Tour of Monte Rosa

Everyone can customize the distances they do each day and decide where they want to stay. I did the tour in 6 days, with an average of 32km per day. I don’t recommend this for non-trail runners. As a reference I used the book “the tour of Monte Rosa” by Hilary Sharp.

I started the trail in Zermatt. As part of the tour you have to go over the Theodul glacier. I just used little slip-on spikes for this, although it wasn’t so slippery. Normal hiking boots with grips should be sufficient, though it was easier to walk with the microspikes. Look out for crevices! It’s less where the ice is but more where the snow is on the side of the trail.

When in Italy, I personally chose to stay the night in Champoluc, which is a little bit off the path. The town is so cute though and I definitely recommend staying there. There’s a free bus from St. Jacques and the path picks up again just above Champoluc.

From Gressoney La Trinite, I took the route that goes up by Lake Gabiet, though there are variant routes near Staffal. From Lake Gabiet, I “cheated” a bit and I took the telecabine from lake Gabiet up to the Paso dei Salati. Mostly bc the ascent is long and uninteresting and you’re basically walking on a ski piste the whole time.

**important**
From the Paso Salati I took a variant route to the Refugio Pastore through the Vallone del Pisse and Bors. The beginning of the path is very steep and technical with rocks. I do not recommend this route in bad weather or if you are not an experienced hiker. But otherwise, if it is good weather and you are experienced, it’s a really cool, remote path. If the conditions are bad or you are with inexperienced hikers, take the route that goes down through Alagna.

The ascent up Monto Moro Pass from Macugnaga is pretty difficult. It took me nearly 3 hours with my bag and tired legs. But maybe takes the average hiker 4 hours?

The route goes into Saas Fee, then Grachen. Before I reached Grachen I went up to the Wannehorn summit. The panoramic views are amazing!

From Grachen, parts of the Europaweg are closed, so I went directly to Mattsand. Otherwise you have to come up and back down just to go up again, and it’s important not to waste your energy...because the ascent from Herbriggen up to the Europaweg is steep and very difficult !! Make sure you have enough energy for this !

Once you’re up the views are just spectacular! And then follow the signs (or my route) for Europaweg to Zermatt.

This was an amazing journey and I hope you enjoy it if you do it!