Matterhorn Solo - Hornli Route - Zermatt, Switzerland

The Matterhorn is an iconic mountain, arguably the most recognizable mountain in the world, located on the Switzerland and Italy border in the Alps. It's most commonly climbed from the Swiss side, via the Hornli route, coming up from Zermatt thru Schwarzsee then from the Hornlihutte.

[@pauljahn4730]

absolute amazing mate! Congratulations. At some parts you can hear the fear in your voice, but you've done well that dangerous mountain. Respect.

[@HikingEngineer]

thanks man

[@Calitogagirl]

Oh my lord! That is beautiful, it doesn't even look real. Looks like an amazing adventure! Good job 👏

[@alpinesnowboardfan5369]

Amazing and beautiful video 😊 Like I was on the Matterhorn myself.

[@HikingEngineer]

it's a fun one!

[@PaulDye-f6l]

Epic achievements man, be safe and keep the video's coming!! No time for work......😂

[@cassieyo]

Epic. Parts of that looked very challenging! Cool you had it to yourself up top.

[@HikingEngineer]

it was fun!

[@MountainHobbler]

That down climb looked too spicy for me. Great job!

[@HikingEngineer]

thx

[@velislavstoev]

Gongrats! Well done. Thanks for sharing😊

[@phillivingston8237]

I have followed you thru the first half of the video. i need to take a break to catch my breath! You are making amazing progress. Stay safe!

[@HikingEngineer]

gotta watch the descent too!

[@bfish5501]

Looks incredible!!! Great video! Part of me is saying: "That's awesome, I need to climb this!" the other part is thinking: "That's some crazy exposure, I'll pass" Looking forward to hearing more about it.

[@HikingEngineer]

in terms of the scrambling, it's more involved than any CO 14er. Less hiking though obviously

[@gregtiffhud]

Great job man

[@HikingEngineer]

thanks

[@ruinsandridges]

Wow, That looks pretty crazy.

[@HikingEngineer]

yeah pretty legit! luckily im comfortable with exposed scrambling

[@phillivingston8237]

OK, I followed you on the way down. I had to chuckle at your observation "It's a LITTLE sketchy"! There you are thousands of feet above sea level with a pack on your back hiking forward, which to me would hinder your balance. I am sure it wasn't your first rodeo. You did well, my friend. Better than well, it was a masterful, well-thought-out descent! I applaud you. A fantastic achievement with spectacular views ! Thank you so much for sharing !!

[@Colby168]

That looked sketchy start to finish! You flew up that thing. Have you ever done Jackass Canyon? It’s just down from Navajo Bridge. I did that a few years ago. I think you would enjoy that one. You need a Navajo permit to park. We did 2 nights at the river which is technically the Grand Canyon so also need a permit to stay the night but you could do the whole thing in a day. Lots of boulder scrambling to get through.

[@HikingEngineer]

I have! I did Rider then Jackass one morning - this was back in 2018 well before I started making videos. I'll do it again one of these times for a video

[@carrel92]

I got scared for a split second for that guy coming down at 19:54

[@HikingEngineer]

ha I just looked at this part of the video. This was probably the hardest part between the snow and then the rope being buried. Definitely major slip hazard. Crazy that I went up this part without crampons on

[@JudTaGar]

Amazing. I've watched many Matterhorn videos and I don't recognize the last bit where you went down following the rappel rope, was it the normal way down or did you deviate from the path? Thanks and congrats!

[@HikingEngineer]

thanks! yeah you probably didn't have the volume on -- I was saying in the video that I got off trail but then found that big long rope(s) and just kinda winged it going to down

[@JudTaGar]

I see thanks, so those long ropes led you to the path again, glad to know you didn't end up in the wrong direction

[@willscott3304]

Good effort, it was a crowded day. From a safety standpoint, I don't agree with passing in highly fractured sections. There should be some etiquette on the part of slower groups, especially.

[@alexsupremewolf]

Amazing

[@HikingEngineer]

it was a good one. would've been even better if there weren't so many people to get by on the way up

[@gotsu21]

Be warned: don't watch the descending when you just ate or are eating.

[@degrad9]

too late!

[@kvpc11]

Awesome video! I solo climbed on August 10th, it was fantastic. What day is this climb? Love the content!

[@HikingEngineer]

thanks! I did it Thurs Aug 8!

[@mikemabe8427]

When did you climb? I was there with the family two weeks ago. Kept the hiking low key but did the matterhorn glacier trail one afternoon. Met everal groups coming down from the hornli hut.

[@HikingEngineer]

this past Thursday

[@mikemabe8427]

@@HikingEngineer Awesome! I've been looking at a couple of your Zion videos preparing for my October trip and thought wow, maybe we crossed paths in Switzerland :)

[@robertjaycox8488]

I noticed while you were using that rope on that real steep section, there were people going up on your left ...was that an easier way for them, and you wanted to go up the vertical wall? Pardon me if I sound dumb, Im not a mountaineer. lol

[@robertjaycox8488]

And I don't get that there were fixed ropes a lot of the way up, but they stopped toward the top with all the snow? You would think there would be ropes up there too. Crazy .

[@HikingEngineer]

I'm thinking there was just an easier/safer route up to the left that didn't involve the horizontal rope section, which had a couple tricky steps

[@HikingEngineer]

@@robertjaycox8488 yeah not sure about that or why there aren't fixed ropes up high. Guess you gotta put in your own work sometimes!

[@robertjaycox8488]

@@HikingEngineer Thanks for your replies. Epic climb. Way too scary for me!

[@Свободадляроссии]

​@@robertjaycox8488 I'm guessing there is deep snow cover most of the year there and it's hard to install ropes properly when the rock is deep down. And the rock below there is pretty shit

[@alpine__ultra]

Niiiiiice!

[@HikingEngineer]

it's a good one, where do you live?

[@eddy0083]

How does this compare to any of the CO 14ers?

[@HikingEngineer]

in length much shorter, but in technicality and exposure much more. Above the hut there really is no hiking, it's 4000' up of mostly class 3/4/5 terrain

[@stevee.7419]

Not free soloing

[@HikingEngineer]

I don't think you understand the definition of free soloing -- that means climbing something without protection. While not hard technically (fairly easy class 5 sections) this is absolutely a free solo

@@HikingEngineer Its a solo but not free since you pull on fixed ropes

[@HikingEngineer]

valid point you have here so I'll give you that. I guess typically most people when they not free solo they are pointing out that I'm not Alex Honnold and that's it not hard class 5. So I made that assumption on the original comment which is my fault. But some of the parts are class 5 with no rope!

[@MartinLehner-mz2qx]

it's unbelievable how badly you walk with the crampons, more on your bum than on your legs. You should look for easier mountains.

[@HikingEngineer]

sorry my man, i felt fine walking and didn't have any issues with my legs or bum, but i've only worn crampons 4x in my life now, so I'm no expert in the technique. As i'm sure you can tell I do more hiking and running than mountaineering

[@jezziemalvada3840]

Where’s all your content demonstrating the proper crampon technique in the Alps?

[@HikingEngineer]

@@jezziemalvada3840 i know right