Cima di Jazzi from Monte Rosa hut

Fantastic full circle tour around Zermatt skiing on the major glaciers of the Monte Rosa massif. Although not one of the major peaks in the area, Cima di Jazzi is totally worth a visit and the views down the Italian side are very impressive. It's only 1000m elevation gain from the hut, but don't underestimate the distances. Takes longer than you may think. The reward is a 2000m descent to Zermatt.

A stop and Rösti at Kurt Lauber's Ze Seewjinen is worth the extra pushing along the snowshoe trail instead of going down directly to the Blauherd chair lift.

Day 1: Descent from Schwarztor surprisingly good. Apart from the few enormous (and obvious) crevasses, glacier seems quite well covered. Ascent on the Gornergletscher (starting from around 2400m) was also mostly straightforward. A few areas where the glacier already turns into small swimming pools.

Day 2: Saaser Licka is completely dry on the hut side. A double strand of fixed rope is installed for the rappel (one strand starts to loose its sheath, make sure to rappel on the good strand). It's about a 20-25m rappel. Gornergletscher after Saaser Licka is fully covered. Descent on the Findergletscher still possible without major problems.

Day 1: 4 hours from Klein Matterhorn (12:30) to hut (650m up, 15km) Day 2: 5h20m to Cima di Jazzi, 1h30m to ski lift (1100m up, 22km)

Sunny and very warm on the first day. During summit day, mix of sun and clouds in the morning becoming very cloudy after 1pm.

Efficient service as usual despite a fully booked hut.