Zube pass (2,871 m), Trail 4A

From the Gabiet refuge to Zube pass, from the south
(you can continue to the Red Horn/Rothòre).

Lyskamm and Vincent Pyramid from the Rothòre

Trail 4A starts at the Gabiet refuge (2,364 m) and ends at Zube pass (2,871 m). It is 2,783 meters long, and the total elevation gain is 506 meters.
The estimated time for the hike is 1 hour and 32 minutes. The trail is rated as difficulty level E (warning: please read the note below).

The Zube pass is located at the end of the first small valley that opens up on the right (east-southeast) as you ascend from Gabiet, before reaching Olen pass.

This trail is a variation of TRAIL 4B and became part of Gressoney hikes in 2026. Trail 4B reaches the Zube pass from the west, after following a section of TRAIL 6 that climbs to the Olen pass; Trail 4A, on the other hand, reaches it from the south, running alongside Lake Gabiet for a short stretch at the beginning.

Zube Pass and Col d’Olen are separated by the Corno Rosso/Rothòre, 3023m, a fun summit that can be reached directly from Zube Pass by following vague trail markers and cairns. The view from the Corno Rosso is spectacular, in addition to being in the front row on the Vincent Pyramid and the surrounding 4000-meter peaks, many notable points in this area of the upper valley are clearly visible: Blue Lake, Punta Telcio, Alta Luce, Colle Salza, Testa Grigia, Rothorn, the Quintino Sella huts, Città di Mantova, Capanna Gnifetti, and so on.

Note: This trail has been officially rated “E,” but there are a couple of sections on steep, rocky terrain rated “EE.” This trail is not suitable for children and/or people who prefer trails with no technical difficulty.

If you want to continue from Zube pass to Corno Rosso, since there is no continuously marked trail, you need to know how to “read the terrain” and find the path indicated by cairns and markers scattered across the rocks. The only technical difficulty is at the very end, as the summit is on a group of flat rocks over which you have to climb.

A curiosity: in the Walser language, “zubio” means “pee,” and it appears that the place name refers to the presence of numerous waterfalls in the area (from Wikipedia).

More information on level of difficulty, ascent times, maps and GPX tracks

Photo Gallery

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At this arrow, the trail climbs to the left

Lake Gabiet and Seehorn Peak from the trail

The slope levels off once you pass the rocky step

Climbing along the little valley of Zube

Head up toward the yellow markers in the upper right corner

The Schwoarzehòre separates the two trails, 4A and 4B

The stream that runs through the little valley of Zube

The rocky section on the final stretch of the Zube valley

The elaborate little man at the Zube Pass

Overview from the Zube Pass towards Valsesia

The Rothòre (in the middle of the photo): the route always keeps to the right of the slope

Looking southeast and Valsesia, Pianalunga

From the Rothòre looking towards the Zube pass (top right): you can clearly see the path to take

The rocks above which the summit of Rothòre is located.

Lyskamm and Vincent Pyramid from the Rothòre

The Corno del Camoscio, in the background the arrival of the Cimalegna chairlift

From the Rothore looking toward the Zube Pass and Straling Point

From left: the Rothorn, the Bloabhòre, the Rothorn Pass. In the foreground, the plateau of St. Anna

On the left is the Salza Pass, immediately to the right is the Alta Luce, below is the Orestes Hut

On the left is the green lake, on the right is the blue lake, in the middle at the top is Punta Telcio

From the Rothòre looking toward Lake Gabiet. The highest peak in the background is the Corno Vitello

From left: Testa Grigia, Bec Forcü, Rothorn

The starting station of the cable car to Punta Indren

1. Start and finish

Trail 4B starts at Gabiet refuge, at an elevation of 2,364 meters.
See on Google Maps.

Latitudine e longitudine (WGS84 - EPSG 4326): 45.85449273489439,7.849675009072553

The arrival location is Zube Pass. The altitude is 2871m.
See on Google Maps.

Latitudine e longitudine (WGS84 - EPSG 4326): 45.8606368884, 7.87457646591

2. The route

After getting off the gondola, walk back up the dirt road for a very short distance until you reach the Adler’s Nest mountain hut (formerly Rifugio del Lys): follow the signs for Trail 6, since Trail 4A is not marked among the many waymarks in front of the hut.

The marker at Adler’s Nest

Continue uphill towardthe Albergo del Ponte: once you reach the hotel, go around the large boulder on the right side and take the trail that climbs to the right.

