Rifugio Oriondé and Croce Carrel
A steep climb below the south face of the Matterhorn to Rifugio Oriondé and the cross that commemorates the valley's most famous guide, with the Matterhorn seemingly within reach.
- Difficulty
- EE Expert hikers
- Length
- 9.5 km
- Elevation gain
- +880 m / −880 m
- Time
- 5 hours
- Route
- Out and back
- Altitude
- 2018–2921 m
- Season
- Summer
Download the GPXDirections to the start ↗
Saved. You'll find everything in My trip, where you can split it into days and see it on the map.
Saved on this device: you can open it even without a connection. All your saved pages are in Offline guides.
The topographic map loads OpenTopoMap tiles (an external server) only when you open it.
The story
The cross commemorates Jean-Antoine Carrel, the Valtournenche guide who in 1865 led the first ascent of the Matterhorn from the Italian side, a few days after Whymper's party from Switzerland. He died in 1890 right below here, exhausted, after bringing his clients down safely through a blizzard.
Why go
Because it is the closest you can get to the Matterhorn without being a mountaineer, in the footsteps of those who wrote its history.
Practical information
- Start
- Breuil-Cervinia
- Finish
- Croce Carrel (about 2,920 m), back the same way
- Best time
- July–September
- Parking
- Pay car parks in Breuil-Cervinia.
- By public transport
- Bus from Châtillon to Breuil-Cervinia.
- Water
- At Rifugio Oriondé.
- Shade
- None.
- Huts and refreshments
- Rifugio Duca degli Abruzzi at Oriondé (seasonal).
- With children
- No: the last stretch is steep and rocky, at high altitude.
Weather at the start
The forecast for the next 7 days at this spot: sky, temperatures, rain and wind.
Forecast by Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0), from the models of national weather services. Your browser downloads it directly from Open-Meteo, and only when you ask. In the mountains and at sea the weather changes quickly: check the official forecast as well before you set off.
What to see on the route and nearby
More hikes in Aosta Valley
- 1Rifugio Vittorio Sella from ValnonteyE 10.1 km · +900 m · 5–6 hours · out and back
- 2★ Lago di Loie from LillazE 7.1 km · +810 m · 4 hours · out and back
- 3Rifugio Bonatti in Val FerretE 2.9 km · +320 m · 2–2.5 hours · out and back
- 4★ Ru MarseillerT 11.5 km · +510 m · 3–3.5 hours · point to point
- 5★ Lago di Miserin and Finestra di ChamporcherE 13 km · +720 m · 4–5 hours · out and back
- 6★ On foot to Chamois, the car-free villageE 4.9 km · +460 m · 2.5 hours · point to point
- 8Rutor Waterfalls and Rifugio Deffeyes from La ThuileE 10.4 km · +880 m · 5–5.5 hours round trip · out and back
- 9Lago Blu, the Matterhorn's mirrorT 3.3 km · +20 m · 1 hour round trip · out and back
- 10Rifugio Elisabetta and Lac Combal in Val VenyE 12.4 km · +560 m · 4.5–5 hours round trip · out and back
- 11★ Lago d'Arpy from Colle San CarloT 6.4 km · +130 m · 1.5–2 hours round trip · out and back
Routes © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), via Waymarked Trails and BRouter; elevations from a digital terrain model. Times and elevation gains are indicative: waymarks on the ground and closure orders always take precedence.