Mont Dolent

4,032 m

French for 'painful' or 'sore mountain' — the etymology is contested. The standard reading takes the modern French dolent at face value ('sore'); a competing scholarly view sees it as a corruption of an older Patois oronym, possibly related to dolomite or to a local word for 'border' (appropriate, since the peak is the tripoint of France, Italy and Switzerland).

Card

Coordinates45.9275° N · 7.0247° E

UIAA rank№ 73 / 82

CountriesSwitzerland · France · Italy

Normal gradePD · peu difficile

First ascent1864 · Edward Whymper & A. Reilly with Michel Croz, Henri Charlet & Michel Payot

Typical seasonJuly to September

Photo of Mont Dolent — Photo: 4000er · Public domain

Tripoint of France, Italy and Switzerland.

History

The 'painful mountain' — a small pyramidal summit standing at the meeting point of France, Italy and Switzerland (the only true tripoint on the international watershed of the Alps). Climbed on 7 July 1864 by Whymper's party on the same Dauphiné–Alps tour that took in Barre des Écrins ten days earlier; it was the last summit of that highly productive trip. The name dolent has been variously read as 'sore' (French dolent) or as a corruption of an old Aosta dialect word for 'peak'; both etymologies are still argued in local sources.

Location

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

Major routes

S flank from Bivacco Fiorio (Normal route)

PD · peu difficileTopo ↗

Vertical / summit day1,750 m gain · 4h

The standard line from Italy. From the Val Ferret (Arnouva) the approach climbs to Bivacco Fiorio (2724 m); summit day ascends the Pré-de-Bar glacier (45° max) to the SE ridge, finishing on a short exposed snow crest to the airy tripoint summit.

Sections

Arnouva (1769 m)→Bivacco Fiorio (2724 m)+955 m4h

Bivacco Fiorio→Summit (4032 m)+1,308 m4h

Huts on this route

Bivacco Fiorio2,724 m

N ridge from Refuge d'Argentière (technical alternative)

D · difficile

Vertical / summit day1,300 m gain · 8h

A serious snow-and-mixed ridge from the French side. Sustained 50–55° snow with mixed sections (III); committing, with serac hazard on the upper face. Much harder and less popular than the Italian normal route.

Huts on this route

Refuge d'Argentière2,771 m

Nearby huts

Bivacco FiorioCAI · unguarded (always open)2,724 m Refuge d'ArgentièreCAF · mid-March to mid-September2,771 m Cabane de l'A NeuveSAC · mid-March to late September2,735 m Bivouac du Dolent-La MayeSAC · unstaffed (year-round access)2,667 m

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