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Signalkuppe

4,554 m

Italy, Switzerland

Also known as Pointe Gnifetti, Punta Gnifetti, +3

Pointe Gnifetti · Punta Gnifetti · სიგნალკუპე · Punta Gnifetti / Signalkuppe · Зигналькуппе

Elevation
4,554 m
Prominence
98 m
Difficulty
4/10
Alpine hike
Best Season
Jul–Aug
Routes
2

  • Hut closedReported 14 Sep 2026 · until 18 Mar 2027

    Monte Rosa Hut closed for the season and its official approach closed. The upper approach (Panoramaweg) is no longer passable: markings and the stair have been removed. The lower 'Alter Weg' is still marked; winter-room users must use it. 2027 seasons announced: ski touring 18 March–17 May, summer 18 June–18 September.

    monterosahuette.ch

  • AdvisoryReported 16 Jul 2026

    In the hot summer of 2026 some guides reported many open crevasses on the Monte Rosa glacier routes and higher than usual rockfall; check current conditions with the hut before going.

Routes

2
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Approximate line — not for navigation

An automated check found that parts of this line could not be matched to mapped trails, so it may stray far from the real route. Use it for planning only, with a map and a guidebook.

Why? 2 check notes
  • danger scan: Colle Gnifetti → Signalkuppe: connector line 32 m above the last hut/bivouac
  • last routed vertex 32 m from the summit
AlpineFGlacierNormal route

The classic and easiest way onto Monte Rosa: lift to Punta Indren, a night at the Gnifetti or Mantova hut, then 4–5 hours up the crevassed Lys glacier to the Colle del Lys, across the upper basin below the Parrotspitze to the Colle Gnifetti, and up a final 35° slope to the Capanna Regina Margherita, Europe's highest hut, on the summit.

Elevation Profile

approximate line
3,0003,5004,0004,5005,0000 km123456Punta IndrenCapanna Giovanni GnifettiColle del LysColle Gnifetti
Distance
≈ 6.9 km
one way
Ascent
≈ +1,347 m
−57 m lost on the way up
High Point
4,563 m
Time Up
≈ 5h 28m
DIN 33466
Time Down
≈ 3h 45m
DIN 33466 · same way back

The Signalkuppe (Punta Gnifetti) is a subsidiary summit of the Dufourspitze, but its hut, the Capanna Regina Margherita, makes it the most visited summit on Monte Rosa. Day one: from Staffal (Gressoney) or Alagna take the lifts to Passo dei Salati and the cable car to Punta Indren (3,275 m). Cross the Indren glacier to a rock barrier, passed either by a snowy gully or by the equipped 'roccette' path (fixed ropes and steps), to the Rifugio Città di Mantova (3,498 m) and the Capanna Gnifetti (3,647 m), about 1–1.5 hours. Day two: from the Gnifetti hut climb north, roped, up the Lys glacier, which is heavily crevassed, to the Colle del Lys (about 4,150–4,250 m). Turn east and traverse slightly downhill below the Parrotspitze and the Signalkuppe across the upper Grenz glacier basin, then climb north towards the Colle Gnifetti (4,452 m). Just below the col turn south-east up a steeper slope (about 35°) to the hut and summit. Allow 4–5 hours up and 2–3 hours down to the Gnifetti. Many parties sleep at the Margherita and add the Zumsteinspitze (about 1 hour from the Colle Gnifetti) or other 4,000 m summits on the way.

Start

Punta Indren3,269 m

  • Monterosa Ski: Staffal or Alagna to Passo dei Salati, then the Passo dei Salati–Punta Indren cable car (summer)
  • Train to Pont-Saint-Martin, bus up the Gressoney valley to Staffal; or train to Varallo and bus to Alagna Valsesia. Then the Monterosa Ski lifts to Passo dei Salati and Punta Indren.

Stages

DayStagekmm ascentm descentTime
1Punta Indren → Capanna Giovanni Gnifetti2.2357131h 29m
2Capanna Giovanni Gnifetti → Signalkuppe4.8987443h 59m

Waypoints

  1. Lift:
    Punta Indren3,269 m

    Top station of the Passo dei Salati–Indren cable car

  2. Hut:
    Rifugio Città di Mantova3,448 m
  3. Hut:
    Capanna Giovanni Gnifetti3,616 m
  4. Col:
    Colle del Lys4,244 m
  5. Col:
    Colle Gnifetti4,456 m
  6. Summit:
    Signalkuppe4,554 m

    Capanna Regina Margherita stands on the summit

Key Passages

  • Fixed-rope rock barrier (roccette) between the Indren glacier and the huts
  • Crevassed Lys glacier
  • Traverse below the Parrotspitze to the Colle Gnifetti
  • Final 35° slope to the Margherita hut

Equipment

0/11 packed
Technical
Glacier
Safety
Footwear
Clothing
Navigation
Hut & Camping

Downloads

Route confidence 85%

Overview

The 4,554 m Monte Rosa summit crowned by the Capanna Regina Margherita, the highest building in Europe. Its normal route from the Italian lifts and huts is a long but technically easy glacier climb (F), which makes it the most popular high summit of the massif.

The Signalkuppe (Punta Gnifetti in Italian) stands on the Swiss–Italian border at the southern end of the Monte Rosa summit crest, south of the Zumsteinspitze and above the huge Monte Rosa east face over Macugnaga. With about 100 m of prominence it is a subsidiary summit of the Dufourspitze, but the Capanna Regina Margherita on its top, a refuge, research station and observatory since 1893, gives it a status of its own.

