Guided climbs · Monte Rosa, 4,634 m
Guided Monte Rosa climbs, compared
Two different climbs share one name. The Dufourspitze from Zermatt is Switzerland's highest summit and a long, AD- ridge day. The Capanna Margherita from Alagna or Gressoney is an easier glacier climb to Europe's highest hut. Italian guide offices sell the second for a fraction of what UK and US companies charge for the first.
Start here
What kind of trip do you want?
Copied from each company’s own pages on Oct 22, 2026. Every “See dates” button opens the page we used. Where a page says which season a price is for, we show it. Prices are in each company’s own currency; sorting by price uses rough exchange rates. Prices change; the operator’s page wins if it disagrees with this one.
Free · no guide
Climb Monte Rosa yourself
Everything above is for hiring a guide. If you have the skills, this is what you need to do it on your own, free. Facts come from the summit’s own page on PeakSeeker, with sources.
- Normal route
- Swiss Normal Route via the Monte Rosa Hut and the Grenzgletscher
- Grade
- PD+/AD-
- How long
- 2 days (1 night at the Monte Rosa Hut)
- Best season
- June to August
- Permits
- No formal climbing permit is required, but reservations at the Monte Rosa Hut are essential and a certified mountain guide is strongly recommended for the glacier travel
- Start from
- Monte Rosa Hut (approached via the Gornergrat railway and a glacier crossing), 9,459 ft (2,883 m)
- Climb from there
- 5,745 ft (1,751 m) of ascent
- Getting there
- Climbers base in Zermatt, reach the Gornergrat area by cogwheel railway, and approach the Monte Rosa Hut (2,883 m) on foot across the glacier before a pre-dawn summit push Nearest airport: Zurich Airport (ZRH); Milan-area airports are also used from the Italian side.
- Hazards
- Crevasses, rockfall on the final ridge, altitude and weather exposure
- Gear
- Glacier travel gear (crampons, ice axe, harness, rope) required; Zermatt is car-free and reached by train
Sources: monterosahuette.ch ↗rifugimonterosa.it ↗sac-cas.ch ↗zermatters.ch ↗
Read this before you pay a deposit
If you just want to stand on Monte Rosa, the Italian side is the bargain. Guide Alagna and Guide Gressoney take a party of four to the Margherita hut for €200–€220 a head in guide fees. The cheapest Dufourspitze package from a UK company is £2,895.
The Dufourspitze and the Margherita are different climbs. The Dufourspitze normal route is AD-, 7–8 h from the hut with a 2 a.m. start, and ZERMATTERS wants several 4000ers and grade 3–4 climbing first. The Margherita from the Monte Rosa Hut is PD, and from Italy it starts from lifts at 3,000 m+.
Italian guide prices are guide fees only. Add Staffal/Indren lifts and hut half board: €150 a night at the Margherita, €130 if you're with a UIAGM guide. Read every '€200' as 'plus about €150–€300'.
UK packages (Jagged Globe £2,895) sell a week of prep peaks with the Dufourspitze at the end. That's worth paying for if you aren't acclimatised. If you are, book a 2-day private guide from Zermatt instead. ZERMATTERS takes up to two people but posts no price until the next season opens.
Monte Rosa Hut beds for 2027 go on sale in early November 2026, and the summer season runs only 18 June to 18 September. Book the hut before you book a Zermatt guide.
Guide Alagna's pages disagree on some prices, and ZERMATTERS shows no Dufourspitze price out of season. Email for a current quote before you count on any figure here.
