When the goal is the summit of the Breithorn and you climb out of the gondola of Europe’s highest mountain railway station on the Klein Matterhorn with your rucksack, mountain boots and ice ax, the following question arises: Why the hell should you descend 400 meters now to get the next Day to run everything up again?
Well, the reason is as simple as it is convincing: On the glacier field Plateau Rosa, part of the Theodul glacier, lies the Rifugio Guide del Cervino hut at 3480 meters, in the Italian part of the Swiss-Italian ski area Zermatt-Cervinia-Valtournenche. And this refuge, built in 1984, offers pasta, vino and the “really best espresso in Italy”, as the host Lucio Trucco praises it, and 36 beds.
This is where the spaghetti round starts: it goes to the Italian mountain huts
So, slightly dazed by the thin air, the cold wind and the breathtaking view of the Matterhorn, you strap your crampons under your feet and walk down the slope. What would be easy with skis is a little more difficult on foot at some steep passages. But the hut on the Testa Grigia (Graukopf) rock head is the ideal starting point for tours on the Breithorn, or, much further, to penetrate into the Monte Rosa massif via Pollux, Castor and Liskamm. Connoisseurs call this tour the spaghetti tour, and some also call it a pizza tour; it owes its name to the mountain huts of Italian provenance – with a pasta or pizza stop.
Skiers like to come for a short refreshment in the rustic hut Rifugio Guide del Cervino with its huge, sheltered sun deck and the pasta kitchen. It serves as a place to sleep for mountaineers and tourers, nestled between the 4,000-meter peaks of the Valais Alps and the Italian Aosta Valley. So you can start your high-alpine tours early in the morning, more or less rested. On the way back at the latest, you know that a start to the Breithorn at dawn is worthwhile. After you have reached the summit in three hours at a leisurely pace, dozens of rope teams come towards you during the descent, who had to wait for the first lift in the village. Thanks to the overnight stay, the early risers have the ascent, the sunrise, the peace and quiet and the view to themselves.
Because the glacier is melting, the national border is shifting
The wooden hut belongs to the Italian Società Guide del Cervino – Association of Mountain Guides on the Matterhorn, founded in 1865. Four years ago it was taken over by the landlord and mountain guide Lucio Trucco. She has just had a tough Corona year. “There was not a single overnight stay and only limited daily operations throughout the 2020/21 season,” says Josef di Giacomo, who gives Trucco a hand when he walks over the peaks or needs a break from the mountain in his house, down in the Italian village . But it is not only the consequences of the pandemic, including restrictions and sales losses, that are worrying the landlord: A border dispute between Italy and Switzerland is also causing dark clouds. Put simply, this dispute is about climate change, glacier melt and the resulting shifting of the national border. The consequences of the melting of the glaciers for ski areas recently took on a considerable shape on the Aletsch, the largest glacier in Europe: A new mountain railway was set into a movable foundation that moves with the slope and guarantees at least the lift operation for the next 25 years.
At the Testa Grigia, the latest measurements by the Swiss Federal Office for Topography (Swisstopo), among others, have shown that the line of the watershed on the Theodul Glacier has been shifted by 100 to 150 meters in favor of the Confederates. Strictly speaking, the warming of the past few years has reduced the height of the glacier and exposed the edge of the rock that is under ice. The watershed now runs on the rock, and the direction of flow of the water determines the border here – as in so many places in the Alps. When the hut was built, the boundary was formed by a glacier, which was then the line of the watershed. This has melted and the water is now flowing into Switzerland.
When Trucco took over the hut from his predecessor four years ago, the border still ran in front of the door; today it runs right through his guest room. But so far no one has wanted to accept Trucco’s suggestion “to leave the hut on Italian land and to mark and respect the Swiss border”. “It’s a political problem – and that’s where I can do the least.”
