Mountain·Switzerland

Zinalrothorn

4,221m

Pennine Alps

Maximilian Schwerin · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Elevation: 4,221m
Prominence: 491m
Isolation: 4.5km
Relief: 2,241mabove the lowest point within 5 km
Steepest slope: 69°within 1 km of the summit
Snow at the summit: All yearSee month by month ↓
Summit: 46.0678°N, 7.6894°E

Mountain in the Pennine Alps

Zinalrothorn is a mountain in the Pennine Alps (Switzerland). Its summit stands 4,221 m above sea level. Its prominence — how far it rises above the highest saddle linking it to a taller summit — is 491 m, and the nearest higher ground is 4.5 km away.

From the lowest point within 5 km (1,980 m), it rises 2,241 m. The steepest side is the north-west face: 42° on average over the first kilometre. In places the ground near the top reaches 69° — terrain for climbers, not walkers.

The nearest town is Zermatt, 7 km away at 1,608 m: 2,613 m below the summit.

Zinalrothorn for skiers and climbers

Two scores out of 10, built only from open data — every part is shown. They describe what the mountain offers, not how safe it is.

Hiking & mountaineering

9.4/10

Difficulty to the top

Alpine climb

Most path sections around the top are T6 on the SAC hiking scale. Glaciers around the top.

Indicative only — never a safety assessment. Conditions change: ask local guides and check the forecast.

2.5/2.557 waymarked routes and 110 path sections nearby
1.5/1.513 huts and shelters
2.0/22,613 m of ascent from the valley
1.2/1.5491 m of prominence
1.2/1.55 months with summit afternoons above −5 °C
1.0/1via ferratas, climbing and glaciers

Ski score

9.2/10

3.7/4191 km of downhill runs
1.5/1.546 ski lifts
1.0/1.51,040 m between the lowest and highest lift station
3.0/37 months of snow at about 2,140 m

Runs by difficulty

Easy 31 km
Intermediate 114 km
Difficult 26 km
Freeride 19 km

Snow season on the slopes (estimate)

Around 2,140 m, in the middle of the ski area: snow from November to May.

Snow on the ground all month
Snow some of the time
No snow
This month

46 lifts · lift stations from 1,620 to 2,660 m · 11 km cross-country

How these scores are made

Ski (where OpenStreetMap has skiing within 12 km): up to 4 points for the length of downhill runs (300 km or more = 4), 1.5 for the number of lifts (40+), 1.5 for the vertical between lift stations (1,500 m) and 3 for the snow season — a month counts when the estimated mean temperature at the height of the ski area is −1 °C or lower and snow falls or lies there (NASA POWER, 2001–2020). Hiking & mountaineering: up to 2.5 for waymarked routes and paths, 1.5 for huts, 2 for the ascent from the valley (2,000 m), 1.5 for prominence (3,000 m), 1.5 for the season (months with summit afternoons above −5 °C) and 1 for via ferratas, climbing and glaciers. OpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: where few things are mapped, a score can be lower than reality.

Plan your visit

Stay, climb and get there

Car hire at MXP airport (Ferno)Discover CarsSee

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

Snow

When there is snow on Zinalrothorn

At the summit, snow all year round. Month by month below, at different heights on the way up.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Summit4,221 msnow all year round	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month
Halfway up2,914 msnow from October to June (some years from September to July)	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow some of the time	No snow	Snow some of the time	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month
Zermatt1,608 msnow from November to April	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month

Snow on the ground all month
Snow some of the time
No snow
This month

Estimate for a normal year: average temperature and precipitation from NASA POWER, carried to each height, in a simple model of snow building up and melting. In a given year snow can come earlier or stay longer. It does not replace the local snow and avalanche bulletin.

Summit weather

Zinalrothorn, month by month

Not a forecast: long-term averages (1991–2020), carried up to the summit. The orange line is where an average afternoon reaches 0 °C; above the dashed blue line it freezes even at dawn.

On an average July afternoon the summit reaches about 2 °C; on January nights it falls to about -27 °C. In 9 months of the year it stays below freezing at the top even in the afternoon. In July the 0 °C line climbs to about 4,510 m, above the summit: the top thaws on an average afternoon. Across the region, February is the driest month (50 mm) and May the wettest (109 mm).

0 °C on an average afternoon 0 °C at dawn the summit

Month	Summit high °C	Summit low °C	Zermatt high °C	0 °C line (m)	Rain & snow (mm)	Wet days	Sun h/day
January	-18	-27	-2	1,370	63	11	3.3
February	-18	-27	-1	1,470	50	10	4.5
March	-15	-23	2	1,940	63	12	5.5
April	-10	-18	7	2,700	70	14	6.3
May	-5	-14	12	3,510	109	18	6.6
June	0	-9	17	4,250	97	17	8.5
July	2	-8	19	4,510	96	16	8.8
August	2	-8	18	4,450	99	15	7.9
September	-2	-12	15	3,880	68	14	6.9
October	-7	-15	10	3,200	72	13	5.0
November	-13	-21	4	2,200	91	14	3.1
December	-18	-26	0	1,530	68	12	2.6

Estimate: the NASA POWER climate of a ~55 km cell (average height 2,251 m), adjusted to the summit by −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Rain, wet days and sunshine are those of the region. Mountain weather changes fast — always check a local forecast. ★ = mildest months at the top.

