The Matterhorn's faces are steep, and only small patches of snow and ice cling to them; regular avalanches send the snow down to accumulate on the glaciers at the base of each face, the largest of which are the Tiefmattengletscher to the west, part of the Zmutt Glacier, and the Matterhorn Glacier to the north.
==Caratteristiche==Presenta quattro pareti principali orientate secondo i punti cardinali: la parete nord guarda Zermatt in Svizzera, la parete est guarda il ghiacciaio del Gorner, la parete sud sovrasta Breuil-Cervinia in Italia e la parete ovest è rivolta verso la Dent d'Hérens.