Dents du Midi

Dents du Midi
Haute Cime
Dents du Midi seen from Pointe Bellevue. From left to right : La Cime de l'Est, La Forteresse, La Cathédrale, l'Éperon, Dent Jaune, Les Doigts and the highest point : La Haute Cime
Highest point
Elevation
Prominence
Isolation
Parent peak	Mont Blanc
Listing	Ultra
Coordinates
Geography
Dents du Midi Location in Switzerland
Location	Valais, Switzerland
Parent range	Chablais Alps
Geology
Mountain type	limestone
Climbing
First ascent	1784

The Dents du Midi (French: "teeth of noon") are a multi-summited mountain situated in the Chablais Alps in the Swiss canton of Valais. They are composed of seven distinct summits and reach a height of 3257 metres (10,686 feet). Dominating the Val-d'Illiez and the Rhône Valley, to the south it faces the Lac de Salanfe, an artificial reservoir. Geologically it makes up a part of the massif Haut-Giffre.

The seven peaks

Six peaks of the Dents du Midi as seen from the seventh and highest one (the Haute Cime, 3257 m)

The "Dents", or "Teeth" are, from east to west:

• La Cime de l'Est (3178 metres, 10,426.51 feet)
• La Forteresse (3164 m, 10,380.58 ft)
• La Cathédrale (3160 m, 10,367.45 ft)
• L'Éperon (3114 m, 10,216.54 ft)
• Dent Jaune (3186 m, 10,452.76 ft)
• Les Doigts (3205 m, 10,515.09 ft and 3210 m, 10,531.50 ft) or Doigts de Salanfe
• La Haute Cime (3257 m, 10,685.70 ft)

Rockfalls

Rockfalls

On the morning of October 30, 2006, a mass of 1,000,000 m³ (35,300,000 ft³) of rocks detached themselves from the side of the Haute Cime and fell down the side to an altitude of about 3,000 m (9,800 ft) The event did not pose any danger for the nearby town of Val-d'Illiez but roads and footpaths were closed as a security measure. According to the geologists of the canton, the landslide was caused by thawing, assisted by the hot summers of the preceding years.
Shortly after midday on Friday 17 August 2012, another significant rockfall occurred below the Cathédrale, amounting to at least 100,000m³ of rock. Twelve hikers were rescued by helicopter, All were unscathed, as was a flock of sheep grazing nearby. Again, the fall was put down to exceptional heat locally.
Less serious falls continued over the next few days and hiking trails remained closed.

Origin of the name

The name "Dents du Midi" is of relatively recent origin. The native inhabitants originally called them the "Teeth of Tsallen". The present Haute Cime was then called Dent du Midi, and it eventually gave its name to the entire mountain.

Each peak, or "tooth", has had several names over the centuries:

• La Cime de l'Est (Summit of the East) was called Mont de Novierre before approximately the seventeenth century, then Mont Saint Michel after the landslides of 1635 and 1636, and finally Dent Noire (Black Tooth) till the 19th century.

• Dent Jaune (The Yellow Tooth) was called the Dent Rouge (Red Tooth) until 1879.

• Les Doigts (The Fingers) were called Le Doigt de Champéry (The Finger of Champéry, 1882) then Le Doigt de Salanfe (The Finger of Salanfe, 1886) before finally just Les Doigts.

• La Haute Cime (The High Summit) also had several names: Dent de l’Ouest (Tooth of the West, 1784), Dent du Midi (Tooth of the South), Dent de Tsallen (Tooth of Tsallen), and Dent de Challent (Tooth of Challent).

L’Éperon

Several ruptures in the massif have changed the form of the peaks so much that the names adapted themselves according to the geological evolution. L’Éperon (The Spur), for example, no longer has two summits, since a landslide in the Middle Ages significantly changed this peak.

First ascents

Lithography of the Château de Chillon, with Dents du Midi in the background, between 1890 and 1905.

Name of peak	Date of first ascent	Climber(s)
Cime de l'Est	16 August 1842	Nicolaz Delez
Forteresse	7 June 1870	E. Javelle and J. Oberhauser
La Cathédrale	1890	Nicolas Delez
L'Éperon	?	?
La Dent Jaune	24 August 1879	?
Les Doigts	?	?
La Haute Cime	1784	Jean-Maurice Clément

See also

Dent du Midi, (3 x 4.5 inches), c. 1880, by Helga von Cramm.

• List of mountains of Valais
• List of mountains of Switzerland
• List of most isolated mountains of Switzerland

External links

• The Dents du Midi on SummitPost
• Pictures of Dents du Midi (taken from the village of Champery)