Relief

The mountain in profile

Two cuts through the summit, 16 km long, from the 30 m Copernicus elevation model. True scale: no vertical exaggeration.

West – east

South – north

Steepness by direction

Average slope of the first kilometre from the summit. The orange petal is the steepest side.

Around the mountain

Huts, lifts and trails around Zinalrothorn

Counted around the summit in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. The satellite plate shows 14 × 14 km.

A lift reaches Tufternkumme at 2,660 m — just 1,561 m below the summit.

13mountain huts and shelters
Berggasthaus Trift (2,337 m), Col de la Dent Blanche CAS Bivouac (3,540 m), Weisshornhütte SAC (2,932 m), Cabane d'Arpitettaz (2,786 m) and 9 more
21cable cars, gondolas, chairlifts and rack railways
Zermatt–Sunnegga funicular, Patrullarve, Hublot-Express (Gant - Blauherd), Blauherd - Rothorn and 17 more
2ski areas
Zermatt - Breuil-Cervinia, Zinal / Grimentz
57waymarked hiking routes
Tour du Cervin, Swiss Tour Monte Rosa, Zermatt Kirche - Zermatt, Zermatt Kirche - Talstation Furi and 53 more
3via ferratas
Route C, Route A, Route B
3climbing crags and routes
Forrest Fun Parc, Climbing
29named glaciers
Stockjigletscher, Tiefmattengletscher, Zmuttgletscher, Glacier du Grand Cornier and 25 more
22viewpoints
Roc de la Vache, Aussichtspunkt Arigscheis, Matterhorn, Observatoire and 18 more
5campsites
Relais de la Tzoucdana, Stellplatz Wildi, Alphubel, Attermenzen and 1 more
327hotels, B&Bs and chalets
Igludorf, Täscher Hof, Europe, Chalet Donadea and 323 more
144restaurants and cafés

How hard are the paths?

110 path sections within 5 km, by SAC hiking scale (T1 easy walk … T6 difficult alpine).

T1T2T3T4T5T6

T1 hiking
T2 mountain hiking
T3 demanding mountain hiking
T4 alpine hiking
T5 demanding alpine hiking
T6 difficult alpine hiking

Towns at the foot

Zermatt7 km · 1,608 m
Sankt Niklaus15 km · 1,115 m
Evolène16 km · 1,340 m
Grächen18 km · 1,617 m
Saas-Fee19 km · 1,800 m
Saas-Grund20 km · 1,564 m
Paquier21 km · 1,593 m
Valtournenche22 km · 1,518 m

Car hire at MXP airport (Ferno)Discover Cars · Affiliate link

OpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: a low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. Places © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Photos

Seen by climbers and visitors

Blick Cabane de Tracuit Zinalrothorn Obergabelhorn — Whgler · CC BY-SA 4.0

Blick Cabane de Tracuit Zinalrothorn — Whgler · CC BY-SA 4.0

Recent years

How each month compared at the summit

Afternoon high at the summit (estimate). The first row is the reference, the 1991–2020 average in °C; the years show only the difference.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
1991–2020 average	-18	-18	-15	-10	-5	0	2	2	-2	-7	-13	-18
2020	+2.3	+3.1	+0.5	+2.0	+2.1	−1.8	+1.0	+0.8	+1.1	−2.4	+3.5	±0.0
2021	−1.7	+2.9	−0.3	−0.5	−2.5	+1.0	−0.2	−0.4	+1.6	−0.3	+0.3	+1.5
2022	+1.3	+1.8	+1.0	+1.5	+3.0	+2.4	+3.2	+2.1	−0.4	+3.6	+0.5	+1.4
2023	+0.3	+2.2	+2.1	−0.3	+0.4	+0.7	+1.3	+0.9	+4.1	+2.4	−0.9	+2.2
2024	+2.2	+4.1	+1.5	−1.5	−0.5	−0.3	+2.1	+2.9	−2.0	+0.8	+2.7	+1.6
2025	+2.1	+2.6	+1.2	+2.3	+0.7	+4.0	−0.7	+1.4	+0.5	−0.4	+0.3	+2.5

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Nearby

More mountains nearby

Switzerland20 km away

4,546 mDom

Switzerland13 km away

4,063 mOber Gabelhorn

Switzerland4 km away

4,357 mDent Blanche

Switzerland7 km away

About these numbers

Names, elevation, prominence	Wikidata (Q15128) · CC0
Relief, 3D view, profiles	Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Climate	NASA POWER, 1991–2020 · CC BY 4.0
Around the mountain	© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Images	EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beaches

Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit

lakes

Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit

mountains

Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.You are here

waterfalls Cascadyas

Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit

islands

Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit

rivers

Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Coming soonVisit

canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit