Dent du Géant

4,013 m

France, Italy

Also known as Dente del Gigante, დან-დიუ-ჟეანი, +1

Dente del Gigante · დან-დიუ-ჟეანი · Dent du Géant / Pointe Graham

Elevation: 4,013 m
Prominence: 139 m
Difficulty: 6/10; Alpine climb
Best Season: Jul–Aug
Routes: 1

AdvisoryReported 6 Oct 2026 · until 11 Oct 2026
The Rifugio Torino plans to close for the 2026 season on 11 October 2026.
rifugiotorino.com
AdvisoryReported 28 Sep 2026 · until 16 May 2027
The Panoramic Mont-Blanc gondola (Aiguille du Midi–Punta Helbronner) is closed from 28 September 2026 to 16 May 2027 (dates subject to confirmation); outside its season the Rifugio Torino is reached only by the Skyway from Courmayeur.
en.chamonix.com
AdvisoryReported 28 Jul 2026
A trip report from 28 July 2026 described very dry conditions on the approach ridge, heavy queues of parties heading for the normal route and a stonefall that narrowly missed a rope team.
camptocamp.org

Routes

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Approximate line — not for navigation

An automated check found that parts of this line could not be matched to mapped trails, so it may stray far from the real route. Use it for planning only, with a map and a guidebook.

Why? 8 check notes

danger scan: Aiguilles Marbrées → Salle à Manger: straight line 1098 m (limit 200 m)
danger scan: Aiguilles Marbrées → Salle à Manger: straight line 1098 m above the last hut/bivouac
danger scan: Aiguilles Marbrées → Salle à Manger: straight line: 66° over 25 m (> 60°, high-res DEM)
danger scan: Aiguilles Marbrées → Salle à Manger: sustained 60° > 45° on a straight line
danger scan: Aiguilles Marbrées → Salle à Manger: straight line dips 146 m below both ends
danger scan: Salle à Manger → Dent du Géant: straight line 354 m (limit 200 m)
danger scan: Salle à Manger → Dent du Géant: straight line 354 m above the last hut/bivouac
danger scan: Salle à Manger → Dent du Géant: straight line: 78° over 25 m (> 60°, high-res DEM)

AlpineAD+UIAAIV+Rock ridgeNormal route

Sources differ: D- (Camptocamp (5c free, 4a obligatory with the fixed ropes)) · V+ (bergsteigen.com (free climbing, ignoring the fixed ropes)) · AD+/II, 4a obligatory, 150 m (passion-alpes.com (2026))

A 2-hour glacier and broken-rock approach from the Rifugio Torino to the Salle à Manger, then about 150 m of steep granite slabs and cracks festooned with thick fixed ropes to the Pointe Sella and the higher Pointe Graham. Short, crowded and spectacular; the crux is pulling up the ropes at 4,000 m and abseiling the south face.

Elevation Profile

approximate line

Distance: ≈ 2.8 km; one way
Ascent: ≈ +844 m; −270 m lost on the way up
High Point: 4,013 m
Time Up: ≈ 3h 42m; DIN 33466
Time Down: ≈ 2h 56m; DIN 33466 · same way back

Sleep at the Rifugio Torino (3,375 m), a lift ride from Courmayeur on the Skyway Monte Bianco (or from Chamonix via the Aiguille du Midi and the Panoramic Mont-Blanc gondola in summer). Cross the Glacier du Géant north of the Aiguilles Marbrées, passing close to the Col du Géant, and follow the usual trail to a rising leftward traverse that ends at the foot of a couloir. Climb the couloir if it holds snow, otherwise the rocks on its left, to a small col beside a slender pinnacle, then follow the broken ridge (the 'gencive', cairned) to the Salle à Manger, a flat area at the foot of the south-west face where crampons and axes are left. Allow about 2 hours; the loose ground is increasingly exposed to stonefall in hot, dry conditions and with parties above. The climb is 7–11 short pitches. A bolted start (about IV+/5c, with a fixed rope) joins the original line, which was altered by a rockfall; a gully with a mantelshelf leads to a large terrace, then thick fixed ropes run up the Burgener Slabs for about 100 m. A traverse right on flakes and a steep corner (5c free) lead to a chimney and the crest, and an exposed ledge on the south side gains the Pointe Sella (4,009 m). Downclimb a steep step (knotted rope and footholds) into the notch and climb the 15 m wall opposite to the Pointe Graham (4,013 m) and its Madonna statue. Climbing free is less tiring than hauling on the ropes; with them, obligatory moves are about 4a. Allow about 2 hours of climbing. Descend from the ledge below the Pointe Sella by abseil down the south face: two lines of six abseils, each under 25 m, are equipped with chained anchors and signs. Camptocamp recommends the left-hand line (facing in); the right-hand line has free-hanging abseils where the next anchor is hard to reach. Experienced parties link anchors for fewer, longer abseils, but 50 m abseils have been linked to rescue call-outs. Abseiling the ascent line is possible but a bad idea in the crowds. Back at the Salle à Manger, reverse the approach to the hut (1½–2 hours); 6–7 hours hut to hut in total. The Dent is a lightning conductor: do not be on it in a storm.

