The peak · FR/IT · Mont Blanc Alps
Aiguille de Rochefort
4,001 m
'Needle of Rochefort' — the rocky spike on the Rochefort ridge ('strong rock' in French), companion to the Dôme de Rochefort.
Coordinates45.8669° N · 6.9528° E
UIAA rank№ 81 / 82
CountriesFrance · Italy
Normal gradeAD · assez difficile
First ascent1873 · James Eccles with Michel & Alphonse Payot
Typical seasonJuly to September
Sharp summit on the famous Rochefort ridge connecting the Dent du Géant to the Grandes Jorasses, reached by an exposed snow arête.
The lower of the two summits on the Rochefort ridge, taken on the same 12 August 1873 outing on which Eccles and the Payot brothers also reached the Dôme. The Aiguille is a true knife-edged snow arête for several hundred metres of its summit ridge and is the part of the traverse that gives the route its character — when conditions are bad it is sometimes turned back from despite its modest grade.
Summit · huts that serve as bases for routes on this peak
AD · assez difficile
Vertical / summit day650 m gain · 5h
First summit on the Rochefort ridge traverse from the Salle à Manger / Torino hut. Corniced snow arête with short mixed steps. Often combined with the Dôme de Rochefort.
Huts on this route
- Rifugio Torino3,375 m