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Refuge Jean-Antoine Carrel

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Rifugio Carrel
Rifugio Carrel

Refuge Jean-Antoine Carrel is a refuge in the Alps at an altitude of 3,830m in Aosta Valley, Italy. It is located on the south-west ridge of the Matterhorn, near the Swiss border. The mountain hut was named after Jean-Antoine Carrel who made the first ascent of the Matterhorn via the south-west ridge. It is located along the south-west ridge of the Matterhorn (Arête du lion). The new shelter, owned by the Società delle Guida del Cervino or Société des guides du Cervin, was inaugurated in 1969 and partially redone after the major landslides that affected this side of the mountain in 2002–2003. The Carrel shelter has 50 beds and is always open. The nearby Capanna Luigi Amedeo di Savoia, built in 1905 by the CAI section of Turin, has been transformed into a museum and moved first to the village of Valtournenche and then, in September 2009, in front of the Italian Matterhorn Guide Company office. This bivouac was an alternative shelter to the Carrel refuge, and was heavily damaged in the summer of 2003 following a large landslide (the same that caused the fall of the so-called Cheminée). The platform where the bivouac was located is now used as a landing point for the helicopter. Access is from Breuil-Cervinia. The refuge can be reached from the Duca degli Abruzzi-refuge in a hike of about four hours. The last part of the track, despite the presence of fixed ropes, is reserved for experienced mountaineers.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Refuge Jean-Antoine Carrel (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Refuge Jean-Antoine Carrel
Sentiero 35 dal paravalanghe Cherillon al Rifugio Oriondé,

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N 45.973055555556 ° E 7.6475 °
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Rifugio Jean-Antoine Carrel

Sentiero 35 dal paravalanghe Cherillon al Rifugio Oriondé
11021
Aosta Valley, Italy
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guidedelcervino.com

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Rifugio Carrel
Rifugio Carrel
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Matterhorn
Matterhorn

The Matterhorn (, German: [ˈmatɐˌhɔʁn]; Italian: Cervino, [tʃerˈviːno]; French: Cervin, [sɛʁvɛ̃]; Romansh: Mont(e) Cervin(u)) is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the Pennine Alps, whose summit is 4,478 metres (14,692 ft) high, making it one of the highest summits in the Alps and Europe. The four steep faces, rising above the surrounding glaciers, face the four compass points and are split by the Hörnli, Furggen, Leone/Lion, and Zmutt ridges. The mountain overlooks the Swiss town of Zermatt, in the canton of Valais, to the northeast; and the Italian town of Breuil-Cervinia in the Aosta Valley to the south. Just east of the Matterhorn is Theodul Pass, the main passage between the two valleys on its north and south sides, which has been a trade route since the Roman Era. The Matterhorn was studied by Horace-Bénédict de Saussure in the late eighteenth century, and was followed by other renowned naturalists and artists, such as John Ruskin, in the 19th century. It remained unclimbed after most of the other great Alpine peaks had been attained and became the subject of an international competition for the summit. The first ascent of the Matterhorn was in 1865 from Zermatt by a party led by Edward Whymper, but during the descent, a sudden fall claimed the lives of four of the seven climbers. This disaster, later portrayed in several films, marked the end of the golden age of alpinism. The north face was not climbed until 1931 and is among the three biggest north faces of the Alps, known as "The Trilogy". The west face, the highest of the Matterhorn's four faces, was completely climbed only in 1962. It is estimated that over 500 alpinists have died on the Matterhorn, making it one of the deadliest peaks in the world.The Matterhorn is mainly composed of gneisses (originally fragments of the African Plate before the Alpine orogeny) from the Dent Blanche nappe, lying over ophiolites and sedimentary rocks of the Penninic nappes. The mountain's current shape is the result of cirque erosion due to multiple glaciers diverging from the peak, such as the Matterhorn Glacier at the base of the north face. Sometimes referred to as the Mountain of Mountains (German: Berg der Berge), it has become an indelible emblem of the Alps in general. Since the end of the 19th century, when railways were built in the area, the mountain has attracted increasing numbers of visitors and climbers. Each year, numerous mountaineers try to climb the Matterhorn from the Hörnli Hut via the northeast Hörnli ridge, the most popular route to the summit. Many trekkers also undertake the 10-day-long circuit around the mountain. The Matterhorn has been part of the Swiss Federal Inventory of Natural Monuments since 1983.

Hörnli Hut
Hörnli Hut

The Hörnli Hut (German: Hörnlihütte) is a mountain hut located at the foot of the north-eastern ridge (Hörnli Ridge) of the Matterhorn. It is situated at 3,260 metres (10,700 ft) above sea level, a few kilometres south-west of the town of Zermatt in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It is also known as Berghaus Matterhorn. The first Hörnli hut was built by the Swiss Alpine Club in 1880 and had 17 beds. It has since been expanded and rebuilt several times. In 1911, the municipality of Zermatt built a hut directly next to the Hotel Belvédère (also Berghaus Matterhorn). Both were merged in 1987 and managed by the municipality and offered since its last renovation in 1982 a number of 170 beds. From 2013 to 2015, the Belvédère was renovated and a new extension built. The original Hörnli hut was demolished. The new hut was inaugurated on 14 July 2015, the 150th anniversary of the first ascent of the mountain. It offers 130 beds (in a total of 34 8-,6-,4- and 2-person rooms) and an enlarged kitchen, modernized sanitation with showers and electricity from solar energy. Camping around the hut is prohibited and there is a winter room with limited provisions. Overcrowding on the several routes have become an issue and guides and local authorities have struggled with how to regulate the numbers. The new Hörnli hut became the first mountain shelter in Europe to purposely limit the number of beds.The hut is accessible to hikers. From the cable car station of Schwarzsee (or from Zermatt) a marked trail leads to the ridge and then to the hut. It is used to climb the Matterhorn on the normal route. The Solvay Hut lies also higher on the same ridge, but can be only used in case of emergency.