Start

Punta Helbronner3,438 m

Skyway Monte Bianco (Courmayeur–Punta Helbronner)
Bus to Courmayeur (from Aosta, or from Chamonix through the Mont Blanc Tunnel), local bus to the Skyway Monte Bianco station at Pontal d'Entrèves; from Chamonix in summer, the Aiguille du Midi cable car and the Panoramic Mont-Blanc gondola.

Stages

Day	Stage	km	m ascent	m descent	Time
1	Punta Helbronner → Rifugio Torino	0.2	0	62	8m
2	Rifugio Torino → Dent du Géant	2.6	844	204	3h 33m

Waypoints

Lift:
Punta Helbronner3,438 m
Top station of the Skyway Monte Bianco
Hut:
Rifugio Torino3,372 m
Col:
Col du Géant3,344 m
not on route line
Feature:
Aiguilles Marbrées3,535 m
Passed on the north side
Shoulder:
Salle à Manger3,607 m
Flat area at the foot of the south-west face; approximate position from the Camptocamp route marker
Summit:
Dent du Géant4,013 m
Pointe Graham, the main (north-east) summit

Key Passages

Couloir and broken ridge (gencive) to the Salle à Manger
Bolted first pitch (5c/A0 with fixed rope)
Burgener Slabs with thick fixed ropes
Steep corner (5c free) and chimney below the Pointe Sella
Notch between the Pointe Sella and the Pointe Graham
Abseils down the south face (two equipped lines, 6 × under 25 m)

Equipment

0/11 packed

Downloads

Route confidence 32%

Overview

A leaning granite tooth of 4,013 m on the Franco-Italian border above the Col du Géant, and the most rock-climbing-like of the Alpine 4,000ers. Its normal route is 150 m of steep slabs and cracks equipped with thick fixed ropes, reached in two hours from a hut served by the Skyway from Courmayeur.

The Dent du Géant (Dente del Gigante) rises about 150 m as a sheer monolith from the ridge between the Col du Géant and the Rochefort Ridge, in the heart of the Mont Blanc massif. It has two summits 27 m apart: the Pointe Sella (4,009 m) and the slightly higher Pointe Graham (4,013 m), topped by a small statue of the Madonna. Seen from Chamonix or Courmayeur its tilted profile is one of the most recognisable shapes in the range.

The Skyway Monte Bianco and the Rifugio Torino make it unusually accessible: a lift to 3,462 m, a night in the hut, a 2-hour approach over the Glacier du Géant and a broken rock ridge, then the climb itself. The normal route on the south-west face follows the Burgener Slabs, festooned since the 1880s with fixed ropes now as thick as a wrist. With the ropes the obligatory moves are about French 4a; climbed free it goes at 5c. The descent is by abseil down the south face on equipped anchors.

It is very popular, so expect queues on summer weekends and stonefall from parties on the approach. The rock is cold in the morning and the summit is exposed to wind and lightning; an otherwise easy day can turn serious in a storm. Strong parties often combine it with the Rochefort Ridge to the Aiguille de Rochefort.

Climbing Notes

You need to be comfortable climbing grade IV/French 4 rock in mountaineering boots at 4,000 m, moving efficiently on fixed ropes, and setting up and running multi-pitch abseils, as well as basic glacier travel for the approach. Upper-body strength helps on the ropes, but climbing the rock free is less tiring. Most parties without that background hire a guide; the Società delle Guide di Courmayeur and Chamonix guides run it regularly, often with one client per guide.

