Solvay Hut

The Solvay Hut is an emergency shelter perched at 4,003 metres on the Hörnli Ridge of the Matterhorn, built in 1915 with funds from the Belgian industrial chemist Ernest Solvay. It is not a destination in the usual sense — reaching it requires serious alpine climbing experience and equipment. But it can be seen from the Hörnli Hut below and is part of what makes the Matterhorn one of the most storied mountains in the world.

The Hörnli Hut at the base of the climbing route (3,260 metres) is accessible to strong hikers and offers the closest non-technical viewpoint of the Matterhorn's northeast face. The trail from Schwarzsee cable car to the Hörnli Hut takes about 2.5 hours each way and gives a genuine sense of the mountain's scale. The hut serves meals and has overnight accommodation for climbers attempting the summit route.

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The Solvay Hut was built in 1915 at 4,003 metres on the northeast ridge of the Matterhorn — the highest emergency shelter in the Alps — and has never been used for a planned overnight stay in its entire history. It exists solely to give stranded climbers a place to survive a night on the mountain. The locks were removed in 1966 so climbers could enter without a key. It can be seen from the Hörnli Hut below, a small red dot on the vast northeast face.

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