This “political problem” is no longer a concern of the municipalities of Zermatt and Cervinia-Valtournenche, nor of the canton of Valais or the autonomous, but part of Italy, Aosta Valley – it has instead moved to “Rome and Bern”, as Zermatt municipality president Romy Biner did -Hauser says. She does not want to speak of a dispute, it is rather “a matter of clarification”. Since she took over the dossier from her predecessor five years ago, she has known “that the hut is on Swiss soil, but belongs to the Italians. We want to give the land to them so that the hut can continue to stand on Italian land. However, it is necessary for an exchange of the same area “. She says: Border adjustments are always carried out, “but always with give and take. The hut should remain Italy. That is our express wish”. However, the countries have to agree on an exchange of land in the immediate vicinity of the same area. Actually, it’s all about rubble, rock and ice.
The fact that a solution to the problem may be in sight in the near future has to do with much larger projects in the cross-border ski area south and north of the Matterhorn. The 3S-Bahn to Kleinmatterhorn opened in autumn 2018, but this is only supposed to be the beginning of a much larger project. The construction of the so-called Alpine X, a structurally identical 3S cable car, which is to connect the Testa Griga mountain station with the Kleinmatterhorn, would enable guests to commute between Cervinia and Zermatt in the most comfortable way. Even pedestrians and wheelchair users.
Despite a certain backlog of renovations, the hut is popular with Swiss, Italians and all international guests, which is also due to the wine and the good pasta.
(Photo: Nicole Schafer / Photo & Film)
The hut owned by tenant Trucco will then be right in the middle of the action, especially when the first international World Cup races take place after a successful track construction – it is to be opened in autumn 2022. The races on the Matterhorn would be the first cross-border races in the history of the World Cup – with start and finish in different countries. The start of the men’s downhill is on Gobba di Rollin in Switzerland, the finish on Laghi Cime Bianche in Italy. The Swiss downhill Olympic champion of 2010 and slope builder Didier Défago designed the route. In autumn 2023 things could start in Zermatt / Cervinia with the World Cup speed opening. “We are on schedule with the construction and the World Cup vision,” says Zermatt Mayor Romy Biner-Hauser.
In comparison with the projects in the highest ski area in Switzerland and Italy, the hut problem at Trucco seems small. But it is of course serious for the tenant, because he cannot even make the smallest change to his old house as long as the border issue has not been resolved. As in all glacier huts, there is no running water for guests at the Testa Grigia either. It is enough to flush the toilet, but not to brush your teeth. There is no more than a cat wash at the two sinks in the shared washroom. Dry toilets, as they are now being installed in new huts at these altitudes, could be a solution. However, whether Trucco’s guests sleep better in new beds remains questionable – the altitude takes its toll.
Despite a certain backlog of renovations, the hut is popular with Swiss, Italians and all international guests: the antipasti plates with cheese and ham from the region are plentiful, the pasta anyway, and the range of Italian wine at almost 3500 meters is formidable. Amarone, Tignanello and other voluminous wines from Sicily are in the wooden buffet, which stands like an altar in the rustic dining room. As soon as the crampons are unbuckled and the path across the terrace has been made, the guests sit at long tables. By the way, a normal glass of house wine costs four euros at Lucio. In Zermatt you can easily double that. One more reason that the hut remains Italian.
Travel information
Getting there: If you head for Zermatt by car, you can leave it in the parking lot in Täsch (CHF 16 per day) and take the train. Zermatt is car-free. If the destination is Cervinia on the Swiss side, the route leads from Munich via Como and Milan into the Aosta Valley.
Ascent: The ascent to the Rifugio Guide del Cervino takes four to five hours from Cervinia. Those who come from Zermatt have many options with the mountain railways. Hikes from the Trockener Steg mountain station (1.5 hours) or Klein Matterhorn are possible. (Alpine) skiers can also take the Gandegg lifts to the hut.
Accommodation: An overnight stay in a six-bed room with half board costs 70 euros per person. The hut is managed all year round, it is best to register in advance. Tel .: 0039/0166 948 369, rifugioguidedelcervino.com
Current regulations on huts: sac-cas.ch/de/covid