Financed to a tune of 6.4 million Swiss Francs by the Swiss Alpine Club and, through various sponsorship deals, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), a brand new Monte Rosa Hut above Zermatt should be completed by the autumn of 2009.
The original Monte Rosa Hut was built in 1895. It is now a massive edifice and frequently overcrowded. Situated on a rocky bench called the Unt Plattje above the true right bank of the Grenz Glacier, it is a straightforward 2-2½ hours walk from the Rotenboden Station of the Gornergrat Railway, and can, at a pinch, hold nearly 150 people in some discomfort. Renovation was necessary, so to mark the 150th Anniversary of the ETH Zurich, a decision was made to replace it.
The new hut, situated around 80m further north at 2,883m, promises to be a spectacular structure: a five-storey timber frame on stainless steel foundations, which will look like a ginormous crystal due to the interesting polygonal shape and a complete outer cloak of shiny aluminium. However, the architects, under lead designer Andrea Deplazes, have resisted any temptation to increase accommodation: maximum individual bed space is quoted as 120.
The main innovation will lie in its operation: ETH Zurich boasts the new hut will be 90% self-sufficient in energy, with solar-powered sewage, lighting and general appliances. Excess energy will be stored in accumulators for those drizzly days. As a backup, a rapeseed oil-fired generator will provide heating and extra energy at peak periods. After completion, the hut will act as a 'research station', monitoring the effectiveness of the new design to optimize similar projects in the future.
Realizing that huge energy expenditure would be needed to transport all materials to the site via helicopter, the authorities looked for more 'green' methods (wood for the original hut would have been carried up from Zermatt by mule) but quickly gave up when they realized alternatives would prove more costly and time-consuming.
The Monte Rosa Massif comprises 10 summits over 4,000m and is the largest mountain mass in Western Europe. The highest point, the Dufourspitze, is 4,634m, which means that throughout the Alps only Mont Blanc has greater altitude. In summer, the ascent to the Dufourspitze from the Monte Rosa Hut is a long, tiring, but much frequented plod up the Monte Rosa Glacier (PD). This is transformed into something more pleasant in spring, when it becomes a highly popular ski ascent. The hut also forms the starting point for the Normal Swiss routes on the other neighbouring 4,000m peaks of Liskamm, Castor and Pollux (the latter two becoming increasingly problematic due to glacial recession).
If the new hut is successfully completed by the proposed date, the old building will be demolished sometime in 2010.
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