The surprising Capanna Regina Margherita, the highest mountain refuge in Europe

@ElentirENG ES 7·17·2024 · 23:21 0

Mountain refuges have been welcoming mountaineers of all kinds since the 19th century in several countries, including Italy.

The Sphinx observatory and Jungfraujoch, a railway station at more than 3,400 meters
La Rinconada, the city closest to space and where breathing is a problem

Mountaineering began to become fashionable at the end of the 18th century and it was then that the need arose to create resting places for mountaineers. The highest mountain refuge in Europe is at Punta Gnifetti (known as Signalkuppe, in German), which was reached for the first time on August 9, 1842 by an expedition led by the priest Giovanni Gnifetti. That mountain, whose summit reaches 4,554 meters above sea level, is in the Italian area of ​​the Alps, very close to the border with Switzerland.

The first cabin built on that peak was designed by the Italian Alpine Club in 1889, and was transported by mules and, in the last section of the journey, by mountaineers. The cabin was inaugurated on August 18, 1893 by Margaret of Savoy, queen consort of Italy and a great fan of mountaineering. In her honor, this shelter was named "Capanna Regina Margherita" (Queen Margaret Cabin).

The refuge was not only of great interest to mountaineers, but also to scientists, since it was possible to study the consequences for the human body of staying at a height at which the Oxygen reaching the lungs is reduced by half, which can cause nausea and headaches. Furthermore, in 1899 a meteorological station was installed there, in which an extreme temperature of -41ºC was recorded in the winter of 1928 to 1929.

The original Capanna Regina Margherita was a small shelter and, over the years, it fell into disrepair. In 1977 a restoration of the place began. In it, the original cabin was demolished and a larger shelter was built, inaugurated in 1980. In 2000, the highest meteorological station in Europe was installed there.

Nowadays this refuge works as a hotel during the summer months: it has 70 beds in rooms with bunk beds and staff who attend to the facilities (and who have to come down periodically to spend a few days of rest) . It has a bar-restaurant lounge, shared bathrooms, electric lighting, 220v electricity, internet access and a library, according to your official website. In winter, the shelter reduces its capacity to only 10 beds, since the rest of the services are closed and the staff who work there do not come up during those months.

A few days ago, the YouTube channel Yes Theory published a video showing a climb to the Capanna Regina Margherita. In the video we can see the interior of this refuge and the services it offers to mountaineers:

In addition to walking, it is possible to access the shelter by helicopter if necessary, for example for a medical evacuation or to transport the personnel who work there, but the landing is not exactly easy, as You can see in this video published by AostaSera.it a year ago:

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Main image: Yes Theory.