had to do was to turn up and climb the mountains. Thanks also to Paul, our guide who took us places we’d never been, taught us new skills, refreshed old skills and pointed out and named the gazillion mountains that we saw. I’m not totally sure they were all correctly named, I can’t for the life of me find the Apple-strudel Horn or the Gateau Spitze, but that’s probably just me.

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