A small part of the big east wall of Monte Rosa

The Monte Rosa east wall is the most impressive mountain face in the Alps. From the highest point it's 2.5 kilometers of steep mixed terrain down to the gentler slopes of the Ghiacciaio del Belvedere. And this picture shows just a small part of it... The summit on the left is the Signalkuppe (4554m) (in Italian: Punta Gnifetti), home of the highest refuge in the Alps, Capanna Margherita. On the right is the barely higher Zumsteinspitze (4563m). To get an idea of the scale: the saddle between them, Colle Gnifetti, is 4452m, more than a 100 m lower than both! With that in the back of your mind, take a closer look at the edge of the crest between them. On the other side is a gently sloped glacier. If you're unaware of the danger, you might be foolish enough to go to the edge of the crest and take a peek down. But once you've seen it from this angle, you'll shudder at the very thought. At the time of taking this photo we didn't know it yet, but in less than a week we would actually spend the night at Capanna Margherita before traversing the Zumsteinspitze on our way to the Dufourspitze. For the full story on that, check out Mark's trip report. Photo taken by zooming in from Grosses Fillarhorn (3676m). 1 July 2013.