Lonza Bivouac
History
The Zmuttgrat was climbed for the first time in 1879. The team of climbers under mountain guide Alexander Burgener bivouacked at the current location of the new Lonza Bivouac, the Sattelti at 2,975 metres above sea level.
In the past, the Matterhorn was climbed via the Zmutt ridge from the Schönbiel hut. However, due to the strong retreat of the Tiefmatten glacier, the approach to the ridge was no longer made by many mountaineers from the Schönbiel hut but instead from the Hörnli hut.
The approach to the Zmuttgrat via the Hörnli hut comes with its dangers, which is why LONZA built an emergency bivouac on the old bivouac site in 1997 for its 100th anniversary. Only three years later, the bivouac was destroyed by an avalanche.
In 2022, for its 125th anniversary, LONZA built a new bivouac on the Sattelti.