- Monte Rosa Hut (2,883 m) 2027 seasons: ski touring 18 March–17 May, summer 18 June–18 September. Online bookings open at the beginning of November 2026; none are accepted before then. monterosahuette.ch ↗
- Monte Rosa Hut rates: CHF 92 a night with half board for SAC/Alpine club members aged 22+; employed guides who are SAC members CHF 58. Overnight only CHF 38 members / CHF 62 non-members. Cancelling within 48 hours (after 18:00 two days before) costs CHF 55 per person per night. monterosahuette.ch ↗
- Capanna Regina Margherita (4,554 m, on Punta Gnifetti): half board €150, or €130 if you are with a UIAGM guide; bed and breakfast €130. Booking is mandatory in summer. The hut is run by Rifugi Monterosa (MBG srl) and owned by CAI. rifugimonterosa.it ↗
- Margherita booking terms: deposit by card when you book, balance paid at the hut, and nothing is refunded after you pay. Cancel in writing 72+ hours ahead and you get the deposit back less €25. Inside 72 hours, or if you don't show, you lose the deposit. Bad weather is assessed on the day; altitude sickness or lack of fitness is not refunded. rifugimonterosa.it ↗
- Dufourspitze normal route (Sattel and West ridge) from the Monte Rosa Hut: graded AD-, 7–8 h, 1,750 m of ascent on the SAC route portal. The hut is 4–4½ h on foot from Rotenboden. From the same hut, the Capanna Margherita via the Grenzgletscher is PD, 6–7 h. sac-cas.ch ↗
- Extras with ZERMATTERS on the Dufourspitze: half board in the Monte Rosa Hut for you and your guide about CHF 95 per person, return train to Rotenboden CHF 106 (reductions with GA, Half-Fare or Swiss Travel Pass), rental gear CHF 50–70. Start is around 02:00. zermatters.ch ↗
The companies
ZERMATTERS
- Based
- Zermatt, Switzerland
- Programs
- 5
- Deposit
- Deposits are deducted from the total price; kept if the tour cannot run because of weather.
- Refunds
- No extra charge for a guide's weather cancellation (decided 24–48 h ahead), but the deposit is retained. Refunds go to the original payment method.
- Private
- Dufourspitze: 1 to max. 2 participants per guide. Spaghetti Tour also sold as a shared-guide group version.
Policy from: zermatters.ch, zermatters.ch, zermatters.ch
Società delle Guide Alpine di Gressoney (Guide Gressoney Monte Rosa)
- Based
- Gressoney, Aosta Valley, Italy
- Programs
- 2
- Refunds
- Bookings bind the guides to their suppliers and are not cancellable; cancellation insurance is offered at 4% of the package. In bad weather the program is moved to a later date.
- Private
- Priced per head by group size: private for 1, falling as you add climbers (up to 4–5 per guide).
Policy from: guidemonterosa.info, guidemonterosa.info
Guide Alpine Alagna
- Based
- Alagna Valsesia, Piedmont, Italy
- Programs
- 6
- Deposit
- Group bookings by email with a €100 per person deposit.
- Refunds
- Cancel more than 7 days out: rebook or get 50% of the deposit back. Cancel within 2 days of the activity: full price due. If the guide cancels for serious reasons: full deposit refund, or another date, another program, or a voucher for the season.
- Private
- Priced per head by group size, from 1 person; fixed-date group trips need at least 3.
- Contact
- info.guidealagna@gmail.com
Policy from: guidealagna.com, guidealagna.com
Compagnie des Guides de Chamonix
- Based
- Chamonix, France
- Programs
- 3
- Deposit
- 30% of the trip price plus registration and insurance fees; balance due 30 days before the start. Bookings within 30 days pay in full.
- Refunds
- Written cancellation. Multi-day terms retain 30% of the price (plus fees) 31–60 days out and 50% at 21–30 days out; the 5% booking fee is never refunded. The 61+ day tier differs between versions (5% of price vs. fees only).
- Age
- 18+ on adult programs; a separate 6-day Monte Rosa program is sold for teens.
Policy from: chamonix-guides.com, chamonix-guides.com, chamonix-guides.com
Chamonix Experience
- Based
- Chamonix, France
- Programs
- 2
- Deposit
- 30% deposit confirms the booking; balance due 90 days before the trip. Full payment if booking within 90 days.
- Refunds
- Cancel more than 90 days out: 30% of total price (the deposit). Within 90 days: 100%. No refund for leaving early, and no reschedule or refund when weather prevents the summit attempt.
