Matterhorn. New rules to access the Carrel Hut: from July 12nd reservation is needed for the night.

PRESS RELEASE
Cervinia, 11/07/2019

Matterhorn. New rules to access the Carrel Hut: from July 12nd reservation is needed for the night.

From July 12nd, those who want to sleep at the Carrel Hut, (bivouac owned by the Cervino Guides Society), located on the normal Italian way to climb to the Matterhorn called “Cresta del Leone”, must book the overnight stay. The Cervino Guides Society, has decided to regulate access to the Carrel Hut to avoid unpleasant overcrowding, reduce dangerous queues and morning congestion and limit waste left at the hut and around the mountain.
To supervise, throughout the summer period, there will be a mountain guide who will have the task to checking the reservations, ensure cleanliness and better manage the turnout on the normal Italian way.

The Carrel Hut is at 3,830 meters and is a stopping point for climbers, between the first and the second day of climbing to the Matterhorn summit 4,478 mt. Inaugurated in 1969, it was partially restored and enlarged in the last decades. Dedicated to Jean-Antoine Carrel, the first Matterhorn climber along the south-west ridge, the Carrel Hut, it is equipped with mattresses and blankets. There are 40 beds available upon reservation, while another 18 places are available for the Matterhorn mountain guides and their clients. There is no running water and a serious lack of snow to melt; there are no toilets or food supplies, except those necessary for emergencies.

Reservation can be made by sending an email to: info@guidedelcervino.com or by calling to the Cervino Office Guides: +39 0166 948169, every day during office hours: 9 – 12 and 14:30 – 18:30. The reservation requires a minimum offer of € 30 for mountaineers (€15 for alpine guides) to be paid upon booking in agreement with the Cervino guides’ secretariat. Any cancellations must also be communicated in time.
The new regulation will be applied not only during the summer period, but throughout the year: therefore, it is highly recommended, to verify usability and availability of the hut.

The Cervino Guides Society states that sums received, will be allocated to the management and maintenance of the hut and for all ordinary expenses such as: gas transportation, carried up by helicopter; disposal of waste and maintenance of both the structure and the anchorages and fixed ropes (available for all climbers) on the normal Italian way which must be periodically checked and replaced.

No ordinance has been issued and therefore there are no fines or access restrictions to the climb. For those who do not book, however, it will not be possible to guarantee the overnight stay inside the hut: «The Alpine Guides – underlines the president of the Cervino Guides Society, Flavio Bich – do not want to limit to anyone the possibility of climbing to the Matterhorn. The aim of this regulation is to make climbers aware of the need to take advantages of the mountain, conscientiously, considering their own means and limits. The Italian normal way to the Matterhorn is a long and demanding route that requires a good mountaineering experience. We do not want to impose the closed number (as it was done on the French side of Mont Blanc) but try to prevent inexperienced people from endangering their own safety and that of others. The Matterhorn should be a goal to be set when you already have a good climbing curriculum: natural pitfalls are many and, if you add overcrowding, certain situations become difficult to manage especially if you have no experience ».

The Matterhorn is a famous and very coveted mountain: «With a good training and with a mountain guide who has the necessary experience and knowledge of the way, ascension can be completed even in a day, starting from Oriondé. – concludes Flavio Bich – Safety requires only one client per guide and groups must be maximum of two climbers, in order not to further increase ascent and descent times ».

Info: www.guidedelcervino.com

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