Mont Dolent

Mont Dolent

Mont Dolent
Highest point
Elevation 3,823 m (12,543 ft)
Prominence 330 m (1,080 ft) [1]
Parent peak Aiguille Verte
Coordinates 45°55′21″N 7°2′46″E / 45.92250°N 7.04611°E / 45.92250; 7.04611Coordinates: 45°55′21″N 7°2′46″E / 45.92250°N 7.04611°E / 45.92250; 7.04611
Geography
Mont Dolent

Location in the Alps

Location Aosta Valley, Italy
Valais, Switzerland
Haute-Savoie, France
Parent range Graian Alps
Climbing
First ascent 9 July 1864 by A. Reilly, Edward Whymper, Michel Croz, H. Charlet and M. Payot
Easiest route South face and south-east ridge (PD)

Mont Dolent (3,823 metres (12,543 ft)) is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif which lies on the border between Italy, Switzerland and France.

As a mountain, Mont Dolent is regarded as the tripoint between Italy, Switzerland and France, although the tripoint itself lies at 3,749 metres, less than 100 metres north-west of its summit.[2][3][4]

The first ascent of the mountain was made on 9 July 1864 by A. Reilly and Edward Whymper with guides Michel Croz, H. Charlet and M. Payot. Whymper described the ascent in Scrambles amongst the Alps:

We occupied the 9th with a scramble up Mont Dolent. This was a miniature ascent. It contained a little of everything. First we went up to the Petit Col Ferret, and had a little grind over shaly banks; then there was a little walk over grass; then a little tramp over a moraine (which, strange to say, gave a pleasant path); then a little zizagging over the snow-covered glacier of Mont Dolent. Then there was a little bergschrund, then a little wall of snow [. . .] The summit itself was little, very small indeed; it was the loveliest little cone of snow that was ever piled up on a mountain-top; so soft, so pure; it seemed a crime to defile it; it was a miniature Jungfrau; a toy summit, you could cover it with a hand.[5]


Mont Dolent has four faces, offering good quality snow and ice climbs of various levels of difficulty. However the only straightforward route to the summit (graded PD) is on its southern flank via the Glacier de Pre de Bar, finishing along a short and exposed stretch of the south-east ridge. The Fiorio Bivouac Hut (also known as Refuge Bivouac du Dolent) provides the closest start point for this four-hour ascent from the Italian side.[6]:131 The next easiest route of ascent(graded AD) is via the mountain's east ridge, starting from the similarly-named Bivouac du Dolent (la Maye) hut on its Swiss side.[6]:133

Huts

See also

References

  1. ↑ Retrieved from the Swisstopo and IGN topographic maps. The key col is Col du Dolent (3,490 m).
  2. ↑ Portale Cartografico Nazionale
  3. ↑ "Italy – Switzerland Boundary" (PDF). Florida State University. International Boundary Study. US. Department of State. 23 October 1961. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  4. ↑ Cartes IGN (Map). L'Institut national de l'information géographique et forestière. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  5. ↑ Edward Whymper, Scrambles amongst the Alps, 6th edition, London: John Murray, 1936, p. 195.
  6. 1 2 Griffin, Lindsay (1991). Mont Blanc Massif Volume 2. London: Alpine Club. ISBN 0900523581.
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