Should the Matterhorn close? That question arose again last week after at least one anonymous guide told the Swiss newspaper听听that the mountain was too unstable and therefore too dangerous to climb.听
The comment came after a South Korean climber and his guide died last month after a rock fell and damaged a fixed rope on the east flank of the mountain. A total of six听people have died on the Matterhorn so far this year, and 11 died attempting to reach its听summit last season. The 14,642-foot peak has always been one of the world鈥檚 most dangerous; it鈥檚 estimated that more than 500 people have died since it was first summited in 1865.听
鈥淭he Matterhorn is not a piece of solid granite.听It鈥檚 a piece of shales [soft, stratified sedimentary rock]. It鈥檚 not very stable,鈥 says Raphael Mayoraz, a geologist, mountain guide, and head of the natural-hazards department of听the Swiss canton听of Valais, where the mountain is located.听 by the PermaSense听project released in 2019 found that melting permafrost and receding glaciers have made rockfalls听an even greater danger on hot summer days.
Mayoraz says he鈥檚听noticed changes in the Alps since his early days as a mountain guide. The north faces of the range used to be perpetually covered in snow, meaning climbs were on hard, packed snow and ice. But much of that 鈥渉as been melting, which means now most north faces are pure rock, and they are less stable,鈥 he says.听
In winter, snow fills the gaps between loose, unstable rock on the upper layers of the Alps. That snow turns to ice at freezing altitudes, which acts as a glue, keeping the rocks in place. A colder, snowier听winter will create more ice, while extremely hot summers melt it, causing an increased risk of rockfall.听Because of this phenomenon, the north face of the Matterhorn has become almost too dangerous to climb in the summer, according to Mayoraz. This includes H枚rnligrat Ridge, on the northeast face, the most popular听route to the summit.
Rockfall happens, says Jonathon Spitzer, director of field operations at , who monitors the conditions on the Matterhorn daily. 鈥淚t鈥檚 more prevalent in the Alps than anywhere else in the world that we guide, just because the permafrost there is melting drastically with climate change,鈥 Spitzer explains.听
Mayoraz says that people climb the mountain at their own risk.
The mountain closed for several days 听after a major heat wave resulted in听35,000 cubic feet of rock sliding听off听the H枚rnligrat Ridge, forcing听the evacuation of 90 climbers. This led听scientists from to install wireless sensors where the rockfall occurred.
But the notion that the Matterhorn should close now doesn鈥檛 make sense, according to听Mayoraz. It听would be impossible to keep climbers off it anyway.听鈥淚t鈥檚 a big mountain. There are probably 20 routes that go to the top of Matterhorn, or even more, so what are you going to do?鈥澨
鈥淕laciers are receding very quickly,鈥 says Mayoraz. Two-thirds of the glaciers in the Alps will be lost by 2100, according to published in the geosciences journal听鈥嬧嬧嬧嬧嬧婽he Cryosphere听in April. 鈥淭here are new crevasses. You need to find new routes to go on the glacier. It鈥檚 a continued adaptation, but that鈥檚 part of alpinism: finding the best way, the safest way.鈥
There are no plans to close the Matterhorn this year. 鈥淣o one, and even less the mountain guides, are in favor of a closure,鈥 says Pierre Mathey. managing director of the Swiss Mountain Guide Association.听And Alpine Ascents has no plans to halt its听guided trips, says Spitzer. It has听four more groups attempting the summit this year. 鈥淲e tell them up front that we need to be aware that rockfall is prevalent,鈥 says Spitzer.听
Mayoraz says that people climb the mountain at their own risk. Whether to ascend a mountain is a decision, he believes, that local authorities should have no role in making for individual climbers. 鈥淲here is the limit? When do you open and听when do you close听a, by the way, pretty shaky mountain?鈥