The Dent d'Hérens

The Dent d’Hérens stands just west of the Matterhorn, on the border between the Aosta Valley and the Swiss canton of Valais. It rises to 4,171 metres. On the Italian side it overlooks two valleys: the upper Valpelline and the Valtournenche. From Breuil-Cervinia you see it to the left of the Matterhorn, bulkier and whiter.

A name born of a swap between two valleys

Its name comes from the Val d’Hérens, a valley in Valais. The story goes that the first map-makers swapped two names: that of the Dent d’Hérens and that of the Dent Blanche, its Swiss neighbour. The tale has never been proved, but climbers have been passing it on for a long time.

The first ascent, in 1863

On 12 August 1863 a British party reached the summit. It was made up of four climbers, among them Florence Crauford Grove, and three guides, including Melchior Anderegg from the Bernese Oberland. The neighbouring Matterhorn would hold out for another two years.

The north face of the Dent d’Hérens, Swiss side

On the Swiss side, the north face drops to the Tiefmatten glacier. It is a wall of ice and rock some 1,300 metres high. The Germans Willo Welzenbach and Eugen Allwein climbed it for the first time in August 1925. For the period it was a climb well ahead of its time: few north faces of this size were being climbed in the Alps.

Between the Matterhorn and the Grandes Murailles

The Dent d’Hérens is linked to the Matterhorn by a ridge that runs over the Col Tournanche and then the Tête du Lion, at the foot of the Matterhorn’s Italian ridge. To the south a long crest branches off: the Grandes Murailles. It separates the Valpelline from the Valtournenche and lines up rocky peaks over several kilometres, as far as the Château des Dames. From Breuil, this wall forms the left-hand side of the view.

From the Valpelline: the Aosta Valley view

For the people of the Aosta Valley, the Dent d’Hérens is seen above all at the head of the Valpelline. You drive up the valley to the Place-Moulin reservoir, then walk to the Aosta hut, at 2,781 metres. This is the usual starting point for the Italian normal route. The climb is long and glaciated: crevasses, steep snow slopes and an exposed final ridge. It calls for a guide or solid high-mountain experience.

No crampons needed: the Place-Moulin lake trail

You do not need to climb so high to see it. The easy, flat path along the Place-Moulin reservoir already gives a fine view of the head of the Valpelline. To the east, above Breuil-Cervinia, the ski runs of Plateau Rosa show it close up, right next to the Matterhorn.

Getting there

Aosta hut (2,788 m)
Tza de Tzan
11010 Bionaz (AO)
+39 0165 730 006 · rifugioaosta.com

The hut is reached from the Place-Moulin dam: an hour along a track to Prarayer, then about three hours on a footpath, with a short section fitted with chains. Check that the hut is open before you set off.

Main photo : Carsten Steger, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Maps: personal work by Marc Badjou.