The 82/Pennine/Dent d'Hérens
№ 39 / 82← Combin de ValsoreyBalmenhorn →
The peak · CH/IT · Pennine Alps

Dent d'Hérens

4,171 m

'Tooth of Hérens' — named after the Val d'Hérens on the Swiss side, although confusingly the peak stands at the head of the neighbouring Val d'Arolla. The misattribution dates to 19th-century surveyors who mapped the peak from a distance and labelled it after the wrong valley; the name stuck.

Card
Coordinates45.9569° N · 7.6094° E
UIAA rank№ 39 / 82
CountriesSwitzerland · Italy
Normal gradeAD · assez difficile
First ascent1863 · F.C. Grove, W.E. Hall, R. Macdonald & M. Woodmass with Melchior Anderegg, Jean-Pierre Cachat & Peter Perren
Typical seasonJuly to August
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Photo of Dent d'Hérens
Photo: Carsten Steger · CC BY-SA 4.0

A heavily glaciated peak on the Italy–Switzerland border a few kilometres west of the Matterhorn. Normal route follows the west ridge (Tiefmatten) from the Aosta hut.

History

Long considered one of the most beautiful and most difficult of the great Pennine summits, the Dent d'Hérens stood out as one of the last unclimbed major peaks of the chain until 1863. The first ascent traversed the south face from the Tiefmatten glacier on the Italian side — a long mixed line that is still the standard route today.

Location

Summit · huts that serve as bases for routes on this peak

Major routes
SW face / W ridge from Rifugio Aosta (Normal route)
Vertical / summit day2,400 m gain · 6h
The Italian normal route. From Bionaz in the Valpelline a long approach climbs to Rifugio Aosta (2781 m); summit day crosses the Tiefmattengletscher and climbs the SW face on rock (II) and snow up to 45° to gain the W ridge for the final rocky finish. Quiet, remote and aesthetic — the Matterhorn's west-facing neighbour is much less crowded.
Sections
Bionaz / Place-Moulin (1965 m)→Rifugio Aosta (2781 m)+816 m3h
Rifugio Aosta→Summit (4171 m)+1,390 m6h
Huts on this route
W ridge / Tiefmattenjoch from Schönbielhütte
AD · assez difficile
Vertical / summit day1,500 m gain · 6h
Swiss-side approach. From the Schönbielhütte cross the Stockji and Tiefmattengletscher to the Tiefmattenjoch and climb the long W ridge on mixed terrain (III) to the summit. More technical than the Italian route but very high quality.
Huts on this route
Nearby huts
SchönbielhütteSAC · late June to mid-October2,694 mRifugio AostaCAI · mid-June to mid-September2,781 m
← Combin de Valsorey · 4,184 m · № 38
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Balmenhorn · 4,167 m · № 40 →