Our Matterhorn expedition starts with an evening meeting between you and your mountain guide at our Chamonix office. Your guide will go though the plan for the week and answer any questions you may have. We will also check your equipment.

Today we will go rock climbing at one of the great multi-pitch routes in Chamonix to refresh our rope work skills. We will choose nice easy itineraries that will give us the opportunity to check your level and work on improving your climbing and rope skills. Les Aiguilles Rouges or Plan des Aiguilles offer some great climbing and scrambling terrain to practice on.

Climbing the Hornli Ridge on Matterhorn will require you to be fast and confident at climbing and scrambling over exposed terrain. This is what we will practice today and routes such as the normal route on the Peigne, Traverse des Crochues or Traverse des Perrons de Vallorcine offer the perfect terrain to do so. Moreover, these are magnificent climbs offering stunning views of the Chamonix valley!

Today you will meet your mountain guide in Chamonix in the morning and then drive across to Palud in Italy, where you take the cable car up to Pointe Helbronner (3462m) from where we will climb the Aiguille d’Entrèves. This climb follows a spectacular ridge offering great exposure and amazing views. You will spend the night at the Torino Refuge.

Another option is to drive to Val Veny in Italy and climb around Monzino hut (2590m). There are some amazing rock climbing options for training for the Matterhorn. Your guide will decide which option will take place depending on the weather forecast and overall level of the group.

Aiguilles Marbrées offers mixed terrain with technical climbing at PD grade. This route is also great training and acclimatisation climb for the Matterhorn.

If you will be staying in the Monzino hut, you will climb a ridge route which has similar terrain as you will find on the Hornli ridge, for example the SW ridge to the Aiguille Croux.

Afterwards you will return to Chamonix for the night.

Today your mountain guide will meet you at our Chamonix office and check if anybody needs to collect any last minute items before the 3 hour drive to Zermatt. You will park in Tasch and take the train to Zermatt, where you will take a cable car up to Schwarzsee. From here it is about a 2.5 hour walk to the Hörnli refuge, where we will stay overnight before beginning our ascent of the Matterhorn the next day.

Summit day! You will leave the Hörnli refuge between 3-4am, in the dark with head torches on. The summit climb is with a smaller guide to client ratio (1:1) and will take 4-5 hours to complete. The steeper sections are equipped with fixed cables. The descent will take approximately as long as the ascent. When you return to Zermatt you will have a celebratory late lunch, before making your way back to Chamonix with your mountain guide.

Please note that this is an example itinerary. The exact programme will depend on the weather forecast, conditions and overall climbing level of the group.

We can help you to organise your transport to/from Chamonix. We work with well-established airport transfer companies which use new and comfortable vehicles and which have the capacity and know-how to handle everything from delayed and cancelled flights, to unexpected traffic jams with professionalism and efficiency.

To book your transfer, we will need the following:

• Your full name
• Mobile phone number
• Email address
• Your destination address
• Your flight details (date, time and flight number)

SHARED TRANSFERS:

This is the most economic and ecologically friendly way of travel. The driver will meet and greet you at the airport, gather you and the rest of the passenger group together and then head off to your chosen destination. The door-to-door service means that you will be dropped off and picked up right at your hotel /chalet / apartment. From 40€ per person for one-way and 80€ per person for a return trip.

PRIVATE TRANSFERS:

Private Transfers are the quickest way to get to and from the airport. Your driver will meet and greet you at the airport and guide you to your vehicle. There is no waiting for other passengers. Private transfers are available for one to eight person bookings and travelling together and you are guaranteed sole occupancy of the vehicle for your transfer. And, of course, it’s a door-to-door service, so you won’t be lugging any bags very far.

We don’t include mountain rescue insurance in any of our courses but we strongly recommend that you have it. Mountain rescue may be very expensive, particularly if helicopters are involved. Check with your travel insurance provider if you are covered for the specific activity you are going to do with us.

However, we can organise the mountain rescue insurance for you. Details of the insurance cover are different for EU and non-EU residents; please contact us for more information.

We highly recommend that you book any equipment with us at least 2 weeks in advance as the hire shops can have limited availability in the busy season.

You can collect your equipment the evening before the start of the course and return it in the evening at the end of your course. We work with the following Chamonix ski hire and mountain shop:

• Concept Pro Shop that is conveniently located directly next door from our office. Open 7/7 08:00-19:00