Dent d'Hérens

Dent d'Hérens
North face of the Dent d'Hérens
Highest point
Elevation	4,174 m (13,694 ft)
Prominence	701 m (2,300 ft)
Isolation	3.7 km (2.3 mi)
Parent peak	Matterhorn
Coordinates	45°58′12.2″N 7°36′18.3″E / 45.970056°N 7.605083°E / 45.970056; 7.605083Coordinates: 45°58′12.2″N 7°36′18.3″E / 45.970056°N 7.605083°E / 45.970056; 7.605083
Geography
Dent d'Hérens Location in the Alps
Location	Aosta Valley, Italy/Valais, Switzerland
Parent range	Pennine Alps
Climbing
First ascent	12 August 1863 by Florence Crauford Grove, William Edward Hall, Reginald Somerled Macdonald, Montagu Woodmass, Melchior Anderegg, Jean-Pierre Cachat and Peter Perren
Easiest route	South-west flank and west ridge from Aosta hut (PD+)

The Dent d'Hérens (4,174 m) is a mountain in the Pennine Alps, lying on the border between Italy and Switzerland. The mountain lies a few kilometres west of the Matterhorn.

The Aosta hut (2,781 m) is used for the normal route.

The mountain takes its name from the Val d'Hérens, a valley located further to the north. The original name was probably the Dent Blanche, which is now that of the nearby Dent Blanche which overlooks the Val d'Hérens. On older maps, in the area where both summits lie, only the name Weisszahnhorn (from German: White Tooth Peak) was given, the French name (Dent Blanche) appearing only in 1820. Because cartographers usually made their observations far away from the remoter areas and also because the Dent d'Hérens is sometime hidden behind the Dent Blanche, thus being less visible, the latter received the name. The inhabitants of the lower Val d'Hérens called the Dent d'Hérens, the Dent Blanche, but those of the upper Val d'Hérens called it the Dent de Rong or the Dent d'Erins, contributing to the general confusion. The names used today have been the official ones since the completion of the Dufour map in 1862.

The Dent d'Hérens is located on the main alpine watershed between the Swiss canton of Valais on the north and the Italian region of Aosta Valley on the south. The northern side of the mountain is part of the drainage basin of the Rhone, while the south side is part of the drainage basin of the Po River.

The Dent d'Hérens lies 4 km west of the Matterhorn and north of the village of Cervinia on the Italian (south) side. On the Swiss (north) side, the mountain rises above the Zmutt Glacier in the remote valley of Zmutt, 12 km away from the town of Zermatt. Despite its name suggests, the Dent d'Hérens does not overlook the Val d'Hérens, as the Dent Blanche lying a few kilometers to the north do.