Photos from this walk:

The Walking Guide
Rotenboden to the Monte Rosa Hut

Description:  This awesomely spectacular hike takes one into the midst of an enormous mountain amphitheatre. A feature of the hike is the crossing of the Gorner glacier - which is a fascinating river of permanent ice. There is almost an other worldly beauty to this hike, as it takes you so far beyond any semblance of green and 'summer' into a true wilderness of rock, ice and snow.
Time required: About four and a half hours walking (2˝ hours up / 2 hours down), plus about 1˝ hours using the Gornergrat train.
Difficulty: *****  The glacier requires care           Popularity: ** Quiet
Begins at: Rotenboden (2815m altitude)                Ends at: Rotenboden      Goes via: Gorner glacier (2600m), Monte Rosa hut (2795m)

Track Notes: This walk had been given a difficulty rating of 5 stars, not because it is consistently strenuous, but rather because the crossing of the glacier requires knowledge and appropriate respect of the potential danger of crevasses.  Crevasses (very deep fissures) in the ice are common features of glaciers. Crevasses grow, move and change daily as glaciers (rivers of ice) move slowly downhill. Crevasses can be avoided if they can be seen, but some can be hidden by bridges of snow that may (or may not!) support human weight.  A fall into a deep crevasse will result in serious injury at best, with fatalities not being unusual. However most crevasse accidents are a result of ignorance of the danger and/or reckless exploration without an appropriately equipped and experienced climbing team. Hikers can avoid the dangerous and hidden crevasses, by following the safe, very well travelled route marked across this glacier.  It is very important to be able to see the trail marker poles on the glacier.  It could be dangerous to cross the glacier in bad visibility or to wander away from the poles marking the route. 
It is not necessary to have climbing equipment or experience, provided the crossing is open and you stick to the marked crossing. It is only recommended to hike across the glacier if the route is officially open and visibility is excellent. To ascertain this, call the Monte Rosa hut (027 967 2115) or the Tourist Office (027 967 0181), or ask at the Gornergrat railway ticket office. In every case walkers must assess the dangers and cross the glacier at their own risk.
There are also potentially tricky sections getting on and off the glacier (detailed in the walk description below). Otherwise this is not a strenuously hard hike.
Good hiking shoes with excellent grip and some water resistance are required for this walk. You will encounter short very steep sections, loose rock and rubble, ladders, and a walk on glacial ice for almost two kilometers. A walking stick can be useful on the glacier. Ropes, ice axes, crampons (and local mountain guides!) are not required if you stay on the marked glacier crossing. Be prepared for potentially cold and breezy conditions on this walk. Equally suncream may be a necessity. Be prepared for every eventuality.
Rotenboden train costs - return trip: Adults: sFr.56   Children 6-16: 50% off.    Discounts for holders of SwissRail Pass (25% off) and Half Fare cards (50% off).
Variants: Using the Gornergrat train it is possible to break your journey at any of the intermediate stations for the view (Riffelalp, Riffelberg). 
It is also possible to stay at the Monte Rosa Hut itself for a memorable night with the climbers (150 dormitory beds - sFr.24. Plenty of blankets provided. Breakfast and dinner available. Phone 027 - 967 2115). 
It would also be possible to walk from Rotenboden back to Zermatt (adding 2˝ hours of delightful downhill walking) - a particularly fine end to this walk on a pleasant evening. See the 'Gornergrat descent' walk description for directions.

The walk begins and ends in the mountains at the tiny Rotenboden railway station, which is high on the Gornergrat railway line (2815m altitude - last stop before Gornergrat).  To get up to Rotenboden from Zermatt you can walk of course (4 hours uphill), but for this walk we recommend taking the train in order to save time and energy.

The Gornergrat railway ('Gornergratbahn') is located directly opposite the main train station in Zermatt. Buy your tickets to Rotenboden and wait for a train. Trains normally depart every 24 minutes, and take about 40 minutes to ascend to Rotenboden. Unless stopping for views at Riffelalp or Riffelberg, exit at the Rotenboden station (2815m).  The view from Rotenboden is simply magnificent - certainly one of the finest mountain panoramas anywhere in the world. Eyes can feast upon uninterrupted views extending for 180 glorious degrees from Monte Rosa to the Matterhorn (photo below).

The magnificent panorama from the trail near Rotenboden. 
Available in Half Size - 86kb or Full size - 262kb

After admiring the view and perhaps exploring the nearby alpine lake ('Riffelsee'),  join the foot path as it descends south across the saddle towards the Breithorn. After a few hundred metres it turns left (east) on its long gentle descending traverse. This delightful easy trail continues its  traverse three kilometres (2 miles) down to the Gorner glacier ('Gornergletscher') at 2600m altitude. All the while one has the awesome panoramic view to admire, so even if one did not cross the glacier this walk would be worthwhile. The Gorner glacier is the second longest in Europe.

Now comes the part of the walk which requires some care. The path nears the edge of the glacier by a series of steps and roped handholds. The vast river of ice of the Gorner glacier stretches away before one's eyes...

