INTRO
It is not just a mountain, but a breathing giant, a silent witness to glacial tales, human feats, and the very history that made Monte Rosa legendary.
With its 4554 meters at Punta Dufour and a crown of 21 peaks that challenge the sky reaching +4000m, it has called to itself poets, dreamers and, above all, mountaineers.
It is no coincidence that its name, born from the Lombard term “Hrosa” (ice) tells of an eternal presence, a mountain that has illuminated thousands of eyes, a mountain that does not bend to the force of time.
But behind its majesty there are men and women who, step by step, have written the history of mountaineering, transforming villages like Alagna and Gressoney into crossroads of epic adventures.
Among the many who have been amazed by it, and who have left their footprints on its snows, there is also Leonardo.
It is precisely the presence of Leonardo da Vinci in the valley in the early 16th century that moves us when we reread his words contained in the Leicester codex:
“And this will be seen as I saw it, whoever will go over the Monboso yoke of the Alps which divides France from Italy, which mountain has its base which gives birth to the 4 rivers which run through 4 opposite aspects all of Europe, and no mountain has its base in similar height; […] and I saw the air above me dark and the sun which hit the mountain to be much brighter there than in the lower plains, because it is less thickness of air was interposed between the top of this mountain and the sun.”
Today you can retrace those tracks: not only to climb, but to experience a deep connection with this land.
Ready to discover 5 moments that marked mountaineering on Monte Rosa?
Put on your boots! Monte Rosa history awaits us!
1. The Rock of Discovery: the first step into the unknown
It was the summer of 1778 when a group of young people from Gressoney decided to challenge Monte Rosa, not for fame, but out of curiosity. Valentin and Joseph Beck, Joseph Zumstein, Nicolas Vincent and three other companions set out in search of a legendary “Lost Valley”, a myth that hovered among the tales of the valleys.
They didn’t find hidden valleys, but something bigger: the Colle del Lys, at 4178 metres, which they named “Rock of Discovery”.
It was the first documented step towards the high altitudes of the Rosa, a simple but revolutionary gesture.
Imagine: no GPS, no modern ropes, just leather boots and the desire to see further.
Today, that hill is a destination for those who want to touch the beginning of everything, those who want to feel the history of Monte Rosa, for those who want to reach the point where Monte Rosa stopped being a mystery and began to be normality.
2. The first summits conquered: Vincent and Zumstein write their names
It wasn’t long before the Rosa surrendered more of its peaks.
In 1819, Nicolas and Joseph Vincent, they climbed a peak that today bears their name: at Piramide Vincent, 4215 meters.
A few days later, the same Nicolas, together with Joseph Zumstein, reached 4561 meters of what became the Zumstein Point.
They were not professional mountaineers in the modern sense, but mountaineers who knew every crevice of their land. Their climbs had no sponsors or photographers following them: they were pure instinct, a dialogue between man and the mountain.
Today, these peaks are classic stages for those approaching the 4000 meters of the Rosa, and climbing them is like touching the hands of those who were the first to dare to look from above.
Join us for an adventure that will take you to the Vincent Pyramid at 4215 m and to Balmenhorn at 4161 m.
Click here for more info: Vincent Pyramid and Balmenhorn
Following the route on the Lys Glacier, just as mining engineer Nicolas Vincent did in 1819, you will reach with us the Vincent Pyramid and you will take part in history of Monte Rosa.
3. Capanna Margherita: a dream at 4554 metres
If there is a symbol of mountaineering on Monte Rosa, it is the Capanna Margherita.
Inaugurated on 18 August 1893, it is not only the highest observatory refuge in Europe, but a crazy idea become reality.
It was born from the desire of the newly formed Italian Alpine Club to create an observatory at high altitude, a place to study the sky and the mountains.
The Gressoney guides accompanied Queen Margherita of Savoy to Punta Gnifetti for the ribbon cutting, and that day the refuge took her name.
Building it was a feat: every beam, every nail was carried on shoulders over impervious paths and treacherous glaciers.