From Adler’s nest, looking toward the Del Ponte Hotel.

Continue on flat ground along the clearly marked trail that leads to Bar Gabiet See.

The trail to the Gabiet See bar

Once you reach the bar, walk past it and turn left: you’ll see a small wooden sign that says “Zube” almost immediately.

Wooden sign near the Gabiet See bar

The trail now continues on a gentle slope toward the end of the Lake Gabiet basin, whose waters lie to our right. The trail is hidden in places: watch for a spot where a yellow arrow on a rock indicates to “turn left”: at this point, you need to climb up the slope until you find new trail markers a little higher up that indicate you should turn right, where you’ll rejoin the trail, which continues toward the end of the valley.

At this arrow, the trail climbs to the left

You might come across a few red markers here and there, which were used in the past to mark the trails.

Old red markers on the trail

If you happen to lose the trail (which is easy—there are several parallel paths used by the cows that often graze in the area), it’s not a big deal: when you reach the end of the valley, the path that climbs up the rocky step becomes clearly visible again.

The rocky step to overcome

As we mentioned in the introduction, this rather steep rocky section includes a few fairly challenging rock passages. You never put your hands on the ground, but this trail isn’t suitable for young children (especially going downhill).

Climb up the rocky step

Lake Gabiet and Seehorn Peak from the trail

Once past the rocky step, the trail climbs toward a pass on the left, at the foot of the Schwoarzehòre (2,710 m).

The slope levels off once you pass the rocky step

Once you reach the hilltop, the trail continues to the right, passing several depressions that once held glacial lakes. The trail is faint here, but there are several cairns marking the direction to follow.

Follow the cairns uphill

You can easily climb several rocky steps until you reach a rock face where several yellow markers are clearly visible. Following these, you enter the small valley of Zube, where you join Trail 4B, which ascends from the left.

Head up toward the yellow markers in the upper right corner

Continue along a trail that winds its way up the rocky little valley (there may be small patches of snow in the summer).

The rocky section on the final stretch of the Zube valley

As the slope begins to level off, you leave the small valley behind and emerge onto the summit plateau, where you’ll find the cairn marking the Zube pass (2,871 m).

The elaborate little man at the Zube Pass

Continuation to the Red Horn/Rothòre

From Zube pass, the Corno Rosso is one of the rocky outcrops visible on the left. The trail is quite evanescent at first, you have to look for marked tracks on the ground, cairns and colored markers: it is, however, “all to the right,” sticking fairly close to the mountain ridge.

Starting from Zube, head toward the cairns visible on the left side of the hill behind the pass, not toward the cairns visible on the top of the hill. You have to go around the hill on the left; don’t go over it from above.

The following picture of the trail, taken from Google Earth, helps you realize the direction you need to keep:

The route is not technically challenging: when moving over purely rocky terrain, cairns are very frequent and it becomes easier to follow the trail. Still keeping to the right, you will soon reach the vicinity of the summit, where you will encounter the only technical difficulty of the route, since the summit cairns (there are more than one) are at the top of rocky clusters to climb over.

The rocks above which the summit of Rothòre is located.

The funny thing is that, when viewed from below, none of the cairns seems to be taller than the others: you only realize, once you climb onto the first one, that the tallest one is the one on the left.

Lyskamm and Vincent Pyramid from the Rothòre

From the Rothòre, 3023m, there is a truly 360-degree panorama, as wherever you turn your gaze you will encounter a remarkable vantage point. Clockwise, starting from the southwest, we see the plateau surrounded by Testa Grigia, Bec Forcü and Rothorn, immediately after the Rothorn valley with the Salero lakes, then gaze along the ridge after the Bettaforca pass and catch a glimpse of the Quintino Sella refuge, just below the Blue Lake, Punta Telcio, the plateau with the refuge Orestes Hütte, above which the Colle Salza, the Alta Luce, the Città di Mantova hut, the Capanna Gnifetti can be distinguished in sequence… it is really worth taking binoculars with you, or the most powerful telephoto lens: they certainly won’t stay in your backpack at this point.

In this other image from Google Earth you can see the complete route starting from Albergo Del Ponte, with highlights.

3. Map and GPX track

This is the official map of the trail as recorded in the SCT Trail Registry of the Aosta Valley.
You can download the GPX track of the trail if you want to use it later in your favorite app.

Download the trail in GPX format