Typical itinerary: Skyway from Courmayeur to the Rifugio Torino in the afternoon; next morning about 2 hours to the Salle à Manger, 2 hours of climbing, 1 hour back down to the Salle à Manger and 1½–2 hours to the hut, then the Skyway down. There is no need to start very early, because the rock is cold until the sun reaches it, but leave enough margin to avoid afternoon storms and the last lift. Acclimatise first with a night at the Torino and an easy climb from the hut such as the Aiguilles Marbrées.

Go when the approach ridge is dry but still cold; in hot, dry spells the loose 'gencive' below the face sheds stones, especially when busy. Bring slings and large karabiners for the thick fixed ropes and check the abseil line before you start down.

History

The Dent du Géant was one of the last great unclimbed Alpine problems of the 1870s. In 1877 an Italian party tried to throw a rope over the summit with rockets, and in 1880 Albert Mummery and Alexander Burgener were turned back on the south-west face by the slabs that now carry Burgener's name, Mummery declaring it 'absolutely inaccessible by fair means'. On 28 July 1882 the guides Jean-Joseph, Baptiste and Daniel Maquignaz reached the Pointe Sella after four days spent placing iron stanchions and fixed ropes, and took Alessandro, Alfonso, Corradino and Gaudenzio Sella up the next day. The higher Pointe Graham was first climbed in August 1882 by William Woodman Graham with the guides Auguste Cupelin and Alphonse Payot. Ludwig Purtscheller made the first solo ascent in 1892. On 28 July 1935 Herbert Burggasser and Rudi Leitz climbed the overhanging south face, one of the first systematically aided climbs in the Western Alps.

Season

Best Jul–Aug

January: Not advisable
February: Not advisable
March: Not advisable
April: Not advisable
May: Not advisable
June: Possible
July: Best (best window)
August: Best (best window)
September: Good
October: Possible
November: Not advisable
December: Not advisable

Jan: Winter; very cold, snowy rock
Feb: Winter conditions
Mar: Winter conditions
Apr: Snowy face; Skyway usually closes for maintenance from late April
May: Skyway usually reopens late May; face often still snowy
Jun: Possible once the face dries; snow on the ledges and approach
Jul: Main season; busy
Aug: Main season; stonefall on the approach in hot, dry spells; queues
Sep: Often stable and quieter; cold rock; the Panoramic gondola closes late September
Oct: Rifugio Torino closes mid-October (11 October in 2026); short, cold days
Nov: Winter conditions
Dec: Winter conditions

Access & Permits

Hut Booking

Rifugio Torino: email info@rifugiotorino.com (bookings only by email), tel. +39 0165 844034.

Fees

Skyway Monte Bianco, Courmayeur–Punta Helbronner (2026): EUR 59–63 return, EUR 46–49 one way
Rifugio Torino: EUR 70 half board (standard rate), EUR 60 for CAI members, EUR 40 bed only; tourist tax EUR 1.50 per night
Panoramic Mont-Blanc gondola from the Aiguille du Midi (2026): EUR 125.50 adult return, plus the Aiguille du Midi cable car

Rules

Rifugio Torino: bookings by email only; cancel or confirm a late arrival by 19:00 or the booking is cancelled; no gas stoves anywhere on the hut premises

Getting There

Courmayeur (Italy); Chamonix (France) via the Aiguille du Midi

Geneva (GVA), Turin (TRN) or Milan Malpensa (MXP)

Skyway Monte Bianco from Pontal d'Entrèves (Courmayeur, 1,300 m, 300 paid parking spaces) via Pavillon du Mont Fréty to Punta Helbronner (3,462 m); lifts and a 150 m tunnel lead to the Rifugio Torino
Bus to Courmayeur from Aosta or from Chamonix through the Mont Blanc Tunnel, then the local bus to the Skyway station
From Chamonix: Aiguille du Midi cable car and the Panoramic Mont-Blanc gondola to Punta Helbronner (summer only; closed 28 September 2026 – 16 May 2027)

Hazards

Rockfall
Exposure
Weather
Crevasses
Glacier
Altitude

Huts & Shelters

Rifugio TorinoRefugeStaffedBooking required
160 beds · Staffed in summer; 2026 closure 11 October (opening date not published)
Website of Rifugio Torino
3,375 m