BBC travel writer Stuart Butler trekked for days across ice and snow to reach Rifugio Capanna Regina Margherita, a mountain refuge on the border between Italy and Switzerland that stands as the highest building in Europe.
The refuge sits 4,554 metres above sea level, on the Punta Nifetti peak within the Monte Rosa massif, looking out over a frost-covered landscape.
Butler described being roped to four strangers, following the light of his headlamp as the group picked its way through an icy maze of crevasses crossing the Lys glacier. The group had set out at 5am, climbing steadily higher through the Monte Rosa massif toward the refuge.
He said he froze in amazement when he first caught sight of the building, a narrow, three-storey metal structure he compared to a giant tin can. Rather than sitting on the mountain, it appeared to balance on the edge of a precipice, with a steep snow-covered slope on one side and a sheer vertical kilometre of empty air on the other.
A refuge fit for a queen
The Monte Rosa massif straddles the border of Italy and Switzerland and contains some of the highest peaks in the Alps. Monte Rosa itself rises 4,634 metres, second in height in the Alps only to Mont Blanc.
Punta Nifetti, also known as Signalkuppe, ranks as the sixth highest peak in the Alps. An Italian research station and mountain refuge were built there, named after Margherita of Savoy, who was queen of Italy at the time.
The queen, known for her love of adventure and her sporting character, insisted on climbing to the refuge herself for its official opening in 1893 and spending the night there.
More than a century later, the refuge is still used for scientific research and continues to operate as a rifugio, or mountain house, where visitors can stay overnight in fairly spartan conditions while taking in sweeping views.
The trek through the permanently wintry landscape of the Monte Rosa massif has itself become a popular route. Around 30,000 tourists climb to the summit each year, and about 4,000 stay overnight so they can say, as Butler did and as Queen Margherita once did, that they slept in the highest beds on the continent.
Climbing through the ice
Butler chose a three-day guided trek that required crampons and ropes. He said he had enough hiking experience not to worry too much about the physical difficulty. If anything concerned him, it was the altitude.
During the ascent to the refuge, elevation increases sharply, climbing from 1,200 metres to 4,554 metres in just two days. Gradual acclimatisation is therefore critical.
The journey began the day before in Alagna Valsesia, an Italian mountain village at the foot of the Monte Rosa massif that effectively marks the end of the paved road before the climb begins.
From there, a series of cable car rides quickly carried Butler up to Punta Indren, at 3,275 metres, where he met his guide.
The first day involved a little over an hour of trekking over rock and ice to the first overnight stop, Rifugio Citta di Mantova, at 3,498 metres. It is a large wooden mountain house situated just below the start of the Lys glacier.
Compared with Alagna Valsesia, the temperature there felt noticeably different, Butler said, but wrapped up against a biting wind, he was able to enjoy a panoramic terrace looking out over the green valley far below.
Despite the striking views, he said he slept only fitfully, perhaps out of nerves ahead of the following day, when the group faced a further climb of 1,000 metres to reach the refuge.