Today, sleeping there is a more common experience but one that still changes you: the silence of the night at 4554 meters, the wind singing among the peaks, the panorama that opens up onto one of the most beautiful panoramas in Europe.
It is Monte Rosa that offers itself to those who have the courage to reach it, and here on Monterosa Booking you can book your place in this piece of history of Monte Rosa and mountaineering itself.
Discover the experiences you can live with us at Capanna Margherita!
Click here for more info: Capanna Margherita
Make your dream come true: spend a night on the highest refuge in Europe and observe the world from almost 4556 m!
And if you don’t feel ready and want to train with us, take a look at our courses: Alpine Training
4. The impossible walls: the south-east of the Lyskamm
Mountaineering on Monte Rosa is not just peaks: it is also walls that seem to defy gravity.
In 1902, guides Francesco Curtaz, Giacomo David and Alberto Lazier opened the route up the southeast face of eastern Lyskamm, a wall of rock and ice that still intimidates today.
A few years later, in 1903, Antonio Curtaz and Giovan Battista Pellissier, together with Countess Grace Filder of Campello della Spina, traced a new line on that same wall, today known as Via Filder.
Grace was not a beginner: a passionate mountaineer, she climbed with elegance and tenacity, leaving it written that the Gressoney guides shook her hand with respect, without asking anything else.
“Land guides congratulated me with a good handshake. They did not ask for the honor of embracing me as the less polite twenty-four guides of the Mont Blanc bride Mademoiselle D’Angeville had done.”
These ascents marked a change of pace: no longer just peaks, but technical routes that required strategy and audacity.
Today, the Lyskamm remains a test for those seeking pure adrenaline, a chapter in history of Monte Rosa that you can relive with our modern guides.
Climb with us on The Nose Of Lyskamm in a 2-day traverse along the skyline of Monte Rosa.
5. The first winter ones: the challenge of the frost
Monte Rosa did not give up easily, and the climbers knew it.
In January 1907, Antonio Curtaz, Alberto and Edoardo Lazier, together with the explorer Mario Piacenza, carried out the first winter ascent of the Perazzi ridge on the Lyskamm, followed the next day by first winter tour of Punta Dufour from Colle Zumstein.
Imagine the biting cold, the snow that gets everywhere, the darkness that arrives quickly: and yet, they made it.
In 1911, Antonio Welf and Carlo Fortina added another piece, with the first Italian ascent of the north Lyskamm and the first ascent of the south-west ridge of Castore.
The winter ones changed everything: they demonstrated that the Rosa could have even risen below zero, paving the way for a mountaineering that knows no seasons.
Today, these streets are an attraction for those who love the silence of winter and the challenge of the ice.
These 5 moments of history of Monte Rosa are not just dates in a book: they are the heartbeat of a mountain that has raised generations of mountaineers.
From that first step on Colle del Lys to Capanna Margherita suspended in the clouds, Monte Rosa has transformed villages such as Alagna and Gressoney into starting points for the useless impossible.
They weren’t just climbs: they were dreams, effort, chapped hands clutching rudimentary ropes.
And every climb has left something: refuges that still welcome, routes that challenge, stories that are handed down.
The Rosa is not just ice and rock: it is a place where man has learned to push himself further, and where you can still do it today.
If you want to learn more and better prepare yourself for a conscious ascent, we have created a specific course with a UIAGM mountain guide, in which you can learn everything you need to face altitudes with less risks.
Do you want to climb Monte Rosa or tackle a high-altitude excursion taking all the necessary measures to minimize risks?
Do you want to prepare your body and your mind for a climb in Capanna Margherita?
Get ready the right way with our mountaineering course, led by a UIAGM expert.
What will you get from the course?
- You will learn to experience the mountains with awareness
- You will learn how to navigate environments far from your comfort zone
- You will learn what equipment to use and how to use it
- You will know the freedom of feeling good and connected to nature in non-anthropized environments
Book your place on the course now by clicking here: Alpine Training
👇From here you can download our free guide to mountaineering!
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