The Signalkuppe or Punta Gnifetti (4554m) is a peak of the Monte Rosa massif in the Pennine Alps in Italy and Switzerland. It is the fourth of the peaks of Monte Rosa. Would you like to climb the peak? Contact us - we can arrange it for you!
Name
The name Signalkuppe comes from the “the Signal”, the pinnacle on the peak. In 1825 Ludwig Freiherr von Welden was the first who used the name. However, it needed to be changed after the spike was removed during the building of the Margherita refuge.
First ascent
Italian name, Punta Gnifetti, honors the first known person, who reached the peak, Don Giovanni Gnifetti. He was a parish priest of Alagna. With his team of 8 he climbed Signalkuppe on the 9th August 1842, after several other unsuccessful attempts in 1834, 1836, and 1839. After his death Gnifetti’s remains were buried on the top.
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Capanna Regina Margherita
On the top of the Gnifetti Peak was built the highest-altitude building in Europe. The Margherita hut was named after very popular Italian Queen consort, Margherita of Savoy, who loveed mountains. She supported building the Capanna Regina Margherita and she visited it when it was finished.
The construction started in 1890 and lasted for next three years, until 1893. It stands at 4554 m. The new hut, a high-altitude Faraday Cage, is clad in sheet copper to shield against unwanted electrical fields. It has a warden service from mid-June to mid-September and can host up to 70 mountaineers. There is also winter room with 12 beds, opened all year round. The hut has the highest-altitude telephone connection in Europe and hosts an international centre for high-altitude psychological research.
