The Monte Rosa massif is popular for mountaineering, hiking, skiing and snowboarding. It hosts several ski resorts with long pistes. Plateau Rosa, about 3,500 metres high above sea level, is a renowned summer ski resort, with permanent snow all year round due to the altitude. The Plateau Rosa is connected via aerial tramway to Cervinia and to Zermatt via the Klein Matterhorn. The western fringes of the massif reach the Zermatt ski domain. Gressoney, Champoluc, Alagna Valsesia and Macugnaga (under the impressive east face, intensely glaciated and some 2,500 metres high) are the main mountain and ski resorts that surround Monte Rosa along its southern side. Monte Rosa is not technically difficult to climb in itself, despite hosting some quite impressive ridges, but can be quite dangerous due to its great altitude and sudden weather changes, as well as crevasses in its extensive glaciers - one of the major glaciated areas in the Alps.