The Italian normal route from the Gnifetti or Mantova hut is graded F: a 4–5 hour plod up the crevassed Lys glacier and across the basin below the Parrotspitze, finishing up a 35° slope to the hut door. The Swiss route from the Monte Rosa Hut up the Grenzgletscher is longer (about 1,750 m of ascent) and has more crevasse and serac terrain. Neither involves real climbing, but both are high-altitude glacier routes where navigation in cloud, crevasses and cold wind are serious hazards.

Altitude is the main challenge. Sleeping at 4,554 m without acclimatisation commonly causes headaches and poor sleep, and the hut has been a laboratory for high-altitude medicine since Angelo Mosso's experiments in the 1890s. From the summit, the crest leads to a ring of easier 4,000 m tops (Parrotspitze, Ludwigshöhe, Pyramide Vincent) and the harder Zumsteinspitze and Dufourspitze.

Climbing Notes

Suitable for fit hikers who have basic glacier skills or go with a guide: roped glacier travel, crampons and ice axe, and the ability to recognise and manage altitude sickness. The usual plan is lift to Punta Indren, first night at the Gnifetti or Mantova hut (3,500–3,650 m), summit the next day in 4–5 hours, then either a night at the Margherita or straight down (2–3 hours to the Gnifetti, plus the walk to the last Indren cable car). Acclimatise first with nights above 3,000 m or an easier summit such as Punta Giordani or the Pyramide Vincent. Book the Margherita hut early; it is often full in July and August, and in bad weather the summit area is a featureless white plateau where GPS navigation is essential.

History

The first ascent was made on 9 August 1842 by Giovanni Gnifetti, parish priest of Alagna, with Cristoforo Ferraris, Cristoforo Grober, Giacomo and Giovanni Giordani, Giuseppe Farinetti and two porters, after several earlier attempts. The Italian Alpine Club built the first hut on the summit in 1893, prefabricated in the valley and carried up by mules and porters; it was inaugurated on 18 August 1893 in the presence of Queen Margherita of Savoy, after whom it is named. A meteorological station was added in 1899, and the hut became a centre for high-altitude physiology under Angelo Mosso. The original building was dismantled from 1977 and replaced by the present hut, opened in 1980.

Season

Best Jul–Aug
  1. January: Not advisable
  2. February: Not advisable
  3. March: Possible
  4. April: Good
  5. May: Possible
  6. June: Good
  7. July: Best (best window)
  8. August: Best (best window)
  9. September: Good
  10. October: Not advisable
  11. November: Not advisable
  12. December: Not advisable
Jan
Winter; huts closed except winter rooms; lifts closed to Indren
Feb
Winter conditions
Mar
Spring ski-mountaineering begins when Gnifetti and Monte Rosa huts reopen (mid/late March)
Apr
Good ski-mountaineering conditions
May
Huts close for part of May; Indren lift reopens at the end of May
Jun
Lifts and huts reopen; Margherita hut from about 20 June
Jul
Main season; huts busy
Aug
Main season; crevasses open up later in the month
Sep
Margherita hut closes early September, others mid-September
Oct
Huts closed; early winter conditions
Nov
Winter conditions
Dec
Winter conditions

Access & Permits

Hut Booking
Monte Rosa Hut: online via hut-reservation.org (linked from monterosahuette.ch) or +41 27 967 21 15; reservations for 2027 open at the end of October 2026. Italian huts (Gnifetti, Mantova, Margherita): booking.rifugimonterosa.it or +39 348 1415490.
Fees
  • Monte Rosa Hut (2026 rates, half board): CHF 92 for alpine-club members, CHF 116 for non-members; cancellation free until 18:00 two days before, later CHF 55, no-show CHF 92
  • Monte Rosa Hut winter room: CHF 38 per night, online booking
  • Capanna Gnifetti (2026, CAI members): €105 half board; non-members pay a surcharge
  • Capanna Regina Margherita (2026, CAI members): €150 half board; non-members pay a surcharge
  • Gornergrat railway (Zermatt–Rotenboden) or Monterosa Ski lift tickets to Punta Indren
Rules
  • Camping is prohibited around the Monte Rosa Hut
  • Sleeping-bag liner compulsory at the Monte Rosa Hut and the Monterosa (Italian) huts
  • Monte Rosa Hut: no self-catering facilities; self-caterers pay a CHF 20 infrastructure fee; tap water is not drinkable
  • Capanna Margherita: reservation mandatory in summer; no dogs
  • Zermatt is car-free: park in Täsch and take the shuttle train
  • Capanna Margherita: the unstaffed winter room (about 10 places) cannot be reserved; bring sleeping bag, stove and cookware
Getting There

Gressoney-La-Trinité or Alagna Valsesia (Italy); Zermatt (Switzerland)

Milan Malpensa (MXP) or Turin (TRN) for the Italian side; Geneva (GVA) or Zurich (ZRH) for Zermatt

  • Zermatt: train via Visp; by car park in Täsch and take the shuttle train
  • Gornergrat railway from Zermatt to Rotenboden (2,815 m), then 4–4.5 hours on foot to the Monte Rosa Hut
  • Italy: bus from Pont-Saint-Martin to Gressoney/Staffal, or from Varallo to Alagna; Monterosa Ski lifts to Passo dei Salati and the Punta Indren cable car (summer season from 30 May in 2026)

Hazards

  • Glacier
  • Crevasses
  • Altitude
  • Weather

Huts & Shelters

4