Dent du Géant

Dent du Géant
The sharp pinnacle of the Dent du Géant (left) at the western end of the Rochefort ridge (centre)
Elevation	4,013 m (13,166 ft)
Prominence	139 m (456 ft) [1]
Location
Dent du Géant Haute-Savoie,  France /  Italy
Range	Graian Alps
Coordinates	45°51′43″N 6°57′6″E / 45.86194°N 6.95167°E / 45.86194; 6.95167Coordinates: 45°51′43″N 6°57′6″E / 45.86194°N 6.95167°E / 45.86194; 6.95167
Climbing
First ascent	20 August 1882 by William Woodman Graham with guides Auguste Cupelin and Alphonse Payot
Easiest route	South-west face (AD)

The Dent du Géant (It.: Dente del Gigante, "giant's tooth") (4,013 m) is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif in France and Italy.

The mountain has two summits, eighty-eight feet apart and separated by a small col (an 'extremely awkward notch' according to W. W. Graham):^[2]

• Pointe Graham (4,013 m), first ascent by W. W. Graham with guides Auguste Cupelin and Alphonse Payot on 20 August 1882. This ascent marked the end of the so-called silver age of alpinism.
• Pointe Sella (4,009 m), first ascent by Jean Joseph Maquignaz with son Baptiste Maquignaz and nephew, Daniel Maquignaz on 28 July 1882. The same party climbed Pointe Sella a second time on the following day with clients Alessandro Sella, Alfonso Sella, Corradino Sella and Gaudenzio Sella. Graham noted on his first ascent that one of the Maquignazes had carved the letter 'M' on a rock step just below the summit of Pointe Sella.

The Dent du Géant is the dark pinnacle on the right-hand end of the Rochefort ridge

The Dent du Géant had remained unclimbed during the golden age of alpinism, and was a much-coveted peak in the 1870s, repelling many parties who attempted it mostly from the Rochefort ridge. In 1880 the strong team of Albert F. Mummery and Alexander Burgener tried to force a passage via the south-west face but were repelled by a band of slabs, causing Mummery to exclaim 'Absolutely inaccessible by fair means!'^[3]

The following huts serve the mountain:

• Rifugio Torino (3,372 m, CAI, staffed mid May–end September)
• Torino hut (3,332 m, CAI, all year)
• Pointe Hellbronner (3,462 m, téléphérique station which can be used as a base)

References

1. ^ Mountains above 4000 meter in the Alps
2. ^ Graham, W. W., 'The Dent du Géant', Alpine Journal XI; reprinted in Peaks, Passes and Glaciers, ed. W. Unsworth, London: Allen Lane, 1981, pp. 73–7. Graham gives the date of his first attempt as 14 August and of his successful ascent as 20 August; Dumler curiously gives 14 August as the date of the first ascent.
3. ^ Quoted in Dumler, Helmut and Willi P. Burkhardt, The High Mountains of the Alps, London: Diadem, 1994, p. 179

External links

• The Dent du Géant on SummitPost