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The Dent d'Hérens (4,174 m) is a
mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...
in the
Pennine Alps The Pennine Alps (german: Walliser Alpen, french: Alpes valaisannes, it, Alpi Pennine, la, Alpes Poeninae), also known as the Valais Alps, are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps. They are located in Switzerland (Valais) and Italy ...
, lying on the border between
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
and Switzerland. The mountain lies a few kilometres west of the
Matterhorn The (, ; it, Cervino, ; french: Cervin, ; rm, Matterhorn) is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of th ...
. The Aosta hut (2,781 m) is used for the
normal route A normal route or normal way (french: voie normale; german: Normalweg) is the most frequently used route for ascending and descending a mountain peak. It is usually the simplest route. Overview In the Alps, routes are classed in the following w ...
.


Naming

The mountain takes its name from the Val d'Hérens, a valley located further to the north. The original name was probably the ''Dent Blanche'', which is now that of the nearby
Dent Blanche The Dent Blanche is a mountain in the Pennine Alps, lying in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. At -high, it is one of the highest peaks in the Alps. Naming The original name was probably ''Dent d'Hérens'', the current name of the nearby De ...
which overlooks the Val d'Hérens. On older maps, in the area where both summits lie, only the name ''Weisszahnhorn'' (from German: ''White Tooth Peak'') was given, the French name (''Dent Blanche'') appearing only in 1820. Because cartographers usually made their observations far away from the remoter areas and also because the Dent d'Hérens is sometime hidden behind the Dent Blanche, thus being less visible, the latter received the name. The inhabitants of the lower Val d'Hérens called the Dent d'Hérens, the ''Dent Blanche'', but those of the upper Val d'Hérens called it the ''Dent de Rong'' or the ''Dent d'Erins'', contributing to the general confusion. The names used today have been the official ones since the completion of the Dufour map in 1862.


Geography

The Dent d'Hérens is located on the main alpine watershed between the Swiss canton of
Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the 26 cantons forming the S ...
on the north and the Italian region of
Aosta Valley , Valdostan or Valdotainian it, Valdostano (man) it, Valdostana (woman)french: Valdôtain (man)french: Valdôtaine (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = Official languages , population_blank1 = Italian French ...
on the south. The northern side of the mountain is part of the drainage basin of the Rhone, while the south side is part of the drainage basin of the
Po River The Po ( , ; la, Padus or ; Ancient Ligurian: or ) is the longest river in Italy. It flows eastward across northern Italy starting from the Cottian Alps. The river's length is either or , if the Maira, a right bank tributary, is included. Th ...
. The Dent d'Hérens lies 4 km west of the Matterhorn and north of the village of
Cervinia Breuil-Cervinia (french: Breuil; it, Cervinia; Valdôtain: ) is a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' of Valtournenche, and is considered one of the most renowned winter and summer tourist resorts in the Alps. Etymology The name of ''Breuil-Cervini ...
on the Italian (south) side. On the Swiss (north) side, the mountain rises above the Zmutt Glacier in the remote valley of Zmutt, 12 km away from the town of
Zermatt Zermatt () is a municipality in the district of Visp in the German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a year-round population of about 5,800 and is classified as a town by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO ...
. Despite its name suggests, the Dent d'Hérens does not overlook the Val d'Hérens, as the
Dent Blanche The Dent Blanche is a mountain in the Pennine Alps, lying in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. At -high, it is one of the highest peaks in the Alps. Naming The original name was probably ''Dent d'Hérens'', the current name of the nearby De ...
lying a few kilometers to the north do.


Climbing history

The
first ascent In mountaineering, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in guide books) is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain or the first to follow a particular climbing route. First mountain ascents are notable because they e ...
of the mountain was by
Florence Crauford Grove Florence Crauford Grove (12 March 1838 – 17 August 1902) was an English mountaineer and author, sometimes known as F. Crauford Grove. He led the first expedition to ascend the higher summit of Mount Elbrus and was at one time president of ...
, William Edward Hall, Reginald Somerled Macdonald, Montagu Woodmass,
Melchior Anderegg Melchior Anderegg (28 March 1828 – 8 December 1914), from Zaun, Meiringen, was a Swiss mountain guide and the first ascensionist of many prominent mountains in the western Alps during the golden and silver ages of alpinism. His clients were ...
, Jean-Pierre Cachat and Peter Perren on 12 August 1863. The mountain had been attempted a few days before by Edward Whymper, Jean Antoine Carrel and Luc Meynet but Whymper insisted that they retreat from their planned route up the west ridge because of loose rock. Whymper was annoyed that he had not chosen the line taken up the Grandes Murailles glacier and the south-west flank by Melchior Anderegg on the first ascent and later wrote: :This was the only mountain in the Alps that I have essayed to ascend, that has not, sooner or later, fallen to me. Our failure was mortifying . . .Quoted in Dumler, Helmut and Willi P. Burkhardt, ''The High Mountains of the Alps'', London: Diadem, 1994, p. 157 The first winter ascent was by M. Piacenza, J. J. Carrell and G. B. Pellisier on 16 January 1910. The 1,300-metre north face was first explored by George Finch, T. G. B. Forster and R. Peto on August 2, 1923, via the North Face Diagonal or 'Finch Route'. A traversing rather than a more directly ascending line, it avoided the main difficulties of the face; these were tackled two years later by the direct line of the 'Welzenbach Route' (Willo Welzenbach and Eugen Allwein) on 10 August 1925, which may be considered the first ascent of the face. On 5 August 1959
Wilfrid Noyce Wilfrid ( – 709 or 710) was an English bishop and saint. Born a Northumbrian noble, he entered religious life as a teenager and studied at Lindisfarne, at Canterbury, in Francia, and at Rome; he returned to Northumbria in about 660, an ...
, together with C. J. Mortlock and Jack Sadler, made the first British ascent of the Welzenbach route. This route was the scene of a large rescue operation on its first winter ascent on 14–17 March 1964.According to Collomb, 'a notable incident for the
Zermatt Zermatt () is a municipality in the district of Visp in the German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a year-round population of about 5,800 and is classified as a town by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO ...
rescue services.' Collomb, Robin G., ''Pennine Alps Central'', London: Alpine Club, 1975, p. 277
Having climbed the face and bivouacked on the summit, the combined team of German (Gerhard Deweß and Leo Herncarek), Polish (Jerzy Hajdukiewicz and Krzysztof Berbeka) and Swiss (Eckhart Grassmann, Pierre Monkewitz and Dieter Naef) climbers suffered two falls, one of 200 metres, on the descent down the south-west face. The injured climbers were stuck on the mountain for four days before rescue, with Berbeka later dying in hospital and Deweß and Naef requiring amputations.


See also

*
List of 4000 metre peaks of the Alps This list tabulates all of the 82 official mountain summits of or more in height in the Alps, as defined by the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA). All are located within France, Italy or Switzerland, and are often refe ...


References


External links


The Dent d'Hérens on SummitPost
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dent dherens Alpine four-thousanders Mountains of the Alps Mountains of Italy Mountains of Valais Pennine Alps Mountains of Aosta Valley Italy–Switzerland border International mountains of Europe Mountains of Switzerland Four-thousanders of Switzerland