A note about glaciers and glacier safety: Glaciers are enormous rivers of ice and they are very much alive. They move constantly, albeit slowly (1-2 metres a day). Therefore the conditions of the glacier and its surface are also changing. The most dangerous aspect of this glacier crossing are 'crevasses'. Crevasses can be effectively 'bottomless' cracks in the ice. New crevasses open and old ones close every day. Moreover they can be hidden by snow bridges. To anyone less than a roped team of mountaineers, glacier crossing can be very dangerous. Fortunately for us, this part of the Gorner glacier is well marked, well travelled and safe - if you follow the poles. It can be easily crossed by experienced and fit hikers with an awareness of the dangers, a good sense of personal responsibility, and a spirit of adventure. But for your own safety do not cross the glacier in bad visibility and do not attempt the crossing if you are unsure. If you turn back before the start of the ice, you will still have seen most of this walk's best views as a consolation.

Boulders and the piles of rubble (moraines) on the surface of the ice can also be unstable. Because of all these changing conditions, the safe path onto and across the ice also changes regularly - and the pole markers are re-positioned accordingly.. The safe route is checked and the marker poles re-positioned very regularly.

Getting onto the surface of the glacial ice can be tricky and may require the use of one's hands. Because the glacier is moving and changing constantly, the last bit of trail onto the ice also changes constantly. One must look for the first of a series of poles which mark the safe route across the glacier. The poles are metal, a couple of meters/yards high, sometimes with flags, spaced every 100 yards/metres or so on the ice. 

So to get onto the glacier, one must look for the first pole on the ice, or wait for someone to direct the way. Climbers (or other hikers) returning from the Monte Rosa hut are happy to point the best way onto the ice, and in good weather there is a constant trickle of walkers crossing the glacier. Please take care getting on and off the glacier.  The last metres of rock are often steep and strewn with rubble and slippery gravel. The use of hands can be necessary, although ropes and other technical equipment are not required. There can also be crevasses as the ice cracks hitting the solid rock of terra firma.

Thankfully, once on the glacier things become much easier. The trail is generally flat, and the actual surface of the glacier is not very slippery. Most of the ice is peppered by a layer of tiny rock fragments, which provide reasonable grip. The safe path marked by the poles avoids the heavily crevassed areas, although normally it comes close to a few bigger ones. Just be sure everyone in the party understands the potential danger and watches where they put their feet.

The glacier is crossed more or less in a straight line, marked by flags. The poles are metal, a couple of metres high, sometimes with flags, spaced every 100 metres or so on the ice. Even in good visibility it is sometimes difficult to see more than one pole ahead. For your own safety, make sure you can always see the next pole before leaving the previous one. 

The walk across the glacier surface is easy and fascinating. Everywhere there are different patterns in the ice and the fields of mountain rubble on the surface. There are beautiful little streams of water cutting across the ice (which often have to be jumped), ice 'rockpools', and mushrooms of ice supporting massive boulders. There are dark and mysterious crevasses from tiny to huge. In the distance there are massive icefalls as the glacier tumbles over rocky cliffs. The sounds are also fascinating: gurgles of running water, creaks, groans and cracks as the ice moves somewhere. It is truly a very interesting and very beautiful place. One feels quite aware of some of nature's most ancient and powerful forces at work. And all around tower the truly great 4000m peaks over the ice. It is like being in a magnificent white amphitheatre of the grandest scale...

Towards the middle of the glacier crossing, the trail takes one across a large central moraine of boulders, rocks, and rubble.  Remember this is still on top of the slowly moving glacier, and consequently a few of the rocks are likely to be unstable. 

One reaches bare ice once more and after another interesting kilometre of glacier travel the trail approaches the solid rock (2580m), still far below the Monte Rosa hut. Again it can be a bit of a challenge getting off the ice and onto the rock. The first sections of the trail may include ladders and fixed ropes to haul oneself up some short steep sections of rock, boulders and moraine rubble (photo). After ten minutes these challenges are surmounted and the walking trail turns into a series of straightforward zigzags to ascend rapidly to the Monte Rosa hut (2795m). From the last clamber off the glacial ice to the hut is still a solid ascent of almost an hour.

The hut itself is spectacularly located, with superb views to nearby Liskamm, the Twins (Castor and Pollux), the Breithorn massif, and far across the vastness of the Gorner glacier stands the Matterhorn. Although from the hut area itself it is not possible to see the peak/s of Monte Rosa itself. There are plenty of pleasant smooth rock platforms to sit upon, admire the view and perhaps enjoy a well earned picnic. Drinks and set meals are available at the hut, but they are not cheap. Everything has to be brought in by helicopter.

Panorama from the Monte Rosa hut. Available in Half Size - 98kb or Full size - 327kb

Return to Rotenboden and Zermatt the same way. 

PS Unless you plan to extend the walk from Rotenboden back down to Zermatt, take note of the Gornergrat train timetable. People at the Monte Rosa hut can advise you of the last train down if you don't have a timetable with you.