Refuge de Solvay

The place

Switzerland's highest shelter at 4003 m, on the Hörnli ridge of the Matterhorn (Valais). Inaugurated on 8 August 1917, donated by the Belgian industrialist and chemist Ernest Solvay and designed by architect Alphonse de Kalbermatten, then president of the Swiss Alpine Club. Halfway up the classic ascent, it has saved generations of mountaineers for over a century: it is meant to be used only in emergencies and contains a solar-powered emergency radio. Capacity 10 places. Between 400 and 600 mountaineers spend the night there each year, 30 to 40 of whom are genuinely in difficulty; particularly useful in bad weather, allowing rescuers to wait for favorable conditions.