Policy from: chamex.com, chamex.com
Jagged Globe
- Based
- UK
- Programs
- 2
- Deposit
- £200 on the Zermatt 4000ers page; the general terms state £300 non-refundable.
- Refunds
- Courses: 42+ days out lose deposit; 21–42 days 50% of course cost; under 21 days 100%.
- Private
- Group size 2–6 on Zermatt 4000ers; single room supplement £200.
Policy from: jagged-globe.co.uk, jagged-globe.co.uk
Mountain Tracks
- Based
- UK
- Programs
- 3
- Deposit
- Deposit on booking; balance due 10 weeks before the trip starts.
- Refunds
- Package holidays: more than 10 weeks out lose the deposit; 70–43 days 30% of cost; 42–31 days 50%; 30 days or less 100%. Insurance premiums and amendment charges never refunded.
- Private
- Monterosa Climber runs at 1 guide to 2 clients.
Policy from: mountaintracks.co.uk, mountaintracks.co.uk, mountaintracks.co.uk
Mountain Madness
- Based
- Seattle, WA, USA
- Programs
- 1
- Deposit
- $700 at registration, $300 of it non-refundable; balance due 120 days before departure.
- Refunds
- International trips: deposit refunded less registration fee if cancelled 121+ days before departure; no refunds at 120 days or less. Written notice required.
- Private
- 1:1 guide ratio sold at a higher price.
Policy from: mountainmadness.com, mountainmadness.com
American Alpine Institute
- Based
- Bellingham, WA, USA
- Programs
- 1
- Private
- Private trips with custom dates; price depends on number of participants and days.
Cancellation terms not published where we looked. Get them in writing before you pay.
Visit AAI ↗Policy from: alpineinstitute.com
Get an email when bookings open
Monte Rosa Hut bookings for 2027 open in early November 2026. Get an email that week, plus any price changes.
Before and after the trip
Most programs start in Zermatt, Switzerland / Alagna & Gressoney, Italy. Lodging is extra on nearly all of them.
Monte Rosa on PeakSeeker → routes, live summit weather and permits.
More comparisons
How this page makes money: links to Booking.com, Viator and 57hours may earn PeakSeeker a commission if you book. Links to the guide companies themselves don’t, and nobody pays to be listed or to change what we say. Spot something out of date? Tell us.
Sources
- monterosahuette.ch/?lang=en
- monterosahuette.ch/reservation/?lang=en
- rifugimonterosa.it/capanna-margherita/
- rifugimonterosa.it/condizioni-di-prenotazione/
- sac-cas.ch/en/huts-and-tours/sac-route-portal/dufourspitze-539/alpinism/
- zermatters.ch/en/activities/climb/summit-tour/article/dufourspitze/
- zermatters.ch/en/general-terms-business/
- zermatters.ch/en/activities/climb/summit-crossing/article/monte-rosa-for-connoisseurs-group/
- guidemonterosa.info/en/assicurazione/
- guidemonterosa.info/en/activities/capanna-regina-margherita
- guidealagna.com/en/condizioni-economiche-2/
- guidealagna.com/en/attivita/margherita-hut/
- chamonix-guides.com/en/conditions-generales-de-vente
- chamonix-guides.com/en/activities/details/mountaineering-monte-rosa-4000-peaks
- chamonix-guides.com/en/activities/details/mountaineering-monte-rosa-teens
- chamex.com/pages/terms-and-conditions
- chamex.com/trip_courses/monte-rosa-mont-blanc-course/
- jagged-globe.co.uk/climb/course/i/alps+zermatt+4000.html
- jagged-globe.co.uk/jg/terms.html
- mountaintracks.co.uk/terms-and-conditions
- mountaintracks.co.uk/faq
- mountaintracks.co.uk/holidays/monterosa-climber
- mountainmadness.com/trips/monte-rosa-spaghetti-traverse
- mountainmadness.com/policies/international-trip-cancellation-policy
- alpineinstitute.com/programs/guided-alpine-climbing-in-the-swiss-alps/
- Each climb’s own page, linked from